Community Magazine June 2019

24 Community Magazine לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה. Avoiding “Intoxication” in All Its Forms Back in the Book of Beresheet, we read that right after the flood, Noah planted a vineyard, produced wine, drank, and became inebriated, eventually disgracing himself. The Midrash relates that as Noah went to plant the vineyard, a certain shed (“demon,” or harmful spirit), one of Satan ’s minions, approached him and said, “Let’s make a partnership.” The shed then warned, “But be careful not to cross into my territory – because once you do, I will hurt you.” The Midrash means that when a person wishes to enjoy wine, he must exercise extreme care. The joy of wine amounts to a risky “partnership” of sorts with the forces of evil. If appropriate boundaries are not maintained, a person can get hurt. Once a person crosses over the line, he falls into Satan ’s trap, and becomes blind. He doesn’t see properly. He can no longer differentiate between right and wrong, between proper and improper, between good and evil. There are many different kinds of “wine” that can blind us. Of course, there are the familiar addictions that resemble alcoholism, such as drugs and gambling. Once a person crosses over the line, he is trapped, as unfortunately happens all too often, devastating lives. But there are also other types of “wine” that impair our vision. Wealth and luxury, for example, can be “blinding.” They turn large homes, expensive cars and fancy vacations into the end goal, with everything else relegated to secondary importance. Social standing can blind us by convincing us that whatever the group values must be good, and so anything that wins their approval and admiration is appropriate. Just as alcoholics ruin their lives in their frantic, unrestrained pursuit of drinks, so do many people ruin their lives by pursuing things like wealth, social approval, and prestige at the expense of things which are so much more valuable and so much more important. These are some of the types of “wine” to which we can fall prey, the tricks used by the Satan to ensnare us and lead us away from the true goals we ought to be pursuing. And at no time are these tricks more effective than during the summer weeks. Confronting the Modern-Day Summertime Satan The truth is, even before I read this illuminating piece by Rav Shimshon of Ostropoli, if somebody were to have asked me when Satan has the greatest power, I would have guessed the summer months. Actually, it would have been a no-brainer. It’s not at all hard to see the Satan ’s special summertime power in our day and age. For one thing, it is always around the beginning of Tammuz when the yeshivot close. Thousands of impressionable children, who throughout the school year are exposed to the sacred teachings of our Torah each day, are sent away from their studies for the two months of Tammuz and Av. The hot weather of these months leads to drastically lower standards of modest attire. The enjoyment of swimming leads to inappropriate interaction between the genders. The vacation season leads people to travel to places where they have no access to shuls or kosher food. The generally laid back atmosphere results in a laid back attitude towards religious observance.