TEVA TALK
Glowing with happiness for the new couple, the host waits for silence so his heartfelt words can fill the room. Guests quickly refill their glasses, preparing for the inevitable toast that will close his remarks. Whether wine or whisky, everyone raises their drink in unison and shouts “L’chaim,” their sincere wishes of bracha and health imbuing the moment with meaning and warmth.
Raise Your Glass
Alcohol is used
for many occasions, from a bris to sheva brachos. It also marks
both the beginning and end of Shabbos with kiddush and havdala, and,
of course, the four cups are a centerpiece of the Pesach Seder. Purim,
however, is in a category of its own. On this day, alcohol is reverently placed
on a pedestal of glory and often consumed in large quantities.
There are many
types of alcohol to choose from, and people certainly have their preferences.
But at the end of the day (or at least by the end of the seuda) does it
really matter what was in your cup? The key ingredient in all alcohol is
ethanol. It is the source of the happy “buzz” you feel, as well as most of the
health risks. (Ethanol is also used in manufacturing as a solvent for resins
and oils, in lotions, perfumes, and gasoline.) Ethanol is created when yeast
transforms sugars through a chemical process called fermentation. The
differences between alcoholic drinks are primarily from the base sugars used.
Wine, for example, is made from grapes or other fruits, whereas beer is made
from malted barley or other grains.
The fermentation
temperature and duration will affect the results as well. Lager beers are
produced at lower temperatures for a longer amount of time, as opposed to ales,
which ferment at higher temperatures more quickly.
Bottoms Up
Many people
believe that white wine is made from white grapes and red wine from red grapes,
but both begin with the juice of red grapes, which is colorless. For white
wine, the grapes are pressed and the skins discarded. For red wine, the grapes
are mashed and the skins are left in the juice while it ferments. The pigment
in the skins leaches into the liquid, giving it its color. Rose wines are made
the same way; they just have a shorter maturation time. Once the desired color
intensity is reached, the skins are removed and the wine is left to ferment
further.
Sweet wines do not
necessarily have extra sugar added. Rather, the fermentation process is stopped
before all the natural sugars are used up. For those who prefer dry wines, the
yeast is allowed to run its course until none of the original sugar is left.
When sampling a
new wine, the aroma and taste are the most noticed qualities. But these could
never be achieved without first harvesting a huge quantity of grapes. Around
600 to 800 grapes are needed to produce one standard 750-milliliter bottle of
wine. In America, most of these grapes are grown in California, where they are saturated
with sunshine and warmth. Even though we do make some notable wines, such as
Zinfandel and California Chardonnay, we are far from the top in the
grape-growing industry, trailing China, Italy, France, and Spain.
Happy Hour
Spirits, which
include vodka, brandy, gin, whiskey, tequila, and rum, have a unique production
method called distillation, which involves heating the liquid to remove excess
water and impurities, thus concentrating its alcoholic content. The final
product is therefore more potent than either wine or beer. Most wines are
served in five-ounce portions and contain 12% alcohol, while beers ares
commonly consumed in 12-ounce servings that contain 5% alcohol, and spirits are
usually drunk in 1.5-ounce servings and are 40% alcohol.
There are other
significant differences, giving each drink its own unique signature. One of the
main factors is the amount of time needed to produce them. Tequila is made
exclusively from the blue agave plant in Mexico, which takes around 10 years to
grow. So, the next time you take a quick shot of tequila, think about how much
patience went into producing it for you. Vodka can be made relatively quickly;
it only takes a few weeks to make more – fortunate because, although alcohol is
usually readily available, there was one day in history when Russia ran out. On
May 9, 1945, so many Russians drank vodka to celebrate their victory over Nazi
Germany that the entire country ran out in 22 hours!
One Too Many
According to the National Institute
for Health, drinking too much alcohol over time or even on one occasion does
carry serious consequences. Current research reveals that ethanol causes damage
regardless of which type of alcohol you drink or how much. Unlike other
substances, your body cannot store alcohol and must process it immediately.
While one small drink may not do extensive harm, people usually don’t call it a
night after just one drink. Each drink must be metabolized, which damages liver
cells. Over time, alcohol can cause nausea, diarrhea,
abdominal pain, hepatitis, and liver disease.
Intoxication can
also cause too many bacteria to grow in the gut, which will then move through
the intestinal walls. If this sepsis reaches the liver, it will cause liver
damage. In addition, it weakens the heart muscle, initiating irregular heart
rhythms, as well as weakening the immune system, leaving the individual more
vulnerable to infections.
The treatment is
surprisingly simple: just stop drinking. The human body can heal itself given
enough time and the removal of whatever was irritating it. But continuing to
consume alcohol repeatedly will crash the system until the damage is permanent
and life threatening.
It is not
surprising that ethanol disrupts the brain’s ability to control balance,
memory, clear speech, and good judgment. Everyone has hilarious stories of
unfortunate Purim guests dissolving into incoherence, ultimately finding
themselves on the front lawn trying to remember what they ate that day that was
brown. But instead of laughing at their embarrassment, perhaps we should feel compassion
for their compromised state.
Maybe Call It a
Night
The saddest part
is that it is entirely preventable. The CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention) maintains that “excessive alcohol use is the leading cause of
preventable deaths in the United States.” The National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse reported that more than 178,000 people died in 2025 from excessive
alcohol use – each one of them preventable.
Fortunately, as
awareness rises about the damage alcohol does to one’s health, more and more
people are making smart choices. Drinking levels, in both amount and frequency,
are at an all-time low in America. As people realize how much long-term damage
is done from even a few drinks, they are prioritizing their health and quality
of life over a few hours of fun. This trajectory mirrors the decline of smoking
once people understood how bad it is for the body.
Since the brains
of teenagers are still developing, they are even more susceptible to the
negative effects of alcohol than adults. Adolescents may suffer from “blackouts,”
which are memory holes caused by ethanol blocking the transfer of information
from short-term to long-term memory storage. After only three drinks, the part
of the brain that controls basic life-support functions (such as breathing,
heartrate, and the gagging reflex, which prevents choking) may also begin to
shut down.
Just One Nightcap
Ethanol has one
positive effect: good feelings. Alcohol does reduce stress, helps people relax,
and can produce a sense of euphoria. As a result, the craving for the calm
alcohol creates is understandably seductive. Although some studies have shown
that cardiovascular health is improved from a daily glass of red wine, further
research is needed before confirming this recommendation because the other
health risks involved far outweigh the one advantage.
In Yiddishkeit,
wine is used to elevate, to raise the level of kedusha, and to enhance a
simcha. According to the Gemara, the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in
Gan Eden may have been grapes. This explains why the first thing Noach did
after the mabul was to plant a vineyard; he was trying to return the
world to the state it had been in before the chet. Unfortunately, he did
not use the grapes wisely and got drunk, a path that spiraled into several
sins.
Wine is powerful, and its ability to benefit us is countered with its
capability to wreak great harm. Every time you raise your glass, do it with the
awareness of what you can gain balanced with what you stand to lose – and
always drink to good health.
L’chaim!
Debbie Glazer
lives in Pikesville with her family and teaches language arts in Bnos Yisroel
High School. She can often be found either writing or reading and loves to
share her passion for the written word with others.
