Were Grapes the Fruit that Adam and Eve Ate?
Although I know you’re probably thinking “What does the fruit that Adam and Eve ate have to do with drinking?” And that’s a great question! Wine/Grapevine? It turns out there is a rabbinic text that associates wine with this fruit (bBerakhot 40a & bSanhedrin 70a-b): תניא רבי מאיר אומר אותו אילן שאכל אדם הראשון ממנו […]
Wine in Pirkei Avot
Introduction: Appearances Wine appears in four statements in Avot – three dealing with wine as a vehicle for metaphors and one dealing with wine in a literal sense. Temporal Appropriateness Rabbi Dosa, son of Hyrcanus (while the Hebrew literally transliterates to Harkinas, it would seem that it is a variant of Hyrcanus)[1] warns against wine-drinking in the afternoon (Avot 3:10): […]
![Some Considerations of Storing Non-Wine Liquids in Containers That Had Previously Contained Gentile Wine [YD 137:4]](http://jewishdrinking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/containers-for-wine.jpg)
Some Considerations of Storing Non-Wine Liquids in Containers That Had Previously Contained Gentile Wine [YD 137:4]
Rabbi Yosef Karo, in his Set Table, writes straightforwardly (שלחן ערוך יורה דעה קלז:ד): כלים האסורים מחמת יין של עובד כוכבים מותר ליתן לתוכם בין מים בין שכר בין שאר משקים ובלבד שידיח בתחלה לחלוחי היין שעל פני הכלים וכן מותר למלוח בהם It is permissible to place wine, beer, or other beverages in vessels that […]
Drinking & Praying? How Do the Rabbis Approach Drunken Prayer?
With Purim upon us this week and the attendant drinking that occurs, it’s fitting to wonder about the appropriateness of praying while intoxicated (or its inappropriateness). So: what do the Talmudic rabbis have to say about it? Tannaitic Exemption One clear tannaitic text that discusses this issue finds that one should not pray while drunk […]
![“והשתיה כדת”: Considering Rabbi Meir’s Reading [Megillah 12a]](http://jewishdrinking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/drinkin.jpg)
“והשתיה כדת”: Considering Rabbi Meir’s Reading [Megillah 12a]
Recently, someone pointed out to me a curious drinking text related to Purim (Megillah 12a): והשתיה כדת – מאי כדת אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי מאיר כדת של תורה מה דת של תורה אכילה מרובה משתיה אף סעודתו של אותו רשע אכילה מרובה משתיה “And the drinking was according to law” (Esther 1.8) – What […]
![Abba Shaul’s Bone Forensics Concerning Wine [Niddah 24b]](http://jewishdrinking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Abba-Shaul-was-a-gravedigger-and-reported-the-effects-of-the-wine-on-bones.jpg)
Abba Shaul’s Bone Forensics Concerning Wine [Niddah 24b]
A rather curious text occurs featuring Abba Shaul discussing his experiences as someone who buried corpses (Niddah 24b): תניא אבא שאול אומר קובר מתים הייתי והייתי מסתכל בעצמות של מתים השותה יין חי עצמותיו שרופין מזוג עצמותיו סכויין כראוי עצמותיו משוחין וכל מי ששתייתו מרובה מאכילתו עצמותיו שרופין אכילתו מרובה משתייתו עצמותיו סכויין כראוי עצמותיו […]
![The Beginnings of the Post-Shulhan Arukh Debate Over the Ratio of Nullifying Libated Wine [YD 134:5]](http://jewishdrinking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/wine-to-water-ratios-Copy.jpg)
The Beginnings of the Post-Shulhan Arukh Debate Over the Ratio of Nullifying Libated Wine [YD 134:5]
A fascinating wine-related dispute breaks out over Rabbi Yosef Karo’s (1488-1575) statement (שו”ע יו”ד קל”ד:ה): מה יהא במים ויהא בהם כדי לבטל טעם היין ששה חלקים כנגדו וכל שיש במים כשיעור הזה מותר אפילו בשתייה How much of a ratio is there with water to cancel out the taste of [libated] wine? Six parts [of […]
Considering the Nullification of Wine: An Experiment [YD 134:5]
I recently came across a rather curious text in the Shulhan Arukh (YD 134:5): מה יהא במים ויהא בהם כדי לבטל טעם היין ששה חלקים כנגדו וכל שיש במים כשיעור הזה מותר אפילו בשתייה How much of a ratio of water cancels out the taste of wine? Six parts [of water] to one [part of wine]. […]
Blessing for Different Wine
While there is a well-known tannaitic teaching that one says a blessing – בורא פרי הגפן (Creator of the fruits of the vine) – over wine (mBerakhot 6:1), one of the interesting blessings that is created during the period of the amoraim is that over drinking different wine (bBerakhot 59b): אמר רב יוסף בר אבא […]
Purim Drinking II: Which Beverage(s) to Drink?
Having begun a discussion of drinking on Purim, (and what got me re-interested in this topic), I wanted to do an initial post on which beverage one should drink in order to intoxicate oneself on Purim. Curiously, in neither Rabbi Jacob, son of Asher‘s Four Divisions1 nor in Rabbi Joseph Karo‘s Set Table2 is any specific beverage mentioned in order to intoxicate, […]