Some Rabbinic Drinking Wisdom

ByRabbi Drew Kaplan

משנה סנהדרין ח׳:ה׳

יַיִן וְשֵׁנָה

לָרְשָׁעִים, הֲנָאָה לָהֶן וַהֲנָאָה לָעוֹלָם,

וְלַצַּדִּיקִים, רַע לָהֶן וְרַע לָעוֹלָם.

Mishnah Sanhedrin 8:5

Wine and sleep:

for the wicked, they are a benefit to them and a benefit for the world;

and for the righteous, they are bad for them and bad for the world.

פסחים ק״ו א:ה׳

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״זָכוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ״ — זוֹכְרֵהוּ עַל הַיַּיִן. אֵין לִי אֶלָּא בְּיוֹם, בַּלַּיְלָה מִנַּיִן? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״זָכוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ״.

Pesachim 106a:5

The Sages taught: “Remember the day of Shabbat to sanctify it” (Exodus 20:7): Make mention of it over wine.

This indicates that it's only during the day, where is it that it should be done at night?

The verse states: “Remember the day of Shabbat to sanctify it.”

כתובות ס״ה א:ז׳

תנא כוס אחד יפה לאשה

שנים ניוול הוא

שלשה תובעת בפה

ארבעה אפילו חמור תובעת בשוק ואינה מקפדת

Ketubot 65a:7

It was taught:

One cup is great for a woman;

two is a disgrace;

three she verbally requests sexual activity;

four - she requests sexual activity from even a donkey in the marketplace and she doesn't care.

פסחים ק״ט א:ג׳-ד׳

תנו רבנן:
חייב אדם לשמח בניו ובני ביתו ברגל שנאמר ושמחת בחגך

במה משמחם?

ביין

רבי יהודה אומר אנשים בראוי להם ונשים בראוי להן

Pesachim 109a:3-4

The Sages taught:

A man is obligated to gladden his children and the members of his household on a Festival, as it is stated: “And you shall rejoice on your Festival, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are within your gates” (Deuteronomy 16:14).

With what should one make them rejoice?

With wine.

Rabbi Yehudah says: "Men with what is fit for them and women with what is fit for them."

עירובין ס״ה ב:ב׳

אָמַר רַבִּי אִילְעַאי, בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים אָדָם נִיכָּר: בְּכוֹסוֹ, וּבְכִיסוֹ וּבְכַעְסוֹ.

Eruvin 65b:2

Rabbi Ila’ai said: “With three things can a person be recognized: with his cup, with his pocket, and with his anger.”

And some say, “Even with his laughter.”

עירובין ס״ה א:כ׳

אָמַר רַבִּי חָנִין: לֹא נִבְרָא יַיִן אֶלָּא לְנַחֵם אֲבֵלִים וּלְשַׁלֵּם שָׂכָר לָרְשָׁעִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״תְּנוּ שֵׁכָר לְאוֹבֵד וְגוֹ׳״.

Eruvin 65a:20

Rabbi Ḥanin said: "Wine was created only in order to comfort mourners and to reward the wicked, as it is stated: 'Give beer to one that is ready to perish, and wine to the bitter of soul. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more' (Proverbs 31:6)."

עירובין ס״ה א:י״ח

אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא: כׇּל הַמִּתְפַּתֶּה בְּיֵינוֹ — יֵשׁ בּוֹ מִדַּעַת קוֹנוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיָּרַח ה׳ אֶת רֵיחַ הַנִּיחוֹחַ וְגוֹ׳״.

Eruvin 65a:18

Rabbi Ḥanina said: "Whoever is appeased by his wine has in him the mind-set of his Creator, as it is stated: 'And the Lord smelled the sweet savor, and the Lord said in His heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake"' (Gen. 8:21)."

עירובין ס״ה א:י״ט

אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא: כׇּל הַמִּתְיַישֵּׁב בְּיֵינוֹ — יֵשׁ בּוֹ דַּעַת שִׁבְעִים זְקֵנִים. ״יַיִן״ נִיתַּן בְּשִׁבְעִים אוֹתִיּוֹת, וְ״סוֹד״ נִיתַּן בְּשִׁבְעִים אוֹתִיּוֹת. נִכְנַס יַיִן — יָצָא סוֹד.

Eruvin 65a:19

Rabbi Ḥiyya said: "Anyone who remains settled after wine has the mind-set of seventy Elders: Wine was given in seventy letters, secret was given in seventy letters; [when] wine enters, secrets emerge."

שבת קנ״ב א:ד׳

תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר קִיסְמָא אוֹמֵר: טָבָא תְּרֵי מִתְּלָת. וַוי לַהּ לַחֲדָא דְּאָזְלָא וְלָא אָתְיָא. מַאי הִיא? אָמַר רַב חִסְדָּא: יַנְקוּתָא. כִּי אֲתָא רַב דִּימִי אָמַר: יַנְקוּתָא — כְּלִילָא דְּוַורְדָּא, סָבוּתָא — כְּלִילָא דְחִילְפָא. תָּנָא מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי מֵאִיר: דּוֹק בְּכַכֵּי וְתַשְׁכַּח בְּנִיגְרֵי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַנִּשְׂבַּע לֶחֶם וַנִּהְיֶה טוֹבִים וְרָעָה לֹא רָאִינוּ״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ שְׁמוּאֵל לְרַב יְהוּדָה: שִׁינָּנָא, שְׁרֵי שַׂקָּיךָ וְעַיֵּיל לַחְמָךְ. עַד אַרְבְּעִין שְׁנִין — מֵיכְלָא מְעַלֵּי, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ — מִשְׁתְּיָא מְעַלֵּי.

Shabbat 152a:4

It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei bar Kisma says: The two feet of one’s youth are better than the three of old age, when one walks with a cane. Woe to the one who goes and does not come back. What is this referring to? Rav Ḥisda said: Youth. Similarly, when Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said: Youth is a crown of roses; old age is a crown of thorns. The Sage taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Grind food with your teeth and you will find in your feet the strength to carry your body, as it is stated: “For we were sated with our bread and were well, and saw no evil” (Jeremiah 44:17). Shmuel said to Rav Yehuda: Large-toothed one; untie your sack, that is, your mouth, and insert your food. Until the age of forty years, food is beneficial; from here and on, drinking is beneficial.