PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS

Is the use of the so-called psychedelic drugs as a spur to religious insight known or justified in Judaism? Aside from the claimed inspirational effect of the drugs, would Jewish tradition condone the use of such drugs? (Mrs. Maurice Samuel, Editor of Keeping Posted, UAHC, New York.)

THE question of the use of psychedelic drugs is a difficult one to discuss on the basis of Jewish legal (and other) literature. Yet the very reason for this difficulty is to the credit of the Jewish experience and tradition. Though the Jews have lived for centuries in contact with the Orient and in the Arab lands (where the use of various drugs, opium, hashish, etc., was prevalent) there is no statement of which I am aware in the entire legal literature as to any sort of drug addiction. They knew, of course, of the existence and the use of anesthetic drugs, as in the discussion in the Talmud (Kiddushin 21b) which deals with the painless piercing of the ear of a Hebrew slave. But the whole Jewish literary experience seems to know nothing of drug addiction, nor for that matter does it know anything of addiction to alcohol (i.e., the actual disease of alcoholism as opposed to occasional drunkenness). The question therefore must be discussed by analogy with related matters, as is frequently necessary in the discussion of certain modern topics and their connection with our traditional literature.

First, then, as to the use of a drug as a spur to religious inspiration or revelation or illumination: The ancients, of course, had a great belief in the significance of dreams and considered that knowledge could be imparted by God to man through a dream. That is why Deuteronomy 13:2 couples “that prophet” with “that dreamer of dreams,” but it is noticeable that the “dreamer of dreams” is used in a deprecatory fashion of the false prophet, since dreams are so complex and therefore easy to misinterpret and to be used as a means of misleading. Jeremiah discusses the prophets and the dreamers and (even though he believes there can be true dreams) he speaks of the false prophets in relation to dreams. See Jeremiah 23:25: “I have heard what the prohets have said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying: ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed.’ ”

The Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages who were deeply concerned with the question of revelation and the vehicles of revelation generally agree with the opinion of Maimonides, namely, that while revelation may come through dreams, such revelation is usually symbolic and mystic and needs to be interpreted. The true revelation comes through the clear intellect. Therefore the more the intellect is developed and refined and kept free from confusing passions, the more likelihood there is of Divine communication and revelation. All. this is discussed clearly by Maimonides in his Hilchos Yesodey Torah, VII, 6. He bases this opinion upon the statement of Rabbi Jochanan in the Talmud ( Nedarim 38a). In other words, the essence of the Jewish position seems to be that the proper road in the search for God is through the calm intellect and not through the superheated emotions.

Now as to whether it is proper to take drugs at all: Again this question can only be discussed by analogy. The one available analogy is that of drunkenness. Judaism has never been ascetic, forbidding the drinking of wine. On the con trary, it has made wine a part of many a religious service. Nevertheless it is sternly against drunkenness. The Bible, especially in Proverbs, denounces drunkenness. The priests are prohibited in Scripture from conducting the sacred service if they even taste liquor. See Leviticus 10:8: “And the Lord spoke unto Aaron saying: ‘Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.’ ” After the Temple was destroyed, the prayer services were considered to be the substitute for the Temple sacrifices. Therefore the same prohibition against drunkenness at the Temple sacrifices was applied to prayer. The Talmud says (Erubin 64a): “A man who is drunk shall not pray. If he does pray, his prayer is an abomination.” Also in Berachos 31b the Talmud says that if a man who is drunk prays, it is as if he has worshiped an idol. It is clear, therefore, that any sort of befuddling of the clear mind was considered a hindrance to a true and sincere religious life.

But there is a further consideration involved: Medical opinion (in a report to the American College Health Association) indicates that many addicts of LSD have gravely endangered their health and tend to increase the danger of general addiction, feeling a compulsion to recruit others to the use of the drug. With regard to the danger to health, Jewish law is clear: It is forbidden to a person ever to endanger himself (except, of course, under the special conditions of martyrdom for the sake of religious conviction, when one must accept death rather than give up the faith). But in general the law is clear that a person must never endanger his health or his safety. These various laws are summed up in the Shulchan Aruch, Yore Deah 116. See especially the statement of Moses Isserles to 116:5 in which he says: “A man must be careful with regard to all matters that bring him into danger, for danger is even more serious than (other) prohibitions.” (b. Hullin 10a).

To sum up: According to the spirit of Judaism, the path to religious knowledge is the clear mind, not the confused emotions. Any sort of drunkenness or bemusing of the senses is an impediment to true worship, and any willful endangering of the health is strongly prohibited by the Jewish legal tradition.