Halakha (Jewish law) addresses a number of topics applicable to tobacco and cigarette smoking. These include the health impacts of smoking; the permissibility of smoking on holidays and fast days, and the impacts of second-hand smoke on other people. Historical background Until the late 20th century, the use of tobacco for smoking and in the form of snuff was common among Jews. It is speculated that a Jew named Luis de Torres, who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his expedition in 1492, settled in Cuba, learned the use of tobacco, and introduced it into Europe. From this time, Jews were connected with the trade in tobacco. Ritual concerns As early as the 17th century, rabbis debated various halachic issues that arose in connection with tobacco use, particularly its permissibility on Shabbat, holidays, fast days, and whether a blessing must be recited before use. Among the early sources are Keneset ha-Gedolah by R' Chaim Benveniste (1603–73) and Magen Avraham by Avraham Gombiner (1635–83). Gombiner referred to the "drinking of tobak [tobacco] through a pipe by drawing the smoke into the mouth and discharging it," and was undecided on whether a smoker should first make a blessing over smoking as a type of refreshment. Believing that tobacco was soaked in beer—a kind of chametz—he banned smoking during Passover. Benveniste expressed himself very forcibly against smoking tutun (tobacco) on Tisha BeAv, and reportedly excommunicated a Jew who smoked on that solemn fast-day. Benveniste pointed out the inconsistency of those authorities who permit smoking on holidays because it is a 'necessity,' a 'means of sustaining life,' and who allow it on fast-days because smoke has no 'substance' like food. In Benveniste's opinion, smoking was prohibited on holidays; he quoted Rabbi Joseph Escapa as coinciding in this view, though he thought it unwise to enforce a generally accepted law. Writing in Turkey, an Islamic country, Benveniste further argued that smoking on fast days is Chillul Hashem (a defamation of God's name), because Muslims refraining from smoking on fast-days would see Jews smoking on theirs. Despite such concerns, some Jews did smoke on Shabbat using hookas prepared before Shabbat, or else visited Muslim neighbors to enjoy the smoke in their homes. Rabbinic authorities banned this practice on the grounds that Gentiles would consider Judaism as ridiculous. The Turkish narghile, in which the smoke passes through water, early became popular; Benveniste rules that the "tumbak" (cake of tobacco,