On Smokers

I have a coworker who smokes. She's also asthmatic. (No, she's not Jewish.) And every time I see her short of breath and in need of an inhaler, I wonder what she's doing to herself. My personal opinion is that people who smoke should not be given prescriptions for breathing treatment, but that won't be put into effect now. Perhaps with Obama's new healthcare plan, it may be. Then again, maybe not. After all, Obama smokes too.

Anyway, after coming to this conclusion, I realized that we're all guilty of the same thing. Maybe Hashem shouldn't allow people who do averos to do teshuva. After all, we got ourselves into this mess, why should we be given a prescription to save us now? But Hashem, in His ultimate kindness, gives us the key to return. Do we even realize what a big Chessed it is?

As Rabbi Yaakov Salomon says, it's definitely something to think about.