Dinners / parlor meetings- limited to 2 bottles of up to $20.00 @
No Ruv should sell w/ chometz-no more than 1 bottle per household.
I'm not that familiar with all of the pratim; what I do know is that more and more people, especially the under 40 chevra are becoming addicts...they are seen in big numbers at AA meetings, and Rabbonim admit to me that it has become a major issue in their kehillas
Drinking in ModerationBy Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
The use of alcoholic beverages is a primary example of something that our Torah permits, yet prescribes definite limitations. In fact, there are Scriptural references, which are reinforced by Chazal in numerous ways, concerning the need for moderation in drinking alcohol. Indeed, the Talmud (Yoma 76b) relates the very word yayin (wine) to the word yelala (woe).
The rise of substance abuse, including alcohol, among adults and teenagers in our community is very troubling. Children who witness adults engaging in alcohol consumption—beyond what is reasonable or necessary for halachic purposes—learn that alcohol is a substance to which one can resort when looking for fun or when trying to alleviate feelings of anxiety or depression. Using alcohol this way can lead to addiction, with all of its serious consequences.
Then there is all the all-too-common phenomenon known as the “Kiddush Club.” These clubs consist of those who leave shul during the Haftarah reading on Shabbat morning to drink single-malt scotches and other liquors, often to excess. This practice disgraces the holy words and messages of the prophets found in the Haftarot; ironically, it is these very messages that these individuals would be wise to learn. I have personally witnessed how the effects of practices such as Kiddush Clubs can sometimes be literally lethal.
An Orthodox Jew cannot limit his concern to the kashrut of ingredients but must also consider the kashrut of his personal demeanor and the example he sets for others, especially children.
The use of alcoholic beverages is a primary example of something that our Torah permits, yet prescribes definite limitations. In fact, there are Scriptural references, which are reinforced by Chazal in numerous ways, concerning the need for moderation in drinking alcohol. Indeed, the Talmud (Yoma 76b) relates the very word yayin (wine) to the word yelala (woe).
The rise of substance abuse, including alcohol, among adults and teenagers in our community is very troubling. Children who witness adults engaging in alcohol consumption—beyond what is reasonable or necessary for halachic purposes—learn that alcohol is a substance to which one can resort when looking for fun or when trying to alleviate feelings of anxiety or depression. Using alcohol this way can lead to addiction, with all of its serious consequences.
Then there is all the all-too-common phenomenon known as the “Kiddush Club.” These clubs consist of those who leave shul during the Haftarah reading on Shabbat morning to drink single-malt scotches and other liquors, often to excess. This practice disgraces the holy words and messages of the prophets found in the Haftarot; ironically, it is these very messages that these individuals would be wise to learn. I have personally witnessed how the effects of practices such as Kiddush Clubs can sometimes be literally lethal.
An Orthodox Jew cannot limit his concern to the kashrut of ingredients but must also consider the kashrut of his personal demeanor and the example he sets for others, especially children.
So Lakewood will finally become a "dry" town.
ReplyDeleteIt's great, cause guys were seeing their problems twice as big-they are seeing double.
The latest episodes in Lakewood only compounds the problem.
If one is addicted the solution is ZERO bottles.
ReplyDeleteNot 1 here, 2 there, cheap stuff only, beer only.
The Takana should be 'NADA' - Nothing.
For l'chayims Grape Juice will do.
They say in 770 when you open the faucet Vodka comes out!
ReplyDeleteDokter Rabbiner Weinreb, the OU's Executive Director Emeritus, is not the right guy for the job of lecturing on morals.
ReplyDeleteHe did nothing about molester complaints brought to him at the OU and before that when he was a shul rabbi in Baltimore.
Weinreb's own son in law was setting a "fine" example as well with his large hoondt running around his front yard when he lived down the road from Mordechai Tendler's shul. He of course had to get rid of the mutt when he moved to Forshay as that doesn't quite fit with putting on a yeshivishe act. While in Forshay the eidim was named by the FBI as an unindicted co-conspirator in Barkany's ponzi scheme. Barkany himself was targeted in a raid by dozens of Federal agents who descended on the Gateways Pesach hotel to drag a handcuffed Barkany away as 100s of tinokos shel bais Rabban were watching in horror.
Here goes Paulie logic again…..
DeleteWoe to us that we can't come to a friend's simcha to participate without checking out the "BAR" first.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a Lakewood problem as one of your readers wrote, why not just look at your own backyard, FLATBUSH, BORO PARK MIDWOOD, CEDARHURST,......
I thought beer had bugs, very confusing advice.
ReplyDeleteNow in the 'dry' weeks (vochen) is the right time to address this issue. Controlling the people by making rules for them will not help. This is a problem deeper than that. If people have no sippuk except by sip and puke, then there is a deep problem, one that won't be solved by takanos. When things are as they should be, a bottle of whisky at a kiddush will be only moderately used by the attendants, the rest being put away until the next kiddush, and it'll still be there. If this isn't the case, then the void is bigger than takanos will resolve. The answer isn't for a short post on a blog, but at least we should start by recognizing the depth of the problem, and not fool ourselves into believing that it's nothing that some good rules won't take care of.
ReplyDeleteGuns don't kill, people do
ReplyDeleteAlcohol doesn't make one drunk, drinking does.
As practicing Orthodox Jews we must be trained in putting mind over matter period!
Can't figure out6yis the drinking the issue or the expense of buying it the issue??
ReplyDeleteWhy are you mixing the two???
If the expense is the issue (limiting to $20.00 - why? Maybe the limit should be $15.00 or less for those small bottles of "less expensive" booze) then:
Cut out the 300 - 400 people Chasunas!!! Just make a quick chupah in some shul - give "laikach in bronfen" - go home - have ah very intimate "seedah" - go back to shul for "simchas choosin v'kalleh" with "geshmakeh kigel" and Seltzer !!!
Cut out the "Goisheh Music" - meaning the songs themselves AND the volume (volume is almost as bad as drinking).
Cut out those "Narisheh" picture expense that no one EVER EVER looks at more once ("efsher" twice).
"Ailoo maay" its ah Mitzvah and for Mitzvahs one spends money - then why limit the liquor expense ????
The answre is: "Taikee"
Too late for those takonos, many families depend on our local liquor stores for parnoso.
ReplyDelete