London: A leading Belarusian rabbi has ruled the consumption of marijuana for medical reasons is kosher for the Jewish religious Passover ceremony.
According to The Independent, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was presented with cannabis leaves and told that they have a ‘healing’ smell.
Ashkenazi Jews who are usually of Central and Eastern European descent consider the drug to be a member of the kitniyot – a group of legumes and grains that are forbidden during Passover, including rice, peas and lentils.
Kanievsky has said that marijuana may be used by Jews from all backgrounds on Passover if it is used for medical purposes, The Times of Israel reports. The 88-year-old rabbi, who lives in Bnei Brak, an Israeli city east of Tel Aviv, can be seen with another prominent rabbi in a video uploaded to YouTube by pro-legalisation group Cannabis Israel in which they are presented with cannabis leaves and partake in the leaves being blessed.
In 2013, Orthodox rabbi Efraim Zalmanovich ruled that distributing and smoking marijuana is kosher, for medicinal purposes. Using the drug for fun, he said, was forbidden. Rabbi Zalmanovich has reportedly said that “taking drugs to escape the world” is “certainly forbidden”.
Marijuana is illegal for recreational use under Israeli law, but is prescribed for patients with certain conditions, including those undergoing chemotherapy and those experiencing chronic pain from Parkinson’s disease.
