Pshats For Shots Parashah Sheet Up For Vayera
For the first-time ever, this week’s Pshats for Shots issue is two-pages! Click here to check it out, which includes a halakhah of the week
Lot Gets Drunk with His Daughters
Discussing Lot’s getting drunk with his daughters (Gen. 19:30-38), guest Aaron Roller, co-host of The Portion podcast, chats with Jewish Drinking: The Show host, Rabbi Drew Kaplan, in both podcast and video versions:
Pshats For Shots Parashah Sheet Up For Lekh Lekha
The new parashah sheet for Lekh Lekha is now available! Previous parashah sheets are available here.
Malkitzedek’s Bringing of Wine & Bread to Avram
Following Avram’s involvement in the war between the four kings vs the five kings, when Avram rescued Lot (Gen. 14:14-16), we read of the king of S’dom coming out to meet Avram (Gen. 14:17). However, before the king of S’dom speaks with Avram (Gen. 14:21-24), there is a brief narrative interruption where Malkitzedek, the king […]
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 […]
Pshats For Shots Parashah Sheet Up For Noah
Having started a new project of producing weekly parashah sheets last week, this week’s parashah sheet on Parashat Noah is now available!
What Did Noah Begin Doing with a Vineyard Upon Disembarking From the Ark?
In the course of the first story of drinking in the entirety of the Bible, we see Noah disembarking from the ark and doing something with regard to a vineyard: וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם Noah, man of the soil, [something] to plant a vineyard. It’s unclear how to translate the word ויחל here, […]
Exploring Noah’s Getting Drunk: What Did Ham Do To Noah?
In the very first instance of drinking wine in the Bible (Gen. 9), we read of Noah drinking, getting drunk, and then his son, Ham, doing something to him. What did Ham do to Noah? In this episode of Jewish Drinking: The Show, I (Rabbi Drew Kaplan) discuss this Noah-Ham incident with Professor John Bergsma, a […]
Pshats for Shots Parashah Sheet up for Genesis
A new project I’m launching is Pshats for Shots, a weekly one-page pdf with a brief d’var Torah, which is great for kiddush clubs, Shabbas meals, and other gatherings. Here’s the first sheet: Pshats for Shots – Genesis 5780
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 […]