The following original halachic rulings were recently
collected by an individual active in the area.
To HaRav Yochonon Sofer shlita,
I received your letter. With regard to smoking on Yom Tov
I published my opinion several years ago that in our day
there is no way to permit smoking on yom tov. -- Yosef Sholom
Eliashiv (found in Kovetz Teshuvos II:32)
As far as whether it is permissible to smoke cigarettes on
yom tov, after the doctors said that smoking involves danger,
it is not something that is necessary for everyone and
therefore it is prohibited. -- S. Y. Nissim Karelitz (In a
letter in the book A Life without Smoking According to the
Torah (Hebrew))
Today it has become clear that without any doubt smoking
is very harmful and there is thus no doubt that halochoh
would tend to prohibit smoking on yom tov, since it is not
something that is done by everyone. -- Shmuel Halevi Wosner
(In a letter)
