Koshering Psychedelics: Ayahuasca in the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish World

Ayahuasca use among ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews is adapted to Jewish contexts, with ceremonies modified to fit religious norms. Motivations for use are primarily therapeutic. Acute experiences include Jewish and Jewish mystical visionary content. Longer-term effects include strengthened belief, connection to Judaism, and changes in religious practice. Religious tensions arise from ayahuasca's perceived foreignness, concerns about idolatry, mixed-gender participation, and competing authority structures. Strategies to address these tensions include medicalization, making the set, setting, and experience religiously permissible ("koshering"), and framing ceremonies as liminal spaces. The findings highlight psychedelics' contextual flexibility and diffusion into understudied populations.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: Despite the rapid growth of psychedelic research, limited attention has been given to how psychedelics are used, experienced and integrated within highly conservative religious communities, and in Jewish contexts more broadly. This study addresses this gap by examining ayahuasca use among the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community, a highly religious, conservative, and collectivist Jewish group. Methods: This study used inductive thematic analysis of interviews with Haredi participants in Israel and the US (N = 23; age range: 21–60; 8 women), supplemented by participant observation and analysis of religious materials. Results: Six themes were identified: (a) settings: Haredi ayahuasca ceremonies were adapted to Jewish contexts; (b) motivations: use was primarily therapeutic; (c) acute ayahuasca experiences: experiences included distinct Jewish and Jewish mystical visionary content; (d) longer term religious effects: ayahuasca was linked to strengthened belief, connection to Judaism, and changes in religious practice; (e) religious tensions: included ayahuasca’s perceived foreignness to Haredi life, concerns about idolatry, mixed gender participation, and competing structures of authority (experience vs. text); and (f) strategies for addressing tensions: included medicalization, “koshering” ayahuasca’s set, setting, and experience (i.e., making them religiously permissible), and framing ceremonies as liminal spaces. Conclusions: This study broadens the scope of psychedelic science by examining ayahuasca use in a highly religious Orthodox context rarely included in the field. The findings show how ayahuasca settings, experiences, and long term effects are translated through Haredi and Jewish structures, involve religious tensions and resolutions, and highlight psychedelics’ contextual flexibility and continued diffusion into understudied populations.