Forget Quinoa — Now They’re Coming For Our Pot
I’m afraid this doesn’t appear to be Purim Torah.
One thing confuses me about the article. The statement that
“the rabbinic injunctions banning hemp were never adopted by Sephardic Jews” suggests that pot is considered kitniyot, not chametz. The Ashkenazi prohibition of kitniyot applies only to eating, not to ownership or “benefit,” yet Michelle Levine, the Green Leaf Party spokesperson interviewed in the article, says that “if you have it in your house you should get rid of it.” True, Levine is not a rabbi, and her halakhic advice should probably taken with a grain of . . . ahem . . . salt. But I’m a bit concerned about the statement about hemp in “health oils.” Are we talking food here, or “nutritional supplements,” or cosmetics? Where did the AP get the idea that this was an issue? I hope it wasn’t from a rabbi who thinks that you can’t use kitniyot on your skin.
(Clarification: In anticipation of certain comments, I will state the obvious: it is probably against halakhah to own or smoke marijuana in places where it is illegal, whether you are Ashkenazi or Sephardi. That includes Israel, at least for the time being.)
[UPDATE: Here is a more detailed Jerusalem Post article.]
While this can of worms was not-entirely-intentionally opened, I’m going to run with it.
It is probably against halakhah to smoke cigarettes too (although for different reasons). I’d take passover and/or general rabbinic injunctions against pot seriously at the time that they take smoking seriously too.
Today in the natural/organic store I saw hempmilk – milk made from hemp nuts. Then I saw hemp protien powder/protein drinks. Just weird.
Howard: What do you know — there’s a whole Wikipedia article on Jewish law and tobacco. Here’s the relevant part. I think it’s safe to say that many rabbis do take smoking seriously.
Malka Esther: My goodness, that is weird.
mmm… hemp milk :-)
Thanks, elf, for the wikipedia pointer.
And here I was thinking that walnut and hempseed kneydlekh would be a perfect, gluten-free, kitniot-free, low-glycemic index version of matzo balls.
Well, anyway, they are delicious and I will be making them again after yontif.
Non-narcotic hempseeds were used for food in Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Latvia. They are mentioned in the Yiddish stories of Shira Gorshman, of blessed memory.