 Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838–1933) was one of the first Jewish authorities to speak out on smoking.He considered it a health risk and a waste of time, and had little patience for those who claimed addiction, stating that they never should have started smoking in the first place ("Likutei Amarim" 13, "Zechor le-Miriam" 23).A shift toward health-oriented concerns may be observed in different rabbinic interpretations of Jewish law ("halakha").