Alcohol

Consumption of alcoholic beverages and drunkenness are discussed from the first book of the Torah, as Noah plants a vineyard upon leaving his ark and deals with the consequences of his subsequent drunkenness. Other biblical texts convey mixed messages about alcohol: while the book of Psalms extols wine as "gladdening the human heart," the book of Proverbs warns that "in the end, [wine] bites like a snake." Later stories, legal discussions, and philosophical discourses throughout the Jewish textual tradition take up the topic of alcohol consumption, its role and contributions to Jewish ritual, and its limits and hazards.