cannthropology
PRESENTS
The ruins of the temple fortress at Tel Arad in Israel’s Negev desert. Below: Tokin’ Jew seder plate.
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Highlighting the history of Jews and Cannabis.
It’s well established that, for mil“purchase order” for Grav Labs’ menorah bong. lennia, Cannabis has been used as hashish in exchange for food and fiber, as well as for mesilver dating from the dicinal and sacramental purposes 13th century CE. by many ancient cultures … but would it surprise you to know that TEXTS & TEXTILES the Hebrews were among them? But these are hardly Now, a new exhibit at New York the only references to City’s YIVO Institute for Jewish Cannabis in ancient Research is showcasing the age-old Hebrew texts. The relationship between the Chosen People and their apparent Talmud (the primary source of Jewish religious drug of choice. Titled “Am Yisrael High: The Story of Jews law) discusses growing hemp and how it should and Cannabis,” the exhibit contains a number of contembe kept separate from other crops. There are porary items – including a shofar pipe, a Yiddish translation also references to Jews using hemp textiles to of the book “Hashish” and a menorah bong by Grav Labs, make religious garments such as tallitot (prayer which curator Eddy Portnoy says served as the inspiration for shawls), tzitzit (knotted fringes or tassels), and the exhibit. It also features a sampling of documents from even burial shrouds. the Cairo Geniza: a collection of around 400,000 Jewish “It’s most prominent in clothing and is manuscript fragments discovered in the Ben Ezra Synagogue considered to have a form of spiritual in Old Cairo in the 1800s. Among the gems found in this protection, so it was used very comtreasure trove of material are song lyrics monly in burying the dead in Israel,” about a Jew high on hashish and wine says Rabbi Yosef Glassman, MD, who with a severe case of the munchies, and a spoke at the exhibit’s opening. “It’s be-
JUNE 2022
Tokin’ Jew shofar pipe.
lieved that when there’s resurrection of the dead in the future, people will be wearing Cannabis clothing.” Hemp was often used to build Schach (Sukkah roofs), and in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) it’s also recommended as the preferred material for wicks in Shabbat lamps and candles. KANEH BOSEM There are also several places in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) that refer to a spice called kaneh bosem, which may or may not be Cannabis. The Aramaic term (also referred to as kanabos) appears five times in the Old Testament – most significantly in Exodus, where God lists it among the five spices in the recipe for holy anointing oil he dictates to Moses. Historically, most sources have translated kaneh bosem as “sweet cane” – a vague description that makes identifying it difficult. Some scholars have interpreted it to be calamus, while others even believe its identity was purposely kept a secret because it was so sacred.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF YIVO ARCHIVES (4)
