Legalizing Weed

"You know, it's a funny thing, Every one of the [English word for ממזרים] that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the [last name they call Yoshke] is the matter with the Jews, Bob? What is the matter with them? I suppose it is because most of them are psychiatrists."

—President Richard Milhous Nixon

 

1. “The Torah doesn’t tackle legalization of substances, but the Torah does one simple thing: It shares with us the deepest, highest, most intoxicating and powerful substance out there – the soul (and the mitzvahs that guide its journey in this world). The Torah tells each one of us: “You, you, and you are the most beautiful, handcrafted-by-God, living machine out there. Operate it and drive it as it was meant to be operated and driven. By connecting to the highest, you will become high yourself. Best of all, you can get this drug over the counter. No prescription necessary. You have the deepest deep, the highest high; do not spoil it by getting artificially high or deep… But then, you might ask: What about the mitzvah of drinking on Purim or Passover, or other holidays? ... As Jews we can get high whether or not marijuana is legal. As Jews we can get high by connecting to the highest thing, and by ingesting the most intoxicating substance out there – our own soul, a literal spark of the Divine flame that is God.”

2. “The essential problem with inducing a (spiritual) high through foreign substances is threefold: 1) It is driven by personal desire, and therefore 2) you have not earned your right of entry, and 3) it will not be integrated into daily life. It will be an escape.

And this is precisely the reason why foreign substances are addictive and take control of your life. As their name implies, they and the altered states of consciousness they induce are foreign substances – a “strange fire” – which don’t belong to you. For a brief, but temporary moment they have the power to transport you to another place. But you don’t belong there and you have not earned your way. Having not paid your fare, the “strange fire” will come back to collect the debt: It will take control of your life until it consumes you.

3. “Spirituality, the spiritual high, is a permanent state of being that lies beneath the surface of existence. The “container” can be artificially forced open with a “strange fire” (foreign substances), but only temporarily. No single act can be done to access the spiritual truths within; no magic can open up your soul. When you selflessly dedicate your life to a higher cause, when you transcend your ego and strip away the forces of material self-interest that impedes access to your soul within, then the spiritual will emerge. The operative word is emerge. You don’t create it, you don’t induce it, you don’t import it; you eliminate the weeds and the flower emerges.”

4. “Even when using healthy and natural methods and means to achieve spiritual highs, the key lies in your actual attitude and drive: If transcendence becomes another extension of yourself, and is driven by your need or desire to get high, then even if you use healthy methods, ultimately transcendence will elude you. Only when you realize that you have to let go – let go of your drives, needs and even hunger – then the spiritual high will emerge. And then, its will also be an integrative experience instead of an escape. It will open you up to spiritual freedom, instead of becoming an addictive monkey on your back.”

R' S.J.

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An Open Letter to the Jewish Community from the National Conference of Synagogue Youth – N.C.S.Y in: Judaism and Drugs, p. 29-30

Dear Parents, Brothers, Sisters and Friends:

We the undersigned, like most other teenagers, have faced the serious issue of drugs and drug use. As members of an Orthodox Youth Group, we feel that our decision must reckon with the traditions of Judaism and with the specific demands of Halachah. Because of the controversial nature of the problem, especially the Question of marijuana, we have this past week consulted with some of the greatest Halachic authorities of our time. They are:

Rabbi A. Soloveitchik, Dean, Hebrew Theological College,

Rabbi M. Feinstein, Dean Yeshiva Tiferet Yerushalayim, Chairman Council of Torah Authorities.

Rabbi Dr. Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the British Commonweath Author of "Jewish Medical Ethics."

Their unanimous decision was that the use of marijuana constitutes a violation of basic Jewish law. We have studied the text of their decision and understand their condemnation based on the following principles:

A. Being involved with marijuana is a violation of the sacredness of human potentiality. A man created in the image of G-d must constantly walk in the ways of his Creator, just as the G-d of the universe is alive, active, and creative, so must be the world of Man. Marijuana leads a person to withdrawal, passivity, laziness, concentration becomes difficult, the study of Torah and the fulfillment of mizvah burdensome. Such a person divests himself of his unique calling to be a real man in the image of G-d and in nakedness stalks the earth in search of the tree of sensuality to avoid and escape this world of reality. Marijuana, its culture and climate, is so far removed from the Torah's call to HOLINESS.

B. One who is a user of Marijuana violates Numbers 15:39 and because addicted

to sensuousness. He places himself in a position where destruction of his free will and

degradation of his inner personality is imminent. Such a person slowly loses his options and his choices and the mechanism of his decision-making powers.

Judaism teaches the only difference between man and animal is that man can think, argue, foresee, conclude, and reverse himself; marijuana helps diminish that distinction and makes man more closely related to the ape.

C. It is also a violation of Deut. 22:8 which stresses the obligation on man to zealously protect his body from anything that may be harmful and injurious. The fact that it is not now harmful to a person does not preclude the chance that it may one day be. A man who does not put up a fence around his roof, is in violation of the biblical mandate irrespective of whether someone had fallen off his roof or not. A biblical

verse so concerned about loss of limb would be so much more concerned about the possible loss of mind and soul as well.

We therefore publicly commit ourselves to the Halachic view that drugs are an irrelevant digression from the basic tasks of a purposeful Jewish life.