Introduction With this season featuring the majority of providing of the priestly blessing amongst many diasporic Ashkenazic communities, the 161st episode of The Jewish Drinking Show focusses on providing this blessing under the influence of alcohol - what are the parameters for doing so? Sources Textual sources for this episode are available onli…

Introduction Having previously welcomed Rabbi Dr. Phil Lieberman to The Jewish Drinking Show for the geonic terms for alcoholic beverages, we welcome him back for the 160th episode of the show to discuss wine, drinking, and drunkenness in Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Biography of Guest Rabbi Dr. Lieberman is a social, economic, and legal hi…

Introduction One text that gets mentioned in conversations I have with fellow whiskey-drinkers is the responsum or responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Commonly referred to as Rav Moshe, he was an important 20th century rabbi with a significant impact on the practices of Orthodox Jews, in general, and American Orthodox Jews, in particular. In a trilo…

Introduction The newest episode of The Jewish Drinking Show explores a common Jewish drinking expression - l'chaim/l'ḥayyim! Based off of his article “L-Ḥayyim”, Ḥakirah 31 (2022): 345-355, Rabbi Dr. Zvi Ron returns to the show (having previously appeared on the show to discuss spilling out drops of wine at the Passover Seder) to discuss saying לח…

In the 157th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show, we visit Amichai Luria, the winemaker for Shiloh Winery to hear about the winery🍷 Support the show Thank you for listening! If you have any questions, suggestions, or more, feel free to reach out at Drew@JewishDrinking.com l'chaim!By Rabbi Drew Kaplan/Amichai Luria

The 156th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Nadav Jesselson, co-founder and general manager of Anava Vineyards, speaks on Israel's first "vineyard as a service". Support the show Thank you for listening! If you have any questions, suggestions, or more, feel free to reach out at Drew@JewishDrinking.com l'chaim!…

Just about 30 years ago, I bought Baseball’s Golden Age: The Photographs of Charles M. Conlon. Even if you’re not a connoisseur of the early 20th century game, I’m willing to be you’ve sen photos taken by Conlon. Many of the close-ups are haunting. To me, the players always seemed much older than the 20- […]…

I don’t have a whole lot of hobbies, so when I see a book that combines any of them on my periodic “Coming down the pike” stories, I get extra pumped. Baseball: The Movie covers two of them. Now that I no longer have Turner Classic Movies, since they went to a subscription platform, I […]By Ron Kaplan

As I keep mentioning, regular readers of The Bookshelf know of my disdain for superlatives and similar declarations, such as “Greatest,” “Worst,” “Complete,” in titles. But there are a few cases in which they seem totally appropriate. In the case of Andy McCoullough’s new (and first) book, Clayton Kershaw just might be The Last of […]…

I always felt a bit jealous of beat writers like Andy Martino. They get to go to every game, sit in (mostly) the best seats, have great access, etc. Of course, that’s an idealistic view. Travel can be brutal, players can be jerks (as can writers and their editors), competition can be fierce. Look at […]…

Intro Having heard about Rosh Chodesh Clubs, I was curious to learn more about them, as well as to speak with the creator of this initiative, Yossie Horwitz, who is the guest on the 155th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show. Biography of Guest Growing up in a tee-totaling household in Jerusalem, Yossie Horwitz didn’t have much early exposure to win…

Take two. Don’t know what happened, but the original post from earlier this week disappeared like a Doc Gooden curveball. Not even a draft of it, so I’m trying to recreate it as faithfully as possible. It seems to many outside the area that New Yorkers have an inflated image of themselves (at least those […]…

While we know about drinking four cups of wine at the Passover Seder, what about drinking between these four cups of wine? The newest episode of The Jewish Drinking Show focusses on exactly this topic. This episode is also the seventh "Drinks and Discussion"-style episode, featuring a texts-based discussion led by Rabbi Drew. Sources The sources fo…

Introduction Having previously published an episode on the origin of dropping out wine during the Passover Seder a few years ago, the newest episode of The Jewish Drinking Show explores a relatively recent explanation of this practice which sharply departs from its medieval explanations. Based off of his article "Spilling Wine While Reciting the Pl…

Intro Having discussed rabbis’ normative writings previously on The Jewish Drinking Show throughout numerous centuries, I’m excited to welcome back Rabbi David Fried to discuss significant rabbinic normative writings in the 18th-19th centuries on this matter. If you're curious to check out previous episodes featuring Rabbi Fried on Purim-drinking, …

With the 14th of the first Adar coming up in just a few days, how is this day to be celebrated? After all, it is still kind of like Purim. Indeed, it has become known as Purim Katan - the little Purim. The newest episode of The Jewish Drinking Show focusses on exactly this topic. This episode is also the sixth "Drinks and Discussion"-style episode,…

Introduction While not typically considered, drinking is something that can happen during mourning in Judaism. There is a prohibition against drinking between death of a loved one and their burial, called aninut, there is an interesting debate concerning drinking during shivah, around which the 150th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show centers. In …

