No Pot for Pesach....if you're Ashkenazi!

Reuters reports that the Israeli Green Leaf Party has announced that rabbis consider cannibis to be kitniyos, and as such is off-limits to Ashkenazi Jews during Peasch. Kitniyos are foods such as rice, beans, and kasha that are banned rabbinically during Pesach as they are similar to grain products (wheat, spelt, oats, barley, and rye) which are forbidden by the Torah during Pesach, and may be confused with them. Sefardim never accepted the ban on kitniyos, so it would seem that if you are sefardi, you don't need to worry.

Isreali politics...oy vey!


On a related note, Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkratz, z'l, writes in his "The Laws of Pesach" that cigarettes contain many chometz, kitniyos, and even treif ingredients, that make them forbidden for Pesach and it seems questionable for year round use as well. So perhaps smokers of all kinds should consider making this Pesach a true season of freedom.