Aspen Chabad Announces ‘Special’ Pot Classes, Then Quickly Cancels Them
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The Chabad of Aspen, Colorado, announced that it would host some “special” classes this summer—painting classes helped along by cannabis, smoked and edible, the reported last week.
But the whole event was quickly cancelled, when it turned out that the classes hadn’t been cleared with the authorities.
The so-called “Art with Mary Jane” classes were the brainchild of Suzanne Horwich, director of arts programming at the Aspen Chabad, which is a branch of the global Chabad Hasidic movement. She floated the idea by her boss, Chabad director Rabbi Mendel Mintz, and he gave her the nod. “I pitched this idea not knowing if it would fly or if I would instantly lose my job,” Horwich told the Aspen Times. “They were supportive of doing something groundbreaking.”
Unfortunately, the plan was only half-baked.
“I think what really happened here is we just got a bit ahead of ourselves,” Mintz told the Aspen Times the following day, after the original story had been published. “The idea wasn’t formally vetted and it didn’t have the full approval from everyone who I needed to get involved and that (Horwich) needed.”
Still, the rabbi had nothing but good vibes for Horwich, saying, “I love the curator’s creativity (and) out-of-the-box ideas.” Like many best-laid plans of pot smokers, this one never materialized. But the true loser here, perhaps, is art itself.
“Sometimes with the aid of marijuana it’s easier to follow your bliss while creating,” Horwich explained.
Well, we hope that Chabad can keep the creative juices flowing despite the strict anti-weed policies. Keep following your bliss.
(h/t failedmessiah.typepad.com)
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
