How Beer Became Acceptable for Havdallah in the Babylonian Talmud
You can only use wine for Havdallah, right? That’s what the Talmudic rabbis thought…until a certain story happened. And then beer became legitimate to use for this ritual. Featuring Professor Jordan Rosenblum, the Belzer Professor of Classical Judaism, the Max and Frieda Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Chair of […]
Demons and the Four Cups of Wine at the Passover Seder
The 25th episode of the podcast/video series is now out! Featuring Rabbi Alana Suskin, the co-founder and co-director of the Pomegranate Initiative, as well as a senior editor at JewSchool.com, we discuss the susceptibility to demons of the four cups of wine at the Passover Seder, according to the discussion of the rabbis in the […]
Tu b’Shevat Cocktails and the Contemporary Cocktail Scene in Israel
With Tu b’Shevat coming up, the newest episode of JewishDrinking.com: The Show features Jay Rosen, who runs Sheik It Up, where he features various pictures, videos, and more, as well as an Instagram account on cocktails, especially using ingredients from the Middle East. Living in Israel, he shares with us about the contemporary cocktail scene in […]
Manischewitz Wine, Kedem Wine, and More
What’s the story with Manischewitz wine? To answer this question, the most recent Jewish Drinking podcast episode had Professor Roger Horowitz on to share his research into Manischewitz wine’s history, as well as how Kedem wine came on to the kosher wine scene in America and affected the market. If you’re interested in reading more […]
Rav Papa, The Talmud Bavli’s Beer Baron
The newest podcast (& video) episode is now out on “Rav Papa, The Talmud Bavli’s Beer Baron”, featuring Professor Jordan Rosenblum, the Belzer Professor of Classical Judaism at University of Wisconsin, whose book is hitting bookshelves today. The new book, Rabbinic Drinking: What Beverages Teach Us About Rabbinic Literature, is intended to introduce readers to […]
Kosher Craft Beer in the Late 2010s
In the latter half of the 2010s, as craft beer grew greatly in the United States, various kashrut concerns came with that growth, as various adjunct ingredients were added to beers. With the rise in questions regarding kashrut of beers, Rabbi Avrahom Pressburger created KosherCraftBeer.com to help kosher-keeping consumers informed on which beers in the […]
“Wine in the Mishnah” Mini-Videos
For those of you interested in last week’s “Wine in the Mishnah” episode with Rabbi Dr. Avraham Walfish, I have now separated out four distinct videos for your viewing pleasure on Wine in Mishnah Berakhot, Wine in Mishnah Berakhot chapter 8, Wine in Mishnah Sanhedrin chapter 8, and Wine in Mishnah Pesahim, which are also […]
Considering Ya’akov’s innovation in Wine-Libation on a Pillar
We read of Ya’akov setting-up a מצבה stone-pillar towards the beginning of last week’s parashah (Gen. 28.18), as well as later on in the parashah (Gen. 31.51-52). In this week’s parashah, we see him doing so a third time, yet he introduces an innovation into his stone-pillar setting-up: “וַיַּצֵּב יַעֲקֹב מַצֵּבָה, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ–מַצֶּבֶת אָבֶן; […]
Wine in the Mishnah with Rabbi Dr. Avraham Walfish
The newest episode of our weekly podcast/video series is now available: “Wine in the Mishnah” features an overview of the term יין/wine in the Mishnah, with guest Rabbi Dr. Avraham Walfish. Rabbi Dr. Walfish’s recent book Mishnaic Tapestries – Tractate Berakhot/מרבדי משנה – פרקי ברכות: עיון ספרותי ורעיוני במשנת ברכות (which is available for purchase […]
Discussing Lot’s Drinking with His Daughters, featuring Rabbi Eryn London
For this week’s podcast/video episode, we have on featured guest Rabbi Eryn London, who is currently serving as the scholar-in-residence for JOFA UK, and is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat. After last week’s episode discussing the incident of Lot’s drinking with his daughters, there is still strikingly more to discuss about this incident in the […]