One toke over the line

[richlevy]

According to recent news, the results are now in. Marijuana is not kosher for Passover for Ashkenazi (of European descent) Jews. Passover begins Monday night, so smoke em if you got em.

Every Sunday school student knows Pessah for its ban on food that rises, but a growing number of Jews are asking whether the holiday also precludes them from getting high.
Hemp has increasingly been spotted on the list of kitniyot, or legumes, that Ashkenazi Jews abstain from eating during Pessah, according to several influential rabbinical Web sites, including kashrut.com. But not everyone agrees that hemp qualifies for the ban, and the debate has led many to question the definition of kitniyot.

Hemp's tricky Pessah status has caused the first marital rift for Daniel and Sarah, who recently moved to Jerusalem from Chicago. The newlyweds, who asked not to use their last name, said they had just finished their Pessah cleaning when a friend asked them if he could buy the rest of their marijuana.
"We just had no idea what he meant. It turns out he was buying it from a lot of his observant friends so that they wouldn't have it in the house, [like] hametz," said Sarah. "We aren't habitual users, but we certainly smoke in our house, and we really aren't sure what our pipe may have come in contact with. It has caused a big crisis for us."
In the end, the two decided to quietly get rid of the rest of their marijuana (not by selling it to a friend, since it was kitniyot, and not hametz, they explained), and give their home one more cleaning before the holiday.

An explanation of the selling of hametz (chametz) from Judaism 101.

We may not eat chametz during Pesach; we may not even own it or derive benefit from it. We may not even feed it to our pets or cattle. All chametz, including utensils used to cook chametz, must either be disposed of or sold to a non-Jew (they can be repurchased after the holiday). Pets' diets must be changed for the holiday, or the pets must be sold to a non-Jew (like the food and utensils, the pets can be repurchased after the holiday ends). You can sell your chametz online through Chabad-Lubavitch. I have noticed that many non-Jews and non-observant Jews mock this practice of selling chametz as an artificial technicality. I assure you that this sale is very real and legally binding, and would not be valid under Jewish law if it were not. From the gentile's perspective, the purchase functions much like the buying and selling of futures on the stock market: even though he does not take physical posession of the goods, his temporary legal ownership of those goods is very real and potentially profitable.

[elSicomoro]

Rich, if you want to get rid of any of yours, just let me know.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by richlevy

According to recent news, the results are now in. Marijuana is not kosher for Passover for Ashkenazi (of European descent) Jews. Passover begins Monday night, so smoke em if you got em.

What about the Sepphardics? Can they still do the doobie?

[DanaC]

The process of cleaning the home of all chametz in preparation for Pesach is an enormous task. To do it right, you must prepare for several weeks and spend several days scrubbing everything down, going over the edges of your stove and fridge with a toothpick and a Q-Tip, covering all surfaces that come in contact with food with foil or shelf-liner, etc., etc., etc. After the cleaning is completed, the morning before the seder, a formal search of the house for chametz is undertaken, and any remaining chametz is burned.

This religious stuff always sounds like a lot of hard work to me :P

[Clodfobble]

Well, you've got to have some way to trick people into cleaning their homes and not eating spoiled food.

[Undertoad]

The Jews left Egypt in a hurry so they didn't have time for all the Q-tipping and toothpicking and whatnot. They might have had some chametz crumbs in their beards, even. All the cleaning's for the modern yentas who want a clean house in front of the relations. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by wolf

What about the Sepphardics? Can they still do the doobie?

Probably yes. The Sephardic branch doesn't recognize kitniyot. This has always caused some confusion during Passover because foods with corn syrup were sometimes marked 'May be used for Passover'.

Personally, if you look at Sephardic recipes for Passover, they're a lot less starchy and have an interesting Mediterranean slant, including dates, figs, oranges, etc. And now this.

Weird, pot is what was used for some of the holy oil used for anointing during Mose's and Jesu's times. "Glow" indeed.

[SadistSecret]

I knew there was a reason I'm not Jewish.

[Shawnee123]

All I can say is "whew!"