In a special shailos and teshuvos ahead of Purim, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein issued guidelines on the obligation to be careful about drinking too much wine on Purim, especially this year when Purim falls out on Erev Shabbos.

At the end of his lengthy remarks about the pitfalls of drinking more wine than Chazal recommended, HaRav Zilberstein issued a surprising p’sak, saying that it’s a special mitzvah this year to refrain from getting drunk.

The Rav wrote: “And especially this year when Purim falls out on Erev Shabbos and one who gets drunk may, chalilah, be mechallel Shabbos, rachmana litzlan – anyone who refrains from drinking and does what the Rema wrote that he should drink more than his learning and sleep – fulfills a great mitzvah and prevents himself from severe aveiros, that he won’t be mechallel Shabbos from drunkenness or carry muktzah items and the like. This year it’s a mitzvah to refrain from drunkenness because of Kavod Shabbos!”

Read the full shailos and teshuvos below:

Shaila: What is the fine line between drinking wine b’simcha and deteriorating to a state that is not fitting for a Ben Torah?

HaRav Zilberstein: “Wine has many benefits. It brings simcha and it says in Masechtas Brachos that Shira is only said over wine. Kiddush and Havdalah are also made on wine. But on the other hand, wine poses great danger, and therefore it is only considered a mitzvah if you drink wine in the amount that Chazal determines. If if you start to overdo it, it is a very great danger.”

“And it is possible to say that all the the tzaros in this world began as a result of drinking more wine than Halacha requires, as it says in Masechtas Sanhedrin, that the sin of the Eitz HaDaas that brought death to the world was that Hakadosh Baruch Hu forbade Adam HaRishon to eat from the vine and drink wine. And it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh that the decree was until Shabbos, for then he would make Kiddush over wine. But he was tempted and drank the wine beforehand. Also Noach, after he emerged from the Mabul and began to build the world could have based the world on the foundations of mussar and Derech Eretz, and our whole world would have looked different. But he failed to learn from Adam HaRishon and drank wine and got drunk, and this caused a lot of tzaros in the world.”

“It also says in the Gemara there that if someone drinks wine and gets drunk, he has a red face and looks good in this world, but in the next world his face will be white from tza’ar. And drinking more than necessary brings poverty, woes, sorrow, strife, physical injuries, and all types of tzaros to a person. After the Gemara brings more tzaros that wine can cause, it concludes ‘There is nothing that brings lamentation to a person but wine.'”

“Wine also stimulates the Yetzer Hara in a person and causes him to sin, as Chazal said in Masechtos Berachos: ‘Don’t get drunk on wine and don’t sin because drunkenness leads to sin.’ And so wrote the Rambam: ‘Anyone who gets drunk is a sinner and is disgraceful and loses his wisdom.’ And the Beit Yosef brought in the name of the Orchos Chaim: ‘Drunkenness is completely forbidden and there is no greater transgression than this because it causes Gilui Arayos and Shefichas Damim and many other aveiros.’ And the Biur Halacha wrote that several places in the Torah and the Neviim mention that drunkenness is a great michshol (stumbling block).”

“And in the Zohar, it says that a Ben Torah who gets drunk is called ‘a golden nose ring in a pig’s nose,’ and is Mechallel Shem Shamayim. And [getting drunk] is the minhag of reshaim to arouse their yetzer hara, for the yetzer hara is aroused only from wine. Therefore, anyone who drinks more wine than he is used to and becomes intoxicated should know that he is transgressing an issur—one that is very despicable and causes himself many sins and tzaros.”

“There are those who get drunk on Purim night, and this is something that has no basis in Halacha. Drunkenness at this time [on Purim night] is not only not a mitzvah but has great pitfalls, as is known, and one is not fulfilling a mitzvah but is only drunk with all the inherent disgrace. This also applies at chasunahs [drinking that does not fulfill a mitzvah]. There are, lo aleinu, bochurim who drink to intoxication and this is norah v’ayom (terrible and frightening). The one who drinks causes himself sins and many tzaros, and about this it can be said that ‘it is not the mouse that steals, but the hole that steals.’ The mechutanim who bring the wine and other alcoholic beverages will ultimately be brought to din for causing troubles to bochurim tehorim v’kedoshim.”

Shaila: In practice, how should we act on Purim? What should we do to distance ourselves from the great michsholim (stumbling blocks)?

HaRav Zilberstein: “The only time of the year that we find that there is an issue to get tipsy is only on Purim during the day, and even on that, many disagree that it is not as simple as it seems. And it is impossible that Chazal gave us a mitzvah that causes a michshol. Everyone should ask a Shailas Chacham on how to behave. But we must remember what is written in Chayei Adam: ‘Anyone who knows about himself that he will be mezalzel (disrespectful) of any mitzah at that time – Netilas Yadayim, a bracha, Birchas Hamzon, or not davening Mincha or Maariv – and he’ll act frivolously, it is better not to get drunk, and all his actions should be l’Shem Shamayim.”

“And it should be noted that sometimes there is a great michshol that a drunk person davens Mincha or Maariv. And it says in the Gemara, and so it is ruled in the Shulchan Aruch, that if one cannot speak before the King, if he davens, his tefillah is a toevah [abomination].  And in the Gemara Berachos, it says that if he davens, it is as if he was oved Avodah Zara. So this is also a great michshol – if he knows that he will lose a proper tefillah, he should not get drunk.”

As mentioned above, HaRav Zilberstein concluded with the surprising p’sak, which relates specifically to this year: “And especially this year when Purim falls on Erev Shabbos and if he gets drunk he may, chalilah, be mechallel Shabbos, rachmana litzlan, anyone who refrains from drinking and does what the Rema wrote that he should drink more than his learning and sleep, fulfills a great mitzvah and prevents himself from severe aveiros – that he won’t be mechallel Shabbos from drunkenness or carry Muktzah items and the like. This year it’s a mitzvah to refrain from drunkenness because of Kavod Shabbos!”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)