Community Magazine March 2016

16 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Dedicated in memory of the pure neshamot of the Sassoon children “ Mishenichnas Adar marbim besimhah – When Adar comes, we increase our joy.” The onset of the month of Adar and the preparations for Purim call upon us to – among other things – understand what true joy is, and to dispel a dangerous, widespread misconception concerning the role of drinking on Purim. Unfortunately, too many people view Purim as a day of hefker – of lawlessness and unrestrained levity, when some of the strictest taboos of religious life suddenly fall by the wayside. Each year – and it pains me to write this – we see people engage in some of the worst kind of conduct guised as religious observance. Smoking, full intoxication, dangerous behavior, pranks and immodesty are some of the unacceptable “observances” that have somehow become synonymous with the celebration of the holy day of Purim. While halachah indeed requires drinking and festivity on Purim, and perhaps even mild inebriation, there is absolutely no basis whatsoever for bringing ourselves to a mindless, drunken stupor, and certainly not for doing things which endanger ourselves or others, or that compromise basic foundations of Jewish life such as self-discipline, human dignity, and modesty. Such conduct is not only inappropriate – but also represents the polar opposite of true joy, the kind of joy we are to experience on Purim and even throughout the year. Losing Our Humanity There are several ways to prove this from the words of our great sages. The Rambam, in his famous Guide for the Perplexed , develops the idea that the feature which distinguishes the human being from other living creatures is the intellect. As such, he writes, intoxication, which is, essentially, the deactivation of the human intellect, is the gravest violation a person can commit. A person can taint his soul through sin, but he still retains his humanity. When one gets drunk, he ceases to be human; he falls to the level of an animal. The Rambam goes so far as to say that if a person is unclothed and performing his bodily functions on the floor, this condition is preferable to intoxication. In the former case, the person needs simply to be told that this conduct is inappropriate, and he will, in all likelihood, desist. But if a person is drunk, he is temporarily incapable of processing information and understanding anything. Telling him to stop acting inappropriately would be like telling a monkey to act in a dignified manner. It will have no effect. And thus intoxication is worse than even the lowest depths of depraved behavior, because it does not allow the person the ability to change course. Is it possible that there is a mitzvah to divest ourselves of our humanity, and become an animal, for even a single day? Words of Rabbi Eli J. Mansour No, Purim is Not a Free-For-All "Unfortunately, too many people view Purim as a day of hefker – of lawlessness and unrestrained levity, when some of the strictest taboos of religious life suddenly fall by the wayside."