Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., February 24, 2008 Adar1 18, 5768 | | Israel Time: 13:26 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 21:38 27/03/2007
Pro-marijuana party tells supporters: Pot smoking forbidden on Passover
By The Associated Press

In bad news for its religious Jewish supporters, an Israeli pro-marijuana party announced Tuesday that smoking pot is forbidden on Passover.

Cannabis is among the substances Jews are forbidden to consume during the week-long festival, which begins Monday, said Michelle Levine, a spokeswoman for the Green Leaf party.

Biblical laws prohibit eating leavened foods during Passover, replacing bread with flat crackers called matza. Later injunctions by European rabbis extended those rules to forbid other foods like beans and corn, and more recent rulings have further expanded the ban to include hemp seeds, which today are found in some health oils - and in marijuana.
Advertisement
Green Leaf is a small political party that supports the legalization of marijuana. Although it is by no means a Jewish religious authority, the group decided to warn its observant supporters away from the drug on Passover.

"You shouldn't smoke marijuana on the holiday, and if you have it in your house you should get rid of it," Levine said.

But not everyone needs to give up their habit for the duration of the festival. The rabbinic injunctions banning hemp were never adopted by Sephardic Jews, who come from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. That means there is no reason they can't keep smoking marijuana, Levine said, except that it remains illegal, despite her party's best efforts.

Green Leaf contested the last three national elections but never won a seat, despite gaining popularity as a protest vote. According to Levine, the party has a large number of religious supporters.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Holocaust row
U.K. Tory chief draws fire for calling school visits to Auschwitz a gimmick.
5 Stops in Galilee
Rock hares, peach orchards, a taste of the past, and walking the Jesus trail.
  1.   But the Israeli rabbinate abolished the "legume" prohibition 00:57  |  Jack 28/03/07
  2.   does the rabbinate agree? 01:57  |  sophie 28/03/07
  3.   Now I got it 01:59  |  Funie 28/03/07
  4.   Burn it 04:11  |  idf_sergeant 28/03/07
  5.   You don`t have to get rid of it, just don`t use it. 04:15  |  Shalom 28/03/07
  6.   oh, please 04:45  |  Steve 28/03/07
  7.   smoking leaves 04:51  |  bill 28/03/07
  8.   i will go to reform marijuana party 04:57  |  hipolito dormal 28/03/07
  9.   Hash for Hashem 05:28  |  Daniel Garcia 28/03/07
  10.   Jack 05:37  |  Dan 28/03/07
  11.   USA VIEW 06:25  |  m rabin 28/03/07
  12.   They Leaven Marijuana? 07:36  |  Efox 28/03/07
  13.   Don`t smoke the seeds 07:38  |  Efox 28/03/07
  14.   Additional relevant laws 08:39  |  Itamar D 28/03/07
  15.   Marijana as Chometz 08:51  |  Jonny B 28/03/07
  16.   Question 09:07  |  Curious.... 28/03/07
  17.   Taking Chametz laws too far! 09:14  |  Rachel 28/03/07
  18.   Replies to #1 and #16 Kitniot and No! 10:20  |  Ben Azai 28/03/07
  19.   reply to #7 smoking on Yom Tov 10:25  |  Joe 28/03/07
  20.   pot is chametz? 12:46  |  hipolito dormal 28/03/07
  21.   Must have been a secular rabbi who issued Psak. 13:35  |  Duby Dube 28/03/07
  22.   What about Hash? 13:50  |  saar 28/03/07
  23.   Oh Curious. Is that you again?? 14:25  |  Eli 28/03/07
  24.   saar #22 14:31  |  Eli 28/03/07
  25.   Who cares what potheads and junkies think is Kosher? 14:43  |  Maimon 28/03/07
  26.   Maimon # 25 15:01  |  Eli 28/03/07
  27.   #16 Curious 15:02  |  Itsik 28/03/07
  28.   flawed ruling 16:18  |  nathan 28/03/07
  29.   Good pot is seedless, you bunch of beginners! 17:25  |  Mario 28/03/07
  30.   Weed isn`t the only issue here 18:45  |  Dave 28/03/07
  31.   #27 19:15  |  David 28/03/07
  32.   CRYSTAL COATED NUGS ONLY!!!!!! 19:51  |  SETH 28/03/07
  33.   Please translate 20:21  |  I speak english 28/03/07
  34.   To My Brother Maimon 20:30  |  Brian Freund 28/03/07
  35.   bissli and bamba 21:25  |  mary jane 28/03/07
  36.   Kaneh Bosm 22:09  |  Yuya Joseph 28/03/07
  37.   URGENT QUESTION 22:10  |  A 28/03/07
  38.   Hide your doobies! 22:10  |  alon 28/03/07
  39.   To seth! 22:15  |  alon 28/03/07
  40.   ERRRRR HELLO alon 23:26  |  SETH 28/03/07
  41.   Marijuana IS KOSHER THE REST OF THE YEAR 04:47  |  Michelle Levine 31/03/07
  42.   They got their leaves mixed up, maybe? 23:56  |  Anna 03/04/07
  43.   imported 10:00  |  or local 04/04/07
  44.   grass 17:22  |  g 09/12/07
  45.   WHAT`S THE BIG DEAL? our university grows it 13:19  |  petra 24/02/08
 Today Online
IDF braces for mass march on Gaza border
Responses: 108
Gideon Levy: The Jerusalem issue is easy - half for Jews, half for Palestinians
Responses: 25
Zvi Bar'el: No sign of 'Dubya' in Mideast mediation efforts
Responses: 5
Study: Palestinian suicide bombers 'not mentally unstable'
Responses: 62
Neo-Nazi turns Haredi after discovering his Jewish roots
Responses: 31
Rosner's Domain
Iran Could Have Enough Uranium for a Bomb by Year's End (WTR)
Poll: Is it time for Israel to end the blockade in Gaza?
What America wants from an operation in Gaza
Guests: Jewish women don't want to be shut out
U.S. victims of Palestinian terror await gov't stance on compensation


More Headlines
08:08 IDF braces for mass march on Gaza border
13:03 PM: We won't fortify every building in Gaza area or Sderot
08:42 Neo-Nazi turns ultra-Orthodox after discovering Jewish roots
12:10 For IDF brigade, 'Hebron is like Wild West and army is the law'
11:16 Iran: Sanctions for 100 years won't stop our nuclear program
12:23 Israeli Americans vote Clinton, but Obama wins global primary
12:59 Olmert heads to Japan with eye to boosting trade
13:24 IDF soldier seriously hurt after accidentally shot with own gun
09:53 ANALYSIS: Iran's delay tactics include denying, lying, refusing
11:22 Berlin Holocaust memorial vandalized for 15th time
11:09 Historian recants theory that Jews killed Christian child in ritual murder
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
Long-term Israel programs
MASA is your gateway. More programs. More grants.
7589 rockets fired so far
HELP US TO HELP THEM
Marina Royale Herzelia Pituach
Your Luxurious Suite While Staying in Israel
Fattal Hotel Chain
Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel
Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th
Dead Sea Salt
Beauty and skin care from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 10% off!
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved