Booze and Jews

By Harry Pell
KOACH Mid-Atlantic Fieldworker

I learned a lot of important and enlightening things in college. Among them, a lot about architecture, a fair amount about the Middle East, and even a little something about myself. One other important piece of information I picked up was the second verse of a song from my childhood. Every Adar, the month in which Purim falls, many Jewish children learn the song Mi SheNichnas Adar: "Mi SheNichnas Adar, Marbim B'Simcha." The Hebrew is layered with meaning to produce translations that vary a little from "Once Adar begins, we'll all have much joy" to "Those who bring in Adar, will have great joy." Either way, the bottom line seems o be the part about the joy. What I didn't know was that the song doesn't end there.

The second part that I was introduced to in college accompanies a slower rendition of the song, and it goes something like this: "Whoa, baby, shiker is the iker. Whoa, baby, drink until you drop." My Hebrew was decent, but I needed the "Yiddishy Ashkenazus" pronunciation of "shikur" and "ikar" pointed out to me. "Shikur" is alcohol and the "ikar" is the most important point. But I guess I would've figured that part out anyway from the "drink until you drop." Lo and behold my friends were enthusiastic drinkers but within limits. Purim passed with only a few extended hangovers and no major incidents save one guy puking in our shower. But such is life, and these things happen.

The ultimate realization I came to about my Jewish perspective on alcohol is that Judaism treats alcohol pretty much like it treats everything else. Judaism is about many things, and one of those things is balance, or equilibrium. "Im ayn kemach, ayn Torah." A full week is 6 parts day-to-day and one part Shabbat.

Anything that can be abused and made base is kept balanced and made holy. Take sex. People can abuse sex, sleep around, and use it to hurt and disrespect each other. Or it can be made unique, special and even holy. Judaism calls marriage kiddushin - making holy - and praises sex between two people who care about and are committed to each other.

Also food. A person can indulge and over indulge and abuse food and their body. Kashrut doesn't insure a balanced diet and a 100% positive body image, but it does make the definitive statement that food is an area in which we must all learn to exercise self-control.

I think alcohol follows the same pattern. It wouldn't be Shabbat without Kiddush, the rabbis made sure of that. But by the same token, I don't think it would feel right to get blitzed at the Shabbat dinner table either. One of the things a Nazir (a biblically proscribed ascetic Jewish monk) swears off is alcohol. But the Torah doesn't applaud the Nazir, and in fact expects the Nazir to make a sin offering when he returns to society.

The sin of the Nazir is not taking advantage of the bounty of our wonderful world. Elsewhere in the Torah, Aaron's sons are warned not to approach the Mishkan while intoxicated and the message that is perpetuated is that Judaism does not tolerate drunkenness, much less the modern phenomenon of binge drinking. But to swear off alcohol is also a sin. The answer lies in moderation.

I'm not sure, then, what to make of our chasidic brethren, one of whom once explained to me that alcohol is "liquid simcha," or even what to think about the wild drinking that is now associated with Purim and Simchat Torah. The truth is that drinking to excess on two specific nights of the year, based on an informal survey of drinking on college campuses, could be considered moderation.

More to the point would be to acknowledge that alcohol definitely lightens one's mood and has the ability to make a joyous occasion that much more joyous. But like food and sex, the Jewish approach is one of finding an appropriate balance. So when we say "L'Chayim" we can really mean it.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the following. Moderation works for most people, and for most Jews, but alcoholism is a serious problem and it exists in the Jewish community. We often ignore alcoholism or explain it away as a non-Jewish problem, but it isn't. If you or someone you know needs help, you can turn to JACS. JACS helps Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically dependents and their Significant others deal with the illness of addiction, and get better.

Chag Purim Sameach!

[Posted 1/29/03]