Koshering Psychedelics: Ayahuasca in the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish World
Jonathan David, Aviva Berkovich‐ohana, Yair Dor‐ziderman, Michael Fine, Hagit Bonny‐noach, Leor Roseman
June 21, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/sf3uq_v2 via OpenAlex
Summary
Ayahuasca use among the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community reveals that ceremonies are adapted to Jewish contexts and primarily serve therapeutic purposes. Participants reported experiences rich in Jewish mystical content, which strengthened their belief and altered religious practices. However, there were tensions regarding ayahuasca's foreignness to Haredi life and concerns over idolatry. Strategies to address these tensions included medicalization and framing ceremonies as liminal spaces.
Study at a glance
| Design | qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 23 |
| Population | Haredi participants in Israel and the US |
| Key finding | Ayahuasca use in the Haredi community involves adaptations to Jewish contexts and has both therapeutic effects and long-term impacts on religious belief and practice. |
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.