Drinking on Purim

The Torah is generally very against the notion of impairing ourselves - take a look at נח and לוט in בראשית, and the death of נדב ואביהו in ויקרא. Nonetheless, the מגילת אסתר tells us that a key element of our celebration of פורים is משתה i.e. drinking. Why is that?

But how much should we be drinking? The Gemara has only a few contentious lines on the topic:

This Gemara leads to a lot of questions: Do we accept Rava להלכה? Does the story come as a cautionary tale that rejects it, or reaffirm the level of obligation (after all, why didn't R. Zeira suggest having the second סעודה without drinking so much)? If we accept it, how much drinking does that entail? As a brief introduction, note that we will see three types of opinions:

Now, let us see where the Rishonim stand:

Tosafot understands עד דלא ידע not as total drunkenness, but as the point of intoxication at which our focus and concentration start to dull.

The Rosh and the Rif (who transcribes all practical הלכה while trimming out rejected ideas or aggadic stories) both bring Rava's הלכה verbatim without the story of slaughter and resurrection, accepting the line כפשוטו. Ran's commentary on the Rif disagrees:

There is a middle position:

With Meiri and Rambam, we see an intermediate position between dullness of focus and total drunkenness - a wine-induced slumber.

To summarize so far what we've seen from the Rishonim:

There seems to be an initial conflict of whether or not we even accept Rava's statement as halachically significant (Tosafot, Rosh, Rif, Maggid Mishneh on Rambam), or the aggadic story refuted it (Ran, Arukh HaShulchan on Rambam).

Moreover, even if Rava was accepted להלכה, there are those who seem to take it כפשוטו (Rosh, Rif) and that we should be getting very drunk, while most Rishonim limit the מצוה to a point of falling asleep (Meiri, Rambam), or even just a lack of focus such that keeping proper track of a song gets difficult (Tosafot).

Finally, Rambam gives us a first glance at the majority opinion that this מצוה only exists in whatever capacity within the context of סעודת פורים. This aligns with his formulation in הלכות דעות that ממש intoxication is a shameful sin, and the way to prevent intoxication via alcohol consumption is by being sure to pair it with food.

We see that the Tur seems to accept the Gemara כפשוטו like his father the Rosh, and outright says that one must get drunk (שישתכר) rather than keeping to the ambiguous Talmudic language of לבסומי. And like Rambam, he explains that drinking is only to happen during the סעודה.

The Beit Yosef comments on the Tur by quoting Tosafot's lowering the bar of drinking, and concludes with Orchot Chaim's utter rejection of the entire Gemara. Whichever way you slice it, Rav Yosef Karo does not seem to be a fan of getting drunk. So while he quotes the Gemara verbatim in Shulchan Aruch, it is difficult to suggest that he is encouraging becoming a שיכור; after all, he does quote the Gemara's "לבסומי" and not the Tur's "שישתכר". As for what he does mean, צריך עיון. Arukh HaShulchan suggests that he means getting close to while not reaching the point of עד דלא ידע, and Rav Rimon brings opinions who entirely redefine the "extreme" opinion of the debate based on this operative word of לבסומי. (In addition, his bringing the Gemara in the Siman entitled "דיני סעודת פורים" seems to agree with Rambam and Tur as to timing parameters of the מצוה.)

Similarly, Rema explains עד דלא ידע in Darchei Moshe in 3 possible ways that limit the potential frivolity, with the commonality between them being that you lost a sense of clarity/focus but certainly maintain control. He paskens in his commentary on Shulchan Aruch with an even lower degree of alcohol consumption: to drink a little bit more than he's used to and then go to sleep, during which he will לא ידע. [This is to an even lesser extent than Rambam, who prescribes drinking that causes sleep.] Rema, the normative Ashkenazi posek, is very light on how much to drink.

He also mentions in Darchei Moshe, and the Biur Halacha codifies, that drinking is not מעכב and one fulfills פורים in full without drinking a sip.

Now let us see how the commentaries codify this הלכה:

The Taz understands עד דלא ידע on a כפשוטו level.

More interestingly, he gives us insight into the nature of the day. Chazal intended that we have praise towards God on our lips until we can't anymore, and then our simple joy will act as that praise.

At first glance, these two comments are a blatant contradiction! Is the level of intoxication a single glass of wine, an intermediate sleep-induction as per the Rambam, or a much higher level of drunkenness as per the פשוטו של גמרא and Arizal?

I'd like to suggest that he is looking at this מצוה differently than we had seen previously. While other authorities explained that drinking wine on Purim is a subcategory of סעודת פורים, perhaps the Kaf HaChayim is viewing drinking on Purim as a multi-tiered מצוה.

On the most basic level, the textual דברי קבלה requirement (laws that come from Prophets or Writings. they have an intermediate status between biblical and rabbinic law) of "ימי משתה ושמחה" is to have a סעודה with a single cup of gladdening wine, and thus one still says the הריני. Chazal then added an additional rabbinic requirement of drinking to the point of עד דלא ידע, but you could be asleep while doing it. An even higher level of הידור built upon that is to maintain עד דלא ידע while awake.

So this מצוה has three levels: דברי קבלה, a חיוב דרבנן, and a הידור.

And maybe this relates to the other rabbinic holiday, and נר חנוכה's three levels of חיוב, and מהדרין and מהדרין מן המהדרין.

