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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
How Frequently Does Wine Appear in the Mishnah?
How frequently does wine appear in the Mishnah (יין במשנה)? The phrase יין appears in the Mishnah more than 235 times*🍷🍷🍷 The next question you may be asking: where does it appear the most frequently? Let’s start by breaking down the occurrences of the phrase יין in the Mishnah by סדר (seder): סדר נזיקין – […]
Beer, Wine, and Bal Tashchit in the Talmud with Professor Tanhum Yoreh
The newest episode of Jewish Drinking: The Show is now out! With featured guest Professor Tanhum Yoreh, Rabbi Drew Kaplan discusses Rav Pappa’s statement in the Talmud that, if one could drink beer or wine, yet chooses wine transgresses the rabbinic prohibition against wastefulness (Shabbat 140b). Having written his doctoral dissertation on bal tashchit, Professor […]
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): […]
Initial Considerations on the מסובין Incidents in the Tosefta
There is a curious story in the Passover Haggadah that I wanted to explore: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן־עֲזַרְיָה וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא וְרַבִּי טַרְפוֹן שֶׁהָיוּ מְסֻבִּין בִּבְנֵי־בְרַק וְהָיוּ מְסַפְּרִים בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם כָּל־אוֹתוֹ הַלַּיְלָה, עַד שֶׁבָּאוּ תַלְמִידֵיהֶם וְאָמְרוּ לָהֶם רַבּוֹתֵינוּ הִגִּיעַ זְמַן קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע שֶׁל שַׁחֲרִית The incident of Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi […]
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]](https://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 […]