Over the course of last weekend members of Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob enjoyed a weekend of insights into both drinking in Jewish texts and practice, as well as enjoying insightful tastings into delightful beverages.
Entitled “Bringing L’Chaims to Life”, the weekend’s featured speaker was Rabbi Drew Kaplan, who spoke several times from Friday night through Saturday night. Rabbi Kaplan, who runs Jewish Drinking and publishes the leading podcast on all things Jewish drinking, The Jewish Drinking Show, delivered the Shabbat morning sermon on “Drinking in the Book of Genesis: The Importance of Moderation”, along with three pairings of talks and tastings.
Each of these talks and tastings paired a beverage with a relevant talk on that beverage’s place in Jewish life. The post-dinner talk on Friday evening felicitously paired Rabbi Drew’s talk on “Blessings of Wine in Judaism” along with four wines. This was followed-up with a post-kiddush luncheon talk on “Whiskey in Jewish Life”, which paired nicely with four different whiskeys. Finishing off the weekend Saturday night post-Havdallah was Rabbi Drew’s talk on “How Beer Became Acceptable for Havdallah, accompanied by a beer-tasting.
“Rabbi Kaplan spoke very clearly and knowledgeably at our Friday night dinner program, Shabbat services, post-Kiddush Lunch and Havdallah for a total of four learning opportunities,” said event organizer, Tom Kligerman. “We were very happy to host Rabbi Drew Kaplan for this Shabbat Scholar-in-Residence program.”