Halacha Headlines

WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS AND THE AMBULANCES ARRIVE The glorification of binge drinking under the banner of simchah shel mitzvah is a communal disgrace. Wealthy philanthropists appear to be financing spectacles designed as much to feed their own egos as to inspire genuine simchah, while respected rabbanim lend these events an aura of religious legitimacy. The presence of a respected rav does not make reckless conduct respectable. It makes the failure to condemn it more consequential. Equally disgraceful are American parents visiting Eretz Yisrael for Sukkos who ply their sons’ yeshivah friends with hard liquor and dismiss excessive drinking as ”boys will be boys.” Even the familiar recommendation to bring one’s son’s rebbi an expensive bottle of Scotch reflects how thoroughly alcohol has become intertwined with our culture of hospitality and prestige. The same permissiveness extends to certain Erev Shabbos Toameha gatherings. And we witness this same disgrace at our own weddings. We stand in the lobby socializing, mere feet from the bar, watching young men and women drink and repeatedly return for more. We recognize the excessive consumption, understand the danger, and deliberately look the other way. We cannot plead ignorance of conduct unfolding directly before our eyes. Our silence is not innocence. It is permission. Every bochur sitting at our table is somebody else’s son. Every young person repeatedly approaching that wedding bar is somebody’s child. We demand that others protect our children while refusing to exercise the same responsibility toward theirs. Parents cannot ply other people’s sons with alcohol and then express outrage upon discovering footage of their own children drinking recklessly on Instagram. We cannot condemn a culture we enthusiastically perpetuate.