Tokin' Jew recently released the first-ever line of kosher-for-Passover edibles, with flavours 'Seder Citrus' and 'Four Cups.' (Photo: Tokin' Jew)[Missing Credit]
The goal was to create an edible that felt approachable and trustworthy to even the most skeptical demographic: Jewish mums.
"In building the edibles brand we learned how much sketchiness there can be behind the scenes and how many opportunities a brand has to choose the cheapest ingredients or go the extra mile, spend more, and get something that's premium,” said Kraim. “So at every step of the way, we just think of that Jewish mum looking to us to trust us, and that makes us feel good.”
The two new Passover flavours – seder citrus and four cups (grape) – can pair with Tokin Jew’s “Highgada,” a stoner’s take on the Haggadah that incorporates cannabis into the seder where wine would typically be consumed. Instead of the four cups of wine, one could indulge in the four bowls of weed.
Tokin' Jew founders Will Cohen, left, and Ben Kraim, right, featured with their mezuzah-themed 'jewb tube', meant for carrying a joint. (Photo: Tokin' Jew)[Missing Credit]
But Tokin’ Jew has something for every Jewish holiday, and then some. The brand’s first product, the J Menorah – j for joint, obviously – replaces candle holders with joint holders for eight hazy nights of Chanukah. For the aptly named High Holidays, why not smoke some green from a pipe that looks like a shofar? Other accessories, like the seder plate rolling tray, the dreidel grinder, the joint ‘scroller’ and the matzah-printed rolling papers, illustrate the sense of humour that defines Tokin’ Jew, and offer a non-traditional way of engaging with both weed and Judaism.
“I think the cool thing about sitting in this intersection is we can play in the weed space, we can play in the Jewish space, and we can play in the middle of the Venn diagram,” said Cohen. “I think that intersection is where people find the most fun in the brand.”
Kraim, who also runs a cannabis media company called WeedFeed, added that the Jewish community has been hugely receptive to Tokin’ Jew’s products and media presence.
A rabbi smokes from Tokin' Jew's menorah bong. (Photo: Tokin' Jew)[Missing Credit]
“They love the break from the madness of the world and being Jewish in today's society,” he said. “Many have expressed wanting to leave the Jewish community or the Jewish faith and then finding Tokin’ Jew and finally finding a community that they connect with that's just light-hearted and chill and more about the culture and the humour and the love, and not so much about the rules.”
But even when it comes to the rules, Tokin’ Jew doesn’t technically break any. There is nothing expressly sacrilegious about mixing Judaism and cannabis, and the Tokin’ Jew founders enjoy demonstrating this to their followers on Instagram with occasional videos of an Orthodox rabbi taking hits from one of their pickle-shaped pipes or pulling a joint from under his kippah and sparking up.
"That form of content allows us to break barriers, both within the Jewish community and outside of the Jewish community,” said Cohen. “Like, if I'm a non-Jew seeing it, it’s like I might hold these beliefs about what I think Jews are and then I see cannabis enter the picture and now my previously held beliefs are kind of thrown out the window.”
Building on this ethos, Cohen and Kraim are also starting to share more educational posts about Judaism, cannabis, and where the two have historically crossed over. For instance, there is an argument that k'nei bosem, the annointing oil mentioned in the Torah, was actually cannabis oil.
“One of the oldest archaeological findings of remnants of THC resin is in historical religious sites like Judea,” said Kraim. "It's pretty amazing. And now that we get into this educational stage of our brand we just keep uncovering more and more in terms of history and archaeology.”
Baruch atah I'm high: Tokin' Jew apparel plays on both Jewish and cannabis humour. (Photo: Tokin' Jew)[Missing Credit]
Cohen and Kraim, who grew up Reform and Modern Orthodox respectively, have found that the educational elements of the brand are giving some Jews a newfound appreciation for Judaism too.
“I think Jews are innately just kind of spiritual and open-minded,” said Kraim. “And for stoners, there's this element of smoking a joint, being high, and enjoying that experience of learning something new – being like, ‘whoa, I never realised that, that's crazy,’ you know?”
“And I think that for people who either didn't grow up religious at all or maybe it was forced on them and so they bounced out of that, now that time has passed and they just puffed a joint and they're a little bit more open, when we share a tidbit of Judaism or Jewish law or Jewish culture that’s kind of beautiful and spiritual, they just become really excited and it enters where they would have had a wall up.”
But the brand, which has been consciously apolitical ever since its inception, is not here to promote an ideology or engage in the divisive discussions about Israel taking place on many Jewish social media accounts, and Tokin’ Jew’s audience seems to be grateful for that.
“This is a smoke break, you know,” Kraim said. “Jews need a break, and we want to be that break.”
All Tokin’ Jew accessories, merch and apparel is shipped internationally. The edibles only ship to US states where cannabis is recreationally legal, so not to the UK. Sorry.
