After Noach left the ark, “Noach
began to be a man of the soil and he planted the vineyard. He drank of the wine
and was intoxicated. He then uncovered himself in his tent (Breisheet 9:20-21).”
According to Radak, before the flood
people ate grapes but wine had not yet been invented. The story of Noach
getting drunk from drinking the wine that he produced as well as the aftermath warns
us to be careful when drinking wine as one can lose their mind while drunk,
become confused and act crazy.
Radak proves his point by adding a
quote by King Solomon from Mishlei (Proverbs 23:20-35) “Do not be among the
guzzlers of wine…Whose eyes are red? Those who linger over wine, those who come
to inquire over mixed drinks. Do not look at wine becoming red, for to one who
fixes his eyes on the goblet all paths are upright. His end is like one bitten
by a snake, like one dispatched by a serpent. Your eyes will see strange things
and your heart will speak duplicates. And you will be like one who sleeps in
the heart of the sea, like one who lies on top of a mast. In your drunkenness
you will say: “They struck me, but I did not become ill; they beat me but I was
unaware. When will I awaken? I will continue asking for more wine!”
Radak adds that the prophets Yishayahu
and Amos also spoke out against people who drink too much and get drunk and concludes
that the Torah recounts this negative story about Noach being the first person
to drink wine and get drunk and confused in order to warn us about the dangers
of drinking too much wine.
Rabbi Avraham Yaakov of Sedugora,
Ukraine (1820-1883) said that sometimes drinking wine is a mitzvah, but on
every mitzvah there is also the prohibition of “bal tosif”, do not add to the
mitzvah.
Last week, we celebrated Simchat
Torah and unfortunately many people in synagogues throughout the world drank
more than they should have and ended up desecrating the holiday rather than
rejoicing in it. Let’s learn a lesson from Noach’s embarrassment and try to
keep the drinking to a minimum and in good taste.
