Baruch HaShem
I took a post seudah nap, am feeling pretty good- thank you very much.
Rabbi Abraham Twerski writes, for good reason, with great passion:
"There is no occasion on which excessive drinking should be sanctioned. I meet with the objection, 'But isn't it a requirement to get drunk on Purim?' My answer is a resounding and unequivocal "NO!" Our authority is Rema, who states that by drinking just a bit more than one is accustomed to, and then taking a nap, one will thereby fulfil the requirement of not distinguishing between "Cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai" (Orach Chaim 695:2). The Chafetz Chaim in Mishneh Brurah (*5) comments, 'This is the proper thing to do."
Rabbi Twerski goes on to write in more stark language than I recall ever seeing him use elsewhere, and states something that is stronger than anything I've ever seen anyone else write on this topic:
Anyone who wishes to surpass the piety of the Chafetz Chaim and drink more than the Mishneh Brurah designates must prove that he is equally superior to the Chafetz Chaim in all other aspects of his behavior." (The Enemy Within, Shaar Press, 2002, pages 174-175)
Rabbi Twerski goes on to call upon "rabbis and heads of yeshivos" to speak out against and put a stop to excessive drinking at affairs, on Simchas Torah, and on Purim. He says, "It is not that everyone that gets drunk on Purim is an alcoholic." He feels that over drinking has become commonplace and he is familiar with the disastrous consequences and sees it as necessary to show that it is not condoned.
A few years back The New York Times had some Jews squirming when it published a relevant article with these opening lines: "Last weekend, many Jews celebrated Purim, which commemorates their salvation from the hands of a wicked king's minister, Haman, in ancient Persia, by getting drunk. In fact, it is considered a mitzvah to drink immoderately on the holiday, one of the happiest in the Jewish calendar. So why was the Orthodox Union, the umbrella group for Orthodox synagogues in North America, sponsoring advertisements in Jewish publications that said, "Friends don't let friends drink irresponsibly on Purim"?
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 9:19 PM
7 Comments:
Good post. What a mitzva to be (mistakenly) makmir about! Last night I read an interesting shiur on this from the Beit-El Yeshiva website which discusses drinking and sleep on Purim at http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/shiur.asp?id=711 (scroll down half way to "Drinking and Happiness.")
Great article. Thank you. Reminds me of something I once heard Rav Schwab say, that Yaakov's going to sleep after (according to the medrash) not sleeping for 14 years, before he meets with Eisav was an act of faith. Reminds me too of a poem, which I wrote (and posted here on January 19, 2008). Here's a revised version:
Sleep, an act of faith
In night time, taunted by angst
We lay down, we pray
I don't agree with Rabbi Twersky on this. I don't see the great harm in some happy drunken behavior once a year, so long as one is not belligerent or agressive. I myself got awfully high last night, but I was funny and friendly, and I think it went over well with the people I was with. I don't especially like it when my teenage boys get drunk on Purim, mostly b/c of the inconvenience, but also b/c I worry about their safety when they're out and about, but outside of those concerns, I don't see the big deal.
I myself enjoy wine, but in all seriousness, the amount that is sometimes comsumed on Purim can have very serious consequences. The risk of "holiday heart syndrome" is very real, even for the young.
P.S. Drunks always think they are more charming than they are ;-)
Esq: I know! I hesitated writing that, b/c I knew someone would think that. But really, I'm not a kid who's falling over everyone when drunk. Just a bit more unbuttoned then usual.
And yes, too much is too much. But none at all is too little. Rabbi Twersky is a very cerebral person; I wonder if he identifies with people who need to blow off steam occasionally, and aren't able to do it by writing a book or two.
my son was actually "funny and friendly" in his altered state. i didn't mind it all until he asked for the garbage can. it is true what they say about finding out about a person... bkoso, bkiso and bkaaso
he was also very responsible...he told me to take away his car keys before the seudah....
i have mixed feeling about drinking, but as a parent i think that it's importand not to "ossur" everything, because in the long run that usually backfires. as kishke said, there's no big deal if you get a bit "unbuttoned" on a chag once or twice a year.
in Rabbi Twerski's defense, though, i believe that in his profession he has seen people destroy themselves with alchohol...that puts a different perspective on it.
My brother just sent me video of me at the Purim event. Lots seems to have happened that I don't recall, but my general impression seems to have been correct.
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