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March 28, 2007
Beware of Baking This Passover, Warns Israeli Pro-Pot Party
The week-long Jewish holiday of Passover begins this coming Monday evening, and it's likely that Israeli pot smokers are going to be grumpier than usual. That's because Israel's Green Leaf political party, which advocates the legalization of marijuana, has put out a statement warning their fellow tokers that lighting up is un-kosher during Passover.
Thinking back to every Passover Seder I've attended, I don't recall any of the Four Questions addressing why on that night we abstain from smoking pot, while on other nights we can embrace our inner Bob Marley. (Maybe I was too toasted from all of those wine blessings.) That's because the Passover ban on marijuana is a recent development. Back in the day - way back - Jews avoided only leavened bread products, to help remember the hastiness of the Exodus out of Egypt. (You can't wait for bread to leaven if you're trying to get the hell out of Dodge, er, Egypt, with Pharaoh's posse on your tail.) With the passage of time, European rabbis interpreted the Passover kosher rules so that they extended to other foods, including beans and corn. And at some point, hemp seeds also got lumped into the list of All Things Not Cool for Passover. Why, I'm not sure, but that's what happened. So if you can't eat hemp seeds during the holiday, you certainly can't smoke them, apparently.
Anyway, that's the position the Green Leaf party is taking, despite the urges of every fiber of their being. "You shouldn't smoke marijuana on the holiday, and if you have it in your house you should get rid of it," explained party spokeswoman Michelle Levine.
Interestingly, though, there is a loophole - but if your ancestors came from a European shtetl, you're out of luck. Because the broader interpretation of Passover kosher rules was made by European rabbis, the rules only extend to Jews who practice European, or Ashkenazic, Jewish traditions. Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, on the other hand, aren't subject to those rules, because they hail from the Mediterranean basin, where rabbis must have had other pressing concerns on their minds. So while Jews of Ashkenazic descent will be sitting on their hands, watching the calendar tick forward eight days, the Jewish communities of Morocco, Tunisia and elsewhere will be able to enjoy a wake 'n bake of matzah brei and mary-jane. As the poet once said, "They do not eat the bread / they only smoke / sensimilla."
Hat tip: Ha'aretz -andy
Tags: drugs | Israel | kosher | Passover | religion
Posted by acarvin at March 28, 2007 1:33 PM
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