Los Angeles herald., 1905-05-06
USE AND ABUSE OF
FERMENTED WINE
Rabbi EdeInan Explains the Significance
of Wine Drinking as Shown by the
Old and New TeSfan1enfS

heart; let such one drink, that he
may forget his sorrow, and remember
his poverty and trouble no more"
Now, would kindly ask, what kind
of "yayin" (wine) has the quality to
make the unfortunate forgetful of his
misery and misfortune? Is It the fer
mented or the unfermented? "Yayin,
shechar, chemer and thirosh" are all
mentioned in the Bible as a blessing,
and were only forbidden to the priest
when he entered in to the holy 'taber-
nacle to do the service for the congre-
cation, as we read in Leviticus x:S-9:
"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, say
ing: 'Yayin' and 'shechar' (wine and
other strong drink shalt thou not
drink, thou and thy sons with thee,
when we come into the tabernacle of
the congregation, lest we die; and it
shall be as a statute forever through
out your generations"
From the very fact that this section
follows Immediately, the one containing
the death of Aaron's two sons, Nadab
and Abihu, it was the opinion of one of
our most learned rabbis-Rabbi Ish
mael of blessed memory-that they died
suddenly, because they had entered the
sanctuary in a state of drunkenness.
But be this as it may, 1t is indeed an
energetic prohibition against the use of
any intoxicating drink by ministers of
any denomination, or any judge, before
they engage in their solemn duties.
Significance of Abstinence
OF a same nature we read in Num-
bers, chapter vi, 1-21, that a Nazarite
Ca Jew who bound himself by vow to
extraordinary purity of life and devo-
tion) was to abstain from "yayin" and
"shechar' as long as the vow was
upon him; he was then to bring a
peace Offering when he was again per-
mitted to drink Intoxicating drink. We
also read in the thirty-fifth chapter of
jeremiah that the Rachabites refused
to drink wine because they had prom
ised their father before his death that
they would not drink wine. outside of
this it would indeed be in vain for any
learned man to prove either by the Old
Bible or New Testament where the use
of strong drink is anywhere forbidden,
or where total abstinent laws are to be
met with. 1t is only against the abuse
and the excess in use of wine that the
people were repeatedly admonished.
The Jew is never to forget that he owes
all enjoyments and exertions to the
benef1cence of God, that in enjoy
ing Gods gift he shall ever remain
mindful of the fact that he is a human
being endowed with reason, and with
an immortal soul.
l claim to be as decidedly for tenn
perance and against intemperance as
any one. Nay more, here openly say
that 1 detest the common public drunk
ard far more then the common high
wayman, but 1 differ greatly in the
means employed for the purpose of
bringing about the result which we all
so ardently desire to see l am of the
opinion that the producers of unadul-
terated wines and liquors. the brewers
of good and pure beer and the legisla
ture and executive officers who see to
1t that no wine or beer, adulterated
with poisoned mixtures are put on the
market, do more good for the cause of
true temperance than many pulpit
preachers who denounce millions of
men, women and children as wine
bibbers," as drunkards and criminals of
the worst kind and condemn them to
everlasting hell and damnation, simply
because they make innocent use of
Gods gift and bless him for the good
thing that he bestows upon mankind,
as he commanded us in his Holy Bible.
Many, if not all the readers of these
lines, have either heard or read of the
numerous great poets who drank wine
and sang it's praises. Will anyone de-
nounce them as drunkards or criminals
of the worst kind? Was the inspired
King David. whose psalms are heard
in all synagogues, cathedrals and
churches and who not only drank wine
but who said in his 1O4th psalm that
wine gladdens the heart of man." was
he also a drunkard and a criminal?
Or was the author of the Songs of
Solomon" a drunkard and a criminal
because he drank wine and said in the
first verse of the fifth chapter of Song
of Songs: II have drank my wine with
milk; drink ye also, o friends, and
drink. yea. abundantly, @ ye beloved"
There are many divines who point
to the pious example of the Prophet
Daniel, "who refused to drink wine at
the palace Of King Nebuchadnezzar,"
and claim it in support of total alb
stinence, but they are totally wrong,
for the quotation from Daniel does
not say that Daniel refused to drink
the wine because 1t was forbidden, but
because he would not defile himself
by either eating or drinking food and
drink that came from a heathen's ta-
BILE. But why not point to the pious
and noble character of the Patriarch
Abraham, who, as it is written, made