Anecdotes, Alcohol and Adrenalin

I seem to have slipped last week by not writing an entry. For the first time I was really bogged down with work and preparing for a Dvar Torah (sermon) that I am going to be delivering to my classmates in just a few hours. Contrary to what many may think about my gift of gab, standing up in front of a room full of people is one thing that makes my stomach turn. In light of that, I will be leading tonight's service with two friends and plan on celebrating with friends afterwards and I believe I have a topic that will resonate with a 20 - something crowd...alcohol. I've pasted the Dvar Torah that I am giving at the bottom of this entry for those who may wish to know more about the awesome tradition of alcohol in Jewish life and the way in which we can find our moderation for alcohol consumption in our Jewish texts.

So, now that I have made up what I consider to be a good excuse for my slacking on sharing thoughts with people back home, I think I am just going to share a few thoughts on the changing weather and feelings as I enter my 5th month...and near my half way point of my time here, in Jerusalem. My dad came and left and my trip home to visit and be with my friends and family is on the horizon. I am sandwiched between my roots right now and it causes me to feel like I am finding my ground here...laying some temporary roots.

A friend from back in the States arrived and brings with him familiarity and stories of common friends that will always bring laughter and the feeling of 'home.' I've started to find friends in my program that do not feel are stemming out of need but, rather, out of common ground that attracts people into friendship. I even have one friend who is as nuts about music as I am (although he was in a punk band and not a jam band) and we sit for hours sharing music, laughter and thoughts of how to enjoy life here beyond the small American bubble that we live, work and study in.

I am starting a year long dialogue this week with other Rabbinic students in Jerusalem, from all different back grounds, to talk about difference and simliarites and try and build bridges with rabbis trained in different seminaries and who will cater to different facets of the Jewish community. Sometimes I think I can't squeeze any more Jewish stuff into my day and then I stop dragging my heels and remind myself that I am living in the Jewish country...there is no escape or down time. People even wear kipot when they play football and poker.

Those are my thoughts right now. Each day I am finding more questions and feeling more and more confused by the complexity of a people that so many wish to call ONE. My thoughts go in directions that I hesitate to write down casually because of the great wealth of knowledge that I am presented with that cause me to have such thoughts. I find myself listening to the story of a female pioneer of the settlements in the West Bank or a man that would be on the frontline at a Jews for a Palestinian state rally in Berkeley, CA and then I find myself sitting on the couch with a group of guys who moved to Israel when they finished high school and have been here for 8 years living and working and my mind spins in circles. There is so much to digest and so much to soak up...and I wonder how it all makes sense to my return and journey forward.

Within the confusion, it feels right and it feels like there are opportunities to take things at a smaller level and start to naw at them...although I'm not prepared to say how or what. I just feel that the confusion is also in a clear place and its not without reason. They told us when we first arrived that in many ways this year would not orient, but dis-orient us. I must say...in all ways...they could not have been more right on...but in the process of dis-orientation I find myself comfortable existing with who I am at my core.

Enjoy my thoughts on Parshat Noach and alcohol.
Shabbat shalom!

It is days before I come to Israel. I’m sitting in what many would consider to be an unlikely venue for a rabbinic discussion: backstage at the Funk Box in downtown Baltimore. It’s here that the most asked list of questions since announcing my intention to go on to rabbinical school comes up one more time:
“Can women be rabbis? Do you have to be celibate? So, does this mean we can’t drink beer together?”
This inquirer was not Jewish, but even many of my Jewish friends have questions about what going into the rabbinate means. My response to these questions usually sounds something like: “Judaism celebrates life, including getting married, having children and even buying a round of beers in the company of friends.
In is this week’s portion: Noach, we see the first story of alcohol consumption and excess in the Torah. After the entire world’s population has been wiped out, the storm passes and Noah is left with the awesome charge of having to repopulate the land. He has been commissioned by God to take on a task that would probably drive most of us to drink. In B’reyshit chapter 9 vs. 20 and 21 after Noah emerges from the ark, the first thing he does is plant a vineyard and gets drunk! vah-yish-tay min-ha-yayin v-yish-kar.
There is a lot written in our tradition about the role of alcohol in Jewish life. We welcome and depart from the Sabbath with the sweet taste of wine; we drink four cups of wine at the Passover seder; in halakha we have rules about how much is too much and even how much is too little; and during the celebration of Purim we are actually commanded to drink to the point of drunkenness. The Talmud defines this as when we can no longer tell the difference between “Baruch Mordechai v. Arur Haman”, Blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman. On Purim, we are actually commanded to reach a level of intoxication where we can no longer differentiate between that which is blatantly obvious when sober.
Judaism celebrates life. It is not a religion of self-denial. Indulgence is allowed, but within reason. So, the question we should be asking is not whether we can or can’t…we can! Instead, it is our responsibility to look within the “we can!” and ask how to do so within moderation. As King Solomon teaches in cohelet: for everything there is a time and a place…including alcohol.
In Bamidbar we are introduced to the Nazarite. Nazarites believe that pleasure leads to evil. They abstain from indulging in sensual pleasures. By their vow they hope to avoid falling to temptation and desire. Rabbi Eleazar Ha-Kappar teaches: the Nazarite was required to bring a sin offering after a period of abstenence because by withholding from life’s pleasures he had sinned. He says that self-denial of life’s pleasures made them unable to fulfill commandments in the Torah. The Nazarites were required to repent because they had failed to participate fully in life‘s joys.
Although the Nazarites were deemed sinners for their abstinance, this does not give us a green light to enter a no limit zone to become drunkards. Midrash Tanhuma tells us that when Noah planted the vineyard, Satan appeared. Satan propositioned Noah to go into the alcohol business with him and Noah agreed. To seal the deal of this new business partnership Satan brought forth 4 animals to be slaughtered and, with their blood, irrigated the vine they had planted together. These animals included a lamb, a lion, a monkey and a pig. The midrash goes on to explain that when a person drinks a first cup of wine he acts like a lamb, humble and meek. With the second cup, he becomes mighty as a lion and proceeds to brag extravagantly. A third cup of wine causes him to be like a monkey, dancing, giggling, hopping about and with a loose tongue. After a 4th cup he becomes like a pig, without ability to move, rolling around in his own mess, and blind to his state of being. This text is clear that excess leads us to animal-like behavior of the filthiest kind.
Maimonides writes that in all things we must find ha-shvil ha-zahav, the golden mean or, better known to us…a happy medium. Returning to our friend Noah: He is not our role model for alcohol consumption. To put it nicely, Noah had a drinking problem. Noah has just seen the world destroyed by the hand of God and has been hired as project manager to over see the repopulation of the land. Most of us have a difficult day at work or school and we think only about meeting a friend at happy hour to talk about our day and regain a feeling of calm. For this reason, alcohol can be a dangerous tool that leads to escape and destructive behavior. But, Judaism also recognizes wine and alcohol as tools of celebration and sanctification. v-yayin yeh-sah-mach leh-vav eh-nosh, Wime makes the heart rejoice. so, my wish for us is not that we look to Noah as our drinking buddy. Rather, we should remember that our tradition commands us to enoy life’s pleasures, but within moderation. May we work towards our shvil h’zahav, our happy medium, and celebrate life always. L’chaim!