The most beloved of Jewish holidays, Passover, begins tonight. As you probably know if you're reading this, observance of the holiday, which celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, involves giving up anything leavened, including bread, for the whole week (there's also a big debate going on as to whether it's alright to eat rice, but that's for another time).
There's one thing that you won't necessarily have to give up this year though: weed. A top rabbi in Israel ruled that that marijuana is in fact kosher for Passover, The Independentreports. The 88-year-old rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was seen on video as members of a pro-marijuana group presented him with marijuana leaves. "Bless it," the rabbi says in Yiddish, according to the caption.
Don't get too excited, though. Before you bring a bong to the seder, you should know that there is a catch.
...rabbi Chaim 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.
So it's only cool if it's for medical purposes. Remember, though, plenty of people in this country have a prescription card for medical marijuana, especially in California, where you can get it prescribed in 20 minutes for things like "insomnia." Using a loophole to get past the law is one thing, though. It's up to you if you want to go the loophole route with God.
And for the record, recreational marijuana is still illegal in Israel.
