APRIL 4 • 2024 | 43
J
N
Avoiding
Intoxication
I
n Shemini, Aaron’s elder
sons Nadav and Avihu offer
“strange fire” during the
first sacrificial offerings and are
suddenly incinerated. Why did
Nadav and Avihu die?
While the rabbis
offer varied interpre-
tations, many seize on
God’s words following
their deaths:
“
And Adonai spoke
to Aharon, saying:
Drink no wine or other
intoxicant, you or your
sons, when you enter
the Tent of Meeting,
that you may not die.
This is a law for all
time throughout the
ages.
” (Leviticus 10:9)
We Jews have a complex
tradition regarding alcohol.
On the one hand, the Torah
in Deuteronomy 14:26 tells us
that when we bring our tithe,
we may convert our produce to
money “and spend the money
on anything you want cattle,
sheep, wine or other intoxicants
or anything you may desire.
”
Wine and intoxicants are
available options for the cele-
brations, and the post-biblical
Purim custom of extreme ine-
briation became popular. Wine
is used to sanctify holiness
from Shabbat and holidays to
weddings, with four cups on
Pesach. It seems biblical figures
are drinking wine, too, so why
shouldn’t we?
But we must be careful, lest
we seek to rationalize contem-
porary American habits of daily
or near-daily drinking by seeing
Jewish tradition as sympathetic.
Why? Because the Torah
condemns the drunkenness of
Noah, Lot and others and notes
how alcohol interferes with the
capacity for sexual consent, a
vital issue considering the binge
drinking and harm on college
campuses (and beyond) today.
The tradition forbids one
from evading grief through
alcoholic beverages during
shivah, thus cautioning us
all that alcohol tends to be
used to numb, rather than
deal with, our feelings.
The primary example
of a vow to God is a vow
to abstain from all alcohol
consumption for a definite
period, while one removes
oneself from family and
social circle (like recovery
programs today). Finally,
wine in biblical times was
diluted with water.
Recently, we have learned
claims that a nightly glass of
wine is healthy are entirely
erroneous. (Wine drinkers tend
to be wealthier and have better
access to quality health care,
thus explaining previous data.)
New research shows that drink-
ing even small amounts of alco-
hol regularly can cause long-
term negative health effects.
We Jews should be at the
forefront of advocating, like
our tradition, for only mod-
erate alcohol consumption
and only in safe settings (like
Shabbat dinner) and on special
occasions. It will not always be
comfortable to speak against
society’s love affair with drink-
ing, but we might, as Rambam
derived from this parshah, learn
that by avoiding alcohol, we
find ourselves with less shame
and greater wisdom.
Rabbi Nadav Caine is rabbi of Beth
Israel Congregation, Ann Arbor.
SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Nadav
Caine
Parshat
Shemini:
Leviticus 9:1-
11:47; Exodus
12:1-20;
Ezekiel 45:16-
46:18.
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