How to Stop Smoking

How to Stop Smoking:

Rav Akiva Eiger zt'l once met a wealthy man who was smoking a cigarette and clearly enjoying it very much.

He asked him, “Why do you need this?”

The rich man said, “I eat a lot of heavy, good food. When I'm full, the cigarette really hits the spot.”

A while later, Rav Akiva met a poor butcher, who also was smoking. He thought to himself: This poor man certainly doesn't eat fatty foods. So what enjoyment does he get from the cigarette? He asked him about it, and the man said, “I sometimes get very hungry but have no money to buy enough food to get full. The smoke stills my hunger and makes me feel less starving.”

The gaon said, “I don't get it. The rich man needs to smoke because he is so full, and the poor man needs to smoke because he's so hungry. Wouldn't it make more sense for the rich man to give his extra food to the poor man? Then no one would need to smoke!”