Jewish Journeys, an unprecedented population study of Jewish Americans’ perspectives on psychedelics, will explore the attitudes, practices, and needs of the emerging Jewish psychedelic community in the United States. This research is supported by Common Era and conducted in partnership between Emory Spiritual Health and the university’s Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality and Shefa, a national nonprofit that supports emerging Jewish psychedelic communities with immersive experiences and spiritually-rooted resources. Dr. Roman Palitsky of Emory leads the research team.
This study seeks to understand the practices, ideologies, philosophies, and leading influences in the emerging Jewish psychedelic space. Moving within and between the wide array of modern Jewish identities, commitments, and expressions, “Psychedelic Judaism” is contemporaneously emerging in a conscious and unconscious collective effort by individuals and small groups throughout the globe.
Seeking to capture a range of attitudes, responses, and nuanced experiences, this study combines survey-based data with in-depth, qualitative interviews. We look forward to sharing the results of our work in 2025 in public-facing reports as well as peer-reviewed scientific articles.
“This is a critical step for the Jewish psychedelic community and movement to be recognized by the larger Jewish communal world, as well as the fields of psychedelic science and therapeutic applications.” says Rabbi Zac Kamenetz, founder and CEO of Shefa.
Dr. Palitsky emphasized this study’s significance in furthering culturally-informed psychedelic care. “We need to recognize that psychedelic experiences often reflect the communities, traditions, and histories that are entwined with people's lives. Jewish people in the US are a very diverse group -- understanding how that diversity meets and responds to psychedelics is incredibly important.”
“Through Shefa’s work, we have met and supported thousands of Jewish psychedelic explorers across the country using the medicines for healing and self-discovery, probably disproportionately more than most Americans,” adds Kamenetz. “Often, individuals’ encounters with these medicines catalyze a strong desire to connect more deeply to Jewish practice and community, but Jewish institutional and organizational life is not yet sensitive to the motivations and needs of this growing community. We hope this study can help raise that consciousness.”
If you have a Jewish background and are psychedelically active, curious about psychedelics, or are skeptical about psychedelics, learn more about the study and how to participate. Participation involves taking
an online survey. Some participants will be invited for follow-up interviews to learn about your experience and perspectives in greater depth. Click here to join the study.