The Eliyah Rabbah and Magen Avraham both quote the gematria definition, with former also quoting the sing-along. In any case, they both prescribe lower levels of intoxication, as we've seen from most others.

While Arukh HaShulchan agrees with the Taz's definition of עד דלא ידע, in practice we see that both he and Mishna Berurah pasken like the Rema. We also see the Arukh HaShulchan echo the Kaf Hachayim's idea of this ענין having a basic obligatory level and a (theoretical) הידור of further drinking.

As he writes in Mishnah Berurah, the Chofetz Chaim personally followed the Rema. He would pour some wine to all the guests and said "This is for שבת", and would then fill another glass and say "This is for Purim" in order to drink more than usual, and then he went to sleep (see Hanhagos HaChofetz Chaim pg. 181).

In review, the commentaries said as follows:

Taz and Kaf Hachayim both define עד דלא ידע pretty close to כפשוטו, and highlight that the entire day of פורים should be one of thanksgiving. Arukh Hashulchan agrees with Taz's definition, but instructs us to forego עד דלא ידע for the Rema's advice of drinking a little bit more than the personal norm before going to nap. The Pri Megadim and Mishna Berurah agree that that is the correct course of action. Similarly, Magen Avraham and Eliyah Rabbah both advocate for low-level drinking.

In addition, both Kaf Hachayim and Arukh HaShulchan hint to a tiered way of fulfilling the מצוה, whether it be a gradation of דברי קבלה and דרבנן and הידור, or a חיוב and רשות. There are also other sages who do not limit drinking to the סעודה (Rav Yisrael Salanter was reported to be sipping all day but without getting drunk), but the majority opinion does view drinking as a subcategory of the סעודה.

Even according to those opinions that suggest heavier drinking, that comes with a major caveat - not to become drunk if it will interfere with other מצוות, or cause pain, sickness, sadness, or sin:

The mainstream position is that one should not get drunk if it will impinge on any other active מצוות. But, if one is really drinking properly in a לשם שמים way, then Rav Kook is whom to rely on.

There is no such leniency for actively dangerous or negative behavior:

Based on everything we have seen, it seems that in practice Ashkenazim would follow their standard poskim - Rema, Arukh HaShulchan, Mishna Berurah - by drinking a bit more than their personal norm, stopping there and taking a power nap.

Though one might argue that Sephardim theoretically have a bit more leeway in drinking more due to the Shulchan Aruch codifying the Gemara without further explanation and Kaf Hachayim's כפשוטו understanding of עד דלא ידע, in practice we see that prominent Sephardic poskim tend towards a cautious Purim:

Ben Ish Chai writes in his aggadic/mystical work to be careful to drink 15 cups of wine, with the size of the cup depending on the person (i.e. if he is unaffected by wine they should be larger cups, while if he is liable to get drunk quickly they should be very small cups), constantly maintaining holy intent (Ateret Tiferet 209). However when writing in his halachic work about פורים, he excludes any הלכה of drinking (Ben Ish Chai Tetzaveh Year 1), presumably due to fear of potential pitfalls (see here).

Rav Ovadia limited any notion of the drinking to the סעודה, and personally followed the Rema, drinking slightly more than usual and then taking an afternoon nap (see here). He publicly spoke against and decried excessive drinking.

Ashkenazic poskim of the previous generation concur with the majority of commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch, advocating for limited consumption of alcohol.

Several prominent students of Rav Moshe Feinstein cite that he never got drunk on Purim, but rather would only drink a small amount and sometimes nap afterward.

Interestingly, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv maintained that one is not required to drink at all to fulfill עד דלא ידע, but rather sleeping is sufficient even without drinking any wine. He held that Rema, by mentioning drinking prior to sleeping, was only citing an example of how to fulfill this obligation; yet the minimum amount of drinking was actually none - just going to sleep. This was also his personal הנהגה - taking a nap in the middle of the day and only later having some wine during the סעודה. This admittedly seems a novel approach:

The Shevet HaLevi (10:107:2) writes as per the Rema that one should only drink a bit more than he usually does. The Steipler Gaon's personal practice was as per the Rema. So was Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach's:

This line of psak continues into the current generation:

Note that Rav Willig, like Rav Shlomo Zalman, does not limit עד דלא ידע to the סעודה.

In conclusion:

Some Rishonim entirely reject that the Gemara Megillah is halachically relevant. Of those who do accept it, many interpret it to mean becoming tipsy or slightly drunk so as to dull the senses or induce sleep. While the Rif and Rosh quote the Gemara verbatim, there are those who explain that the key word "לבסומי" closely relates to its modern Hebrew translation of "tipsy" as well.

The Beit Yosef and Darchei Moshe/Rema make it clear that drunkenness is not desirable, as do a majority of the commentaries. Those commentaries that do suggest a higher blood alcohol content all make it clear that the מצוה refers solely to שמחה של מצוה rather than an environment that will cause any damage or laxity in general Torah observance.

The modern poskim of the previous and current generation, both Sephardi and Ashkenazi, tend to agree with the Rema in limiting the scope of עד דלא ידע to a few drinks and a power nap.

Thus, while there are certainly poskim to rely on to get really drunk if it will be a holy drunkenness, the majority Torah-opinion throughout the generations is clearly that tipsiness לשם שמים is far preferable to drunkenness that is liable and likely to cause pain, damage, frivolity, and חילול השם. May we all enjoy a Purim of אורה ושמחה - of תורה ושמחה של מצוה והודאה.