B'CHODSHO Ad D’lo Yada… Madua?

Of all the guidelines connected to the festival of Purim, none is stranger than the Talmudic mandate issued by Rava:

M’chayeiv inish li’visumei b’Purya ad d’lo yada bein arur Haman l’varuch Mordechai.

An individual is required to become intoxicated on Purim to the point where he can not distinguish between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordechai.’1

Before striking to the philosophical core of this mandate, allow me to clarify my position concerning its practical observance.

I find myself squarely in the camp that decries the excesses often committed in its pursuit. Unbounded drinking is frequently demeaning and can become downright dangerous. At a time when alcoholism is a growing problem in the Jewish community at large, Purim should not provide a portal through which many young people might first enter that world.

The halachic alternative quoted by Rav

1

Talmud Bavli Megilla 7b

Mazal Tov to our dear friends

BY RABBI SHMUEL GOLDIN Faculty, OU Israel Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Ahavath Torah, Englewood NJ

Moshe Isserles in his gloss on the Shulchan Aruch is worthy of note:

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