The Jewish Drinking Show

One of the trickiest aspects when it comes to kosher wine and Judaism is when it comes up against gentile touch. While we can talk about it broadly from the Mishnah (& Tosefta) and throughout the Talmud, and we have even discussed it broadly when it comes to Medieval rabbis on the topic , how was it dealt with in specific regions? To discuss this topic for the 115th episode of The Jewish Drink...

As cocktails can offer a delicious enhancement to one's Shabbat experience, yet there are various challenges that present themselves with regards to proscribed activities on Shabbat, how can one go about making cocktails on Shabbat? To help us navigate these concerns in both keeping to one's Shabbat observance, as well as enjoying cocktails on Shabbat, is Dan Rabinowitz. In addition to p...

Torah is discussed as being compared to wine in the Talmud ( Ta'anit 7a ), which then causes an intriguing story to emerge involving a parable of wine and how looks are involved. To discuss these Talmudic texts and more, the 113th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Dr. Elana Stein Hain. Dr. Stein Hain is the Director of Faculty and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of...

A term that doesn't seem to have any obvious connection with drinking חבורה ( havurah ) - yet, it comes up not infrequently within a drinking context in early rabbinic (tannaitic) literature. As such, the 112th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show is dedicated to exploring this connection featuring Dr. Orit Malka. Dr. Malka is a researcher of Talmud and early Jewish law. Her research focuses o...

 A question I have been receiving since this year is a shemittah  year , is "What is the deal with Shemittah wine?" To answer this question is first-time guest to The Jewish Drinking Show , Rabbi Ezra Friedman. Rabbi Friedman is the Deputy Rabbinic Administrator of OU Kosher in Israel, the Director of the OU Gustave and Carol Jacobs Center for Kashrut Education , the Rabbi of Kehilat Mus...

When the news was released in October that the largest Byzantine-era was discovered in Israel, it widely received coverage (including The Washington Post , Smithsonian Magazine , NPR , The Jerusalem Post , Ha'aretz , and many more), which is great. One of the lead archaeologists on that excavation is Dr. Jon Seligman, who joins The Jewish Drinking Show for episode 110 to discuss this archaeol...

Following-up from the previous episode of the show on Israeli wines , the 109th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Jacob Ner-David on the Israeli winery he co-founded, Jezreel Valley Winery. Ner-David is a 20+year veteran of serial entrepreneurship and technology innovation with deep connectivity in the Israeli and American venture scene. Ner-David is the co-founder and CEO of Vinsent ,...

Having explored modern Israeli wine history (in episode 92 and episode 93 ), what about contemporary wine in Israel? For this conversation, the 108th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show welcomes first-time guest Erik Segelbaum to the show to discuss wine in Israel. Erik Segelbaum is the founder & chief vinnovation officer at SOMLYAY hospitality consulting, as well as an advanced sommelier, con...

The 107th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features one of the world's preeminent kosher vintners, Jeff Morgan, speaking about his highly-decorated winery. The co-owner and founding winemaker of Covenant Wines created the winery 19 years ago. Prior to that, he was a wine writer, including writing for Wine Spectator , leading to serving as their west coast editor for most of the 1990s. He h...

Welcoming an award-winning distillery and master distillery to The Jewish Drinking Show , I am pleased to share the newest episode. Stephen Gould, the master distiller and proprietor behind Golden Moon Distillery , winner of the 2019 distillery of the year award by the American Distilling Institute , is the featured guest for the show. While numerous products of the company were already certified...

With new products coming out in the ready-to-drink cocktails category, especially those that are kosher-certified, it is a wonderful time to be alive! For the 105th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show , we are joined by Dan Rabinowitz, the chief executive officer of DEKō Cocktails , who shares with us about their ready-to-drink cocktails, which are certified by Star-K . Disclosure: Samples were pr...

While not typically considered in terms of drinking, the practices concerning menstrual impurity are a topic not yet explored in this show. For the 104th episode, The Jewish Drinking Show considers how physical distancing regarding a menstruating Jewess intersect with drinking.  For this episode, we welcome first-time guests Yamit Alpern Kol and Dr. Alon Kol. Yamit Alpern Kol (she/her), LMSW, has...

Having focused on recovery in the previous episode of The Jewish Drinking Show , for those less aware of addiction - with alcohol, for instance - it may be hard to know how to help or otherwise relate to people going through these experiences. To discuss raising awareness about addiction in the Jewish community, episode 103 of The Jewish Drinking Show features Marla Kaufman, the executive director...

While drinking is a wonderful activity that can enhance many people's lives, it can also be a challenging aspect for others. For those who have struggled with alcohol, in addition to various resources available , what does recovery look like? To discuss this topic for the 102 episode of The Jewish Drinking Show is Rabbi Ilan Glazer, the founder and director of Our Jewish Recovery , which exis...

A curious thing happened with Prohibition: Orthodox Jews in America argued strongly for the use of wine in the course of various ritual uses. While episode #21 of The Jewish Drinking Show  featured a discussion on Prohibition , the insufficiency of grape juice was argued strongly by Orthodox rabbis. Having researched and written on this topic in his “Grape Juice: the Solution to Prohibition.” Trad...

While we take it for granted that wine, in general, and kosher wine, in particular, is widely available in America, that has not always been the case. For many American Jews in the 19th century, many took to raisin wine, particularly for Passover. For the 100th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show , Professor Jonathan Sarna speaks on this phenomenon of American Jews turning to raisin wine in the 19...

With Passover arriving at the end of this week, it’s a great time to revisit the Talmudic concern of demons when consuming an even number of cups of wine. Having previously discussed this topic on episode 25 of The Jewish Drinking Show , I am excited to revisit this topic with Professor Sara Ronis , whose forthcoming book, Demons in the Details: Demonic Discourse and Rabbinic Culture in the Babylo...

It's hard to ignore the role of wine during the Passover Seder. It's also hard to ignore the haggadah at a Passover Seder. So what about wine in the Passover Haggadah? To discuss wine in Medieval Haggadah Art is Professor Marc Michael Epstein. Professor