Parashat Éqev • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּחַ

"Thornapple (Datura stramonium) (credit: Evelyn Simak, license: CC BY-SA). This plant is believed to originate from Mexico and is a close relative of some of the most notorious poisonous plants such as deadly nightshade and black henbane. In Great Britain, it is apparently only occasionally found, mainly in the south of England and generally in rich, waste ground. It is also sometimes grown in private gardens as an ornamental plant and is documented to have been cultivated in London towards the end of the 16th century. The plant is also known as jimsonweed or Devil's snare.Due to its unpleasant taste, accidental poisoning from direct ingestion is unusual and the majority of poisonings apparently result from the consumption of a tea made from the seeds, either for its alleged medicinal benefits or for its hallucinogenic effects in attempts to use the plant's psychoactive properties recreationally. The principal effects are said to be confusion, delirium and hallucinations combined with drowsiness, and with sleep or coma generally following. According to John Gerard (~1545–1612), a botanist and herbalist who maintained a large herbal garden in London, the plant has a drowsy and numbing effect not inferior to mandrake. In form of a salve it was said to cure all manner of burns, even those from lightning strikes.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17