Q&A: Drinking on Purim
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Drinking on Purim
Question
Hello Rabbi,
How much should one drink on Purim:
1. In your opinion, what state should the drinking actually bring a person to? (sleep / "until he does not know" literally / something else).
2. What should the character of the drinking be? Is it enough to praise the Holy One, blessed be He, out of joy and give thanks for the miracle, or is it more proper to aim toward trying to reach higher spiritual attainments (at least in the eyes of those who experience them) and holiness, as is customary in yeshivot?
3. Is there any problem with women drinking, or is there an issue even when they are drinking by themselves (when there are no men around them)?
Thank you.
Happy Purim!
Answer
- I don’t have a position. The opinions are well known, and I don’t think there is one single truth here. Each person should act according to his own understanding.
- I don’t know what it means to reach higher spiritual attainments. It seems to me that when people talk about higher attainments on Purim, I have no attainment of them myself.
- I don’t see a difference between women and men in this matter. Of course, when there is a mixed group of men and women, the situation requires caution regarding drinking. And each person knows the bitterness of his own soul.