Rafa, an ultra-Orthodox organization which promotes “medicine according to halacha” announced a $50,000 lottery to discourage smoking. According to Rafa head Rabbi Yehoshua Scheinberger, all persons, religious or secular, will be eligible for the prize if they sign a statement that they have not smoked for five years and promise to pay a fine if they are caught smoking. He said the prize money was donated by secular and religious Jews in Los Angeles.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.