Introduction The legislation in the Torah concerning a wayward and rebellious son (בן סורר ומורה) is an interesting, enigmatic, and curious passage relating to raising children (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). It also happens to be an interesting Jewish drinking text to explore. Fortunately, the 149th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features a guest who…

Introduction Having come across some interesting products that were kosher-certified that I would not have expected to be as such, I was fascinated to find out more about Boone County Distilling. The two products that stood out to me were their bourbon creme, as well as their bourbon aged in Dalton Winery casks from Israel. Fortunately, owing to my…

Introduction What is it like creating a kosher wine-importing and distributing business? While the 147th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show begins with a discussion of these question, this episode featuring Ami & Larissa Nahari, founders & owners of The River Wine, turns into an exploration of their products that are the first in the market to be …

Introduction Man Seders have previously received coverage in such publications as The Forward ("Is the ‘Man Seder’ Wrong?") and The Wall Street Journal ("‘Man Seders’ Flow With Steak and Scotch"), which feature meat and whiskey. Based off of his essay on The Man’s Seder, the 146th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky…

Throughout Jerusalem’s multi-millenial history, there had never been a distillery…until a few years ago. As part of The Jewish Drinking Show‘s Toast to Israel at 75 mini-series, co-founder and co-CEO of Thinkers Distillery, Bennett Kaplan, joins the show to speak about this historic distillery. Support the show Thank you for listening! If you have …

Continuing on in our Toast to Israel at 75 mini-series, this episode features Shmuel Naky and Ephraim Greenblatt, brewer and owner, respectively, of Hatch Brewing in Jerusalem. In some respects, it follows from the previous episode of the show, focussing on creating a brewery in Jerusalem. Support the show Thank you for listening! If you have any q…

Continuing on in our Toast to Israel at 75 mini-series, this episode features Ephraim Greenblatt and Shmuel Naky, owner and brewery, respectively, of Hatch Brewing in Jerusalem. Support the show Thank you for listening! If you have any questions, suggestions, or more, feel free to reach out at Drew@JewishDrinking.com l'chaim!…

Intro With the holiday of Sukkot only days away, a question that arises is which drinking is one allowed to do outside of the sukkah and how much does one need to drink within a sukkah? In this fourth “Drinks and Discussion”-style episode, Rabbi Drew Kaplan leads a text-based discussion on the topic. Previous "Drinks and Discussion" episodes (episo…

Introduction Having previously sat down with The Jerusalem Post's wine writer to discuss contemporary trends in wine in Israel, the newest episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features The Jerusalem Post's beer writer. As part of the Toast to Israel at 75 mini-series, Doug Greener and Rabbi Drew Kaplan get together over beers in the Maḥaneh Yehudah …

Introduction Ever wondered what the contemporary wine scene in Israel is like? I'm very excited to welcome back Adam Montefiore, who previously appeared on the show discussing Modern Israeli Wine History, Part 1: Early History and Modern Israeli Wine History, Part 2: 1970s-Present. As part of the Toast to Israel at 75 mini-series, we get together o…

Introduction Kicking-off the 2023 Toast to Israel at 75 series of The Jewish Drinking Show, we're featuring Israel's oldest whiskey distillery. Having opened in 2014, M&H Distillery (formerly called Milk & Honey Distillery) released its first whiskey in December 2019 and its whiskies have won many awards, but none as prestigious as best single-malt…

Introduction Ever wondered how the process of production of kosher wines work at European wineries? While we had previously discussed Kedem/Royal Wine on a previous episode, joining us to speak about how Royal/Kedem procures kosher runs of wine at these European wineries is Jay Buchsbaum. Biography of Guest Buchsbaum has worked for over twenty year…

When I came across an article on drinking in the world to come, I knew this would be a fascinating topic to discuss for The Jewish Drinking Show. For the 137th episode of the show, we invite Prof. Claudia Bergmann onto the show to discuss her article "Drink and Drinking in Early Jewish Texts: Describing a Meal in the World to Come", Journal for the…

Introduction Having previously published an episode concerning Geonic literature, for the 136th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show, we take a step back and consider terms for beverages in literature of the Geonic rabbis. We welcome first-time guest, Rabbi Dr. Phil Lieberman for this episode. Biography of Guest Phil Lieberman is a social, economic,…

Introduction Having discussed gentiles and libations previously on The Jewish Drinking Show, I was fascinated to have come across Professor Sacha Stern's “Compulsive Libationers: Non-Jews and Wine in Early Rabbinic Sources”, Journal of Jewish Studies 64.1 (2013): 19-44. As such, I am very excited to welcome him to the show's 135th episode to share …

Having discussed kiddush clubs previously on The Jewish Drinking Show, every kiddush club has its own unique aspects. One such kiddush club even got their own Scotch from Bruichladdich years ago (here is the article referenced in The New Yorker regarding this distillery), and it finally arrived. One of the members of this group is Yossi Francus, a …

Intro Used by many Jews in Europe for centuries, Yiddish is quite the colorful language. Unsurprisingly, there are many amusing and clever terms and phrases in Yiddish associated with drinking. Having come across a column on just this topic ("Have a Drink!"), the 133rd episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features the author of that column, Dr. Jord…

While The Jewish Drinking Show has previously discussed Prohibition, as well as an aspect of Orthodox responses to Prohibition, the newest episode of the show features a discussion of Reform rabbinic responses to Prohibition, with first-time guest, Rabbi Zachary Goodman. Support the show Thank you for listening! If you have any questions, suggestio…

Introduction While the Passover Seder is a celebration of the freedom of our Jewish ancestors from Egyptian slavery and becoming a nation, it is hard to picture this in terms of what the experience of being in the Holocaust, as it was very much not an experience of freedom. Moreover, a cornerstone of the Passover Seder experience is drinking a mini…

Intro Having previously published episode #24 of The Jewish Drinking Show on "Whiskey As the Catalyst for the Selling of Chametz, the 130th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show delves more deeply into this topic, for which we are excited to have Dan Rabinowitz on the show to discuss this topic. Biography of Guest In addition to having written "Kitni…

Introduction With Passover only a couple of weeks away, including the four cups minimum of wine at the Passover Seder, how has the transformative experience of alcohol-consumption been considered in the Jewish tradition? To share a teaching of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810), as written by Rabbi Nathan Sternhartz (1780-1844), on this topic is …

Introduction In addition to a producer of certified spirits, Thornton Distilling produces certified kosher-for-Passover spirits, including a barrel-aged rum. To discuss these products on The Jewish Drinking Show is Ari Klafter. Biography of Guest Ari Klafter is the Head Distiller and co-owner of Thornton Distilling Company, maker of Dead Drop Spiri…

Intro Having discussed medieval rabbis’ normative writings previously on The Jewish Drinking Show, as well as 16th-17th century rabbis' normative rabbis on Purim-drinking on The Jewish Drinking Show, I’m excited to welcome back Rabbi David Fried to discuss significant rabbinic normative writings in the 18th-19th centuries on this matter. (Here is t…

Introduction As Purim is a time for not only merry-making and drinking, but also for some silliness, there have also been Hebrew parodies written for Purim, including, as we have discussed before, 14th century Hebrew parodies. Moving closer to our time, the very amusing Massekhet Purim, a Talmudic parody for Purim in the 18th century, is quite hila…

Introduction Having provided an introductory overview of kiddush clubs (episode #45), as well as a fascinating framework in which to consider kiddush clubs (episode #124), the 125th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Udi Zinar discussing a range of kiddush club experiences. Brief Biography of Guest Ehud "Udi" Zinar is a Relationship & per…

Intro Having previously discussed kiddush clubs on the 45th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show, there is a lot more to explore, especially considering that only a half-year ago, the first ever academic paper to be published on the topic came out. "Kiddush Club: Fraternity, Authority, Class and Gender Challenges in the Modern Orthodox Synagogue," w…

Intro Having previously featured Professor Glenn Dynner speaking on Jewish Tavernkeepers in 18th & 19th Century Poland on the 12th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show, he returns to the show again to speak more in-depth about their lives. Biography of Guest Professor Dynner currently serves as Director of the Bennett Center for Jewish Studies and C…

Having announced a first-of-its-kind Jewish tavern in America in August, Joshua Foer and Rabbi Charlie Schwartz then appeared on the Identity/Crisis podcast nearly two months ago to share further about their tavern. As their tavern, Lehrhaus, is set to open a week from today, I'm excited to share that Rabbi Schwartz is the featured guest on the 122…

Intro While there are thousands of breweries in America and even dozens of them under kosher-certification, there is only one that is also a kosher-certified brewery! Located in Southern California, Long Beach Beer Lab and Long Beach Bread Lab is America's kosher brewery and bakery. Speaking about founding, owning, and operating these businesses on…

The brothers Shimon and Gabriel Weiss created the award-winning Shirah Wines over a dozen years and continue to produce quality kosher-certified wine. There are probably not too many brother winemaking teams out there in the kosher world, so it's pretty neat to hear from them on the 120th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show share about their wines.…

Introduction Owing to the restrictions concerning the production of ice wines, there are a very small number of countries in which they can be produced. As you can imagine, there are even fewer wineries producing kosher-certified ice wines. The 119th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features the winemaker of the only consistently-producing koshe…

Introduction I was surprised to hear in the course of the 118th episode that there were fewer than 45 distilleries in the US just a decade and a half ago when the founders of KOVAL Distillery sought to enter into business(!). In talking with one of the co-founders, Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart, I was impressed to hear about how they created not only th…

When I came across a press release announcing the end of Shmaltz Brewing Company last fall (and see also articles in Brewboundand Forward), I was sad to see Shmaltz Brewing come to an end, but also knew it would be an excellent opportunity to have a conversation with the founder of the company for an episode looking back on Shmaltz Brewing. When I …