Warning!
Torah leaders have issued a special public call in anticipation of the upcoming Purim days, warning against excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages. Their warning also covers all days of the year so that people avoid sinful behavior which often accompanies intoxication. "This is forbidden as a sin against Hashem as well as against one's fellow man."
This includes drinking at family simcha celebrations which can lead to drunkenness or confusion. "One should drink only to the point of heightening a genuine sense of joy which leads to kedusha."
The special letter appearing on Tuesday in the Hebrew Yated Ne'eman was signed by the Rabbonim:
Yitzchok Zilberstein, Shimon Baadani, Sariel Rosenberg, Yehuda Silman, Moshe Shaul Klein, Menachem Mendel Lubin and Shmuel Eliezer Stern
states: "Even on Purim where the Shulchan Oruch states: `A man is obligated to be inebriated to the point where he cannot differentiate between `cursed is Haman' and `blessed is Mordechai,' nonetheless, the Mishna Berurah quotes the words of the Me'iri which state that in any case, we are not commanded to get drunk and degrade ourselves in the course of the simcha. We were not commanded to reach the point of reveling and making fools of ourselves but rather only to reach a stage of heightened joy stemming from a love for Hashem Yisborach and thanksgiving for the miracles He performed for us.'"
The Mishna Berurah adds that if one knows that [his drinking will lead him to] abuse any mitzvah, he should watch himself.
In their letter, our gedolim stress: "Experience has taught that many times, excessive drinking has even led to murder, such as with drunken driving which causes many accidents and tragedies and [in general] to serious prohibitions against Hashem and against one's fellow man. Doctors have declared that excessive drinking, particularly by young people, causes bodily and brain damage.
Therefore, even in family celebrations, one should be careful not to drink intoxicating beverages which lead to drunkenness or dizziness but only to drink as much as will lead to a heightened joy of mitzvah, leading in turn to kedusha.
The letter
