April 7, 2007

FROM THE ARCHIVES: WHY SHOULD THIS NIGHT BE ANY DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER NIGHTS?

Viagra ruled 'kosher for Passover' (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, The Jerusalem Post, April 14th, 2005)

Rabbis have risen to the occasion and found a way for men who want to enjoy their Passover to take the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra without violating the laws about consuming hametz (leaven) leaven during the holiday.

Four years ago, The Jerusalem Post revealed in a widely quoted story that taking Viagra during Passover was forbidden by Jewish law because its coating was made with hametz.

Rabbi Menahem Rosenberg, the rabbi of Clalit Health Services, then confirmed that Viagra (sildenafil citrate) was not kosher for Passover because of the coating.

He noted that all drugs taken for life-threatening conditions, even if they contain leaven, can - and must - be taken during the holiday. Since impotence can hardly be considered a life-threatening condition, few rabbis approved its use during the holiday.

But now former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu has issued a ruling after receiving a query from Rabbi Menahem Burstein, a rabbinical expert in the field of fertility and head of the the Puah Institute for Fertility and Medicine According to Halacha in Jerusalem.

Burstein received queries from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals-Israel and religious men on whether the drug can be taken on Passover.

Eliahu replied that men who need Viagra can do so if they purchase before the holiday special empty capsules made from kosher gelatin, insert the blue pill into the capsule and swallow it. The company explained that since the capsule is not in direct contact with the body, it is permissible to swallow it on Passover.

Suddenly all those guitars and folk masses are looking pretty tame.

[Originally posted: April 15, 2005]

Posted by Peter Burnet at April 7, 2007 4:28 PM
Comments

Kevin Nealon, the great Mr. Subliminal of SNL fame, would have a great time talking about Rabbi Rosenberg of the Clalit Health Services...

Posted by: John J. Coupal at April 15, 2005 9:43 PM

The viagra ruling and the guitars can probably go together with this, which I don't even think Saturday Night Live can parody.

Posted by: John at April 15, 2005 10:06 PM

Well, the general rule is that you can't eat anything that expands while cooking...

Posted by: David Cohen at April 15, 2005 10:31 PM

Metaphorically cooking, one assumes. Not even Doreena ...

Posted by: ghostcat at April 15, 2005 11:54 PM

Now you know why I am not, nor ever will be, orthodox. When do you suppose we are going to hear one of these dingbats say "find something more important to worry about."

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at April 16, 2005 1:09 AM

What are the odds on former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu having received a new Mercedes courtesy of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals-Israel either just before or just after issuing his ruling? The Israeli Sephardim engage in all manner of backward and/or syncretic practices of dubious association with Orthodoxy. This ruling is just one more.

Posted by: at April 16, 2005 6:36 AM

Next, to go with the viagra:

Shiksas, now kosher for passover.

Posted by: Jim in Chicago at April 16, 2005 1:00 PM
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