RABBI VELVY BOKOW
JEW YESH CAMP SA FOUNDER AND MD
Through experience with the youth and with informal education, I have become very aware of a dangerous trend of excessive alcohol consumption within our community.
It is common for parents to have a more relaxed mindset regarding alcohol on Purim, excusing the illegal element of their underage kids consuming alcohol. However, there’s even greater concern when minors are drinking beyond what mom and dad are supervising, when kids go to Purim parties and drink further without the knowledge or consent of their parents and without awareness of the dangers thereof.
Besides for the minors’ drinking, adults need to be careful and mindful too of their own drinking habits when there is clearly less control during Purim.
Some pointers are:
1. Before you pour someone else a drink, have you established that he or she is not driving before the effects wear off?
2. Have you established how much they have had previously?
3. Have you clarified if they’re on any chronic medication that may conflict with alcohol? Have you established if there are any allergies that may endanger the potential drinker? What about non-chronic medication such as recent antihistamine or even a common Myprodol or an antibiotic? Or pregnancy? Are you aware of the contraindications?
4. Have you labelled your juice punch with a sign “contains alcohol”, so as to create awareness for the person who might have thought it’s just juice?
5. Have you verified whether or not if pouring for another person’s child, whether the parent of that child is okay with it?
6. Are you going to take responsibility for whatever may occur to the person you are pouring for? If not… rather let them pour for themselves.
7. Has it occurred to you that some people struggle to say no to a drink?
8. Have you asked yourself if alcoholism can be nurtured? Maybe the every weekend teenage drinking that might be taking place actually started a few years back on Purim because someone poured him or her a drink and they liked the resulting feeling of “taking the edge off”?
I’m not saying don’t drink on Purim, I’m saying be responsible and think about the consequences of your potential actions.
Although Purim is a celebration, please don’t allow it to become the starting point of a long-term addiction or short- and medium term damage to those around you.
Take note of the halacha called dina demalchusa dina ie: that the law of the land effectively becomes the halacha and as such it is halachically prohibited for minors to consume alcohol and it is prohibited for adults to provide alcohol for minors.
I would like to invite the public to an important talk on Purim drinking -“Celebration vs Addiction”. Anyone who is interested in attending, please e-mail yeshcampsa@gmail.com
David
Mar 5, 2015 at 2:46 am
‘Drinking is often validated by a religion , not always taking into account the Secular laws of the country that apply to us all. The secular laws will always supersede those religious laws and we must all therefore be aware of, and obey them.
Religious occasions , and ritual ‘schnappsing’ must therefore be controlled, or, if not , assurance of disciplines, applied to those who cannot control themselves, be they ‘Israelites’ or any others of higher standing, within the religious community. No one can be exempt.
It is all our responsibility to do so.’