Judaism’s psychedelic…
My introduction to the intersection of psychedelics and Judaism came some five years before that best-ever Purim. The energy of Purim alone is enough to engender a psychedelic experience; but as we are commanded, substances like alcohol – or trippier substitutes – are an integral part of the program.
I started to feel the blessed combination on the light rail to another party in a hillier, Haredi neighborhood of the city, where I ran into old friends from Brooklyn feasting on a haimish spread of cholent, kugel, and meats, as psytrance music blasted in the background. It’s impossible to put the energy of the day into words. It felt transcendent. The collective ecstasy permeating Jerusalem was palpable, filling me up with a light, now branded into the memory of my soul. I’d had what could only be considered a Jewish psychedelic experience. But getting to this point was years, if not a lifetime, in the making… “For a long time, many Jews have engaged with psychedelics, cannabis, and even drug policy reform,” said Natalie Ginsberg, pointing out that Allen Ginsberg (no relation) testified before Congress about LSD, while even Richard Nixon is quoted as saying “it’s a funny thing [that] every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish.” There’s a tradition of Jewish involvement and media representation, she said, especially in the cannabis space (think Jewish stoner archetypes like Seth Rogen), but the Jewish psychedelic community has had less definition, at least in the public sphere.
Original Article (Tablet):
Judaism’s psychedelic renaissance
Artwork Fair Use: Justin Paulin
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