The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-21
THE BURNING QUESTION
BL RABBI JUL US T. LOEB.

Wio WIS unaware OF the nature OF inc
grape juice, that an inordinate use of this
mystic fluid-as of all the good things
will lead to unhappy results and will en-
tail the curse upon man; as 1t happened
In the case of his own son, Ham, whereas
the moderate use of the same was to be
regarded everywhere in the history of
civilization as blessing, and not curse.
Malki-Zedek, king of Salem Jerusalem
of after times) brings out bread and
wine, the two noblest gifts of nature,
wherewth he blesses Abraham by the
Most High God, the possessor of heaven
and earth When Isaac is about to
bless Jacob, he eats of the delicacies and
drinks of the wine, in orde to feel happy
and pleased with God and all the world;
as according TO the sages, the Divine
Presence can only rest upon blissful
soul. And thus he blesses Jacob with
1.-THE dew of heaven and the fairness OF
the earth, and an abundance of corn and
wine.'
In the blessings of the patriarchs wine
is always coupled with corn. The land
of Israel is characterized as a land OF
corn. wine and oil Deut. wills; xxxlii :2S;
II Kings. xviii, ss; Isaiah xxxvi. II;
Chronicles, xxxii:2S, etc, etc.
In that portion of Scripture wherein
the Israelites are enjoined upon visiting
the Holy City thrice in year, rejoicing
before the Lord in the prosperity granted
to them, it is said: And thou shalt eat
the 1.-THE of thy corn. or thy
wine. and of thy oil LET cetera." Deut
xiv:2S) And thou shalt lay out that
money for whatsoever thy soul longeth
after for oxen or for sheep, or for wine,
or for strong drink, or for whatever thy
soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat
it before the Lord thy God, and thou
shalt rejoice, thou and thy household
Qbid. :26) And the same be given ITO
the Levite with the stranger, and the
fatherless, and the widow, that are with
in thy gates. and they shall eat and be
satisfied in order that the Lord thy God
may bless thee in all the work of thy
hand which thou doest." Qbid:29) (Of
course, such purchases and giving away
of wine and strong drink would be made
a misdemeanor under the Fuller bill of
the Alabama state legislature.)
There is not single instance In the
Judaio faith wherein teetotalism should
be commended a virtue, and there is
not a single person from among the
Jewish patriarchs. prophets and sages,
who should have made a practice OF alb
stention from wine, or from the honor
able enjoyment of any other earthly
pleasure. The two solitary cases of Gam
son and Samuel recorded in the Bible
here there Is nothing In the eventful ca
reers of both OF these two leaders in
Israel to indicate that they by them
selves were to abstain from wine and
strong drink. On the contrary. the ar
rangement and attendance by Samson of
the customary drinking bouts for seven
days Judges KILLS; xvi:1O, as we'll as
the attendance by Samuel Of public fes-
tivity Il Samuel, chapter ix) which
49, nol44 L \
never occurred without wine-both OF
these Instances go to prove that even
these two ordained Nazarites were not
total abstainers from wine. Their moth
ers during pregnancy did abstain, and
they themselves let their hair remain in
unshorn state. The third rule relating
to Nazaritism; 1. e.. the keeping from a
dead body, also may have applied to
Samuel. Tradition likewise ascribes Naz-
artisan to Absolom. son of David, who
was peculiarly noted for his unshorn
locks and he had the hair of his head
shaven but once year II Samuel, xiv:
rs; Talmud, Nazir:D; and he, too, is never
spoken of as an abstainer from wine.
The Rachabites. in the 18th chapter of
Jeremiah, are pointed to as a noble ex-
ample of obedience to their fathers bid
ding, and nothing else. Amos, chapter
2, verses HIP, is simply an exoitation
against the excuses which were then
rampant In the kingdom of Israel
Drinking wine was prohibited under the
Mosaic law only to the priests during
worship; to the Nazarite during the Pc
Rod of his Nazariteness which, II un-
specified. implied 80 days (Nazir. 81, and
Tor all Israelites on occasions of mourn
ing or penitence. as in vogue among most
of the Jewish communities even to the
present day, and when. according to
'Shulchan-Aruch," no weddings festiv-
tiles or rejoicings of any kind are per-
mitted to be held
Barring these instances, ''Nazaritism,"
or total abstinence was never encour-
aged in the Jewish faith and Biblical
teaching.
The terms by which the drink articles
are named In the Bible. and which in
effect, good or bad, are equal to the va
rious beverages of the present day, are
the following: "Yayin," meaning ordi-
nary old wine; 'Tirosch," vintage, first
years wine; "Chemer," a red foaming
wine of excellent quality; "Sheehar,"
strong drink; any intoxicating liquor
prepared or distilled from barley, honey
or dates (see Gossenius), "Mezog," or
'Mesoch," wine mingled with spices;
"Sove." wine, or drink in general
These terms are used mostly In a good
sense, and often also in q disparaging
sense; which goes to prove that the
''two-wine theory" by which some would
make US believe that In Bible times there
was a distinction known between intoxi-
eating wine and a sort of unfermented
wine, which latter. they aver, was in use
among the worthy and respectable for
sacred purposes-this is such a fimsy ar
gument that it is really not worth the
while to discuss. Every Bible student
will readily discover the fallacy of it.
If the Bible be taken as criterion in the
matter the whole prohibition scheme must
fall to the ground; as the wine in Holy
Writ is invariably regarded as a divine
blessing, boon from the bounties nof
Natures God.