NYC welcomes new exhibit on ‘joint’ history of Jews and cannabis

A research institute is set to bring an exhibit to New York City that will depict the biblical history between Judaism and cannabis.

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, located near Union Square, aims to examine the history between the Jews and marijuana through an exhibit that will include objects such as the “Tokin’ Jew” seder plate and a menorah-shaped bong.

The man behind the quirky exhibit is Eddy Portnoy, who was struck by the idea through the bong. He then asked the creator of the object to give up one of the bongs to the institute as a Jewish artifact. 

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 “I thought to myself there’s probably more out there like this,” Portnoy told the New York Post.

“I began to do research and not only did I find a lot more artifacts … but I discovered this whole history of Jews and cannabis that had really been unknown to me and probably a lot of other people,” he added. 

According to Portnoy, the idea of the amalgamation between the two has roots in the Bible. In the book of Exodus, an excerpt in the Old Testament mentions an altar for incense burning that includes herbs like kaneh bosem, which is assumed to be cannabis. 

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The one-of-a-kind exhibit will also consist of a purchase order for pot that dates back to the 1200s. According to Portnoy, the ancient document, which was discovered in the 1800s in a Cairo synagogue, features the writer asking for hashish and textiles, while offering silver in exchange. 

Other than the document, the exhibit will also have a poem that ridicules people who smoke cannabis. “They eat everything in sight,” the poem reads.

“It’s this weird sort of early 15th-century reference to the munchies,” Portnoy told the New York Post.

“The exhibit takes the subject seriously and a lot of research was done, but because it’s cannabis there was the possibility to have a little bit of fun with it,” he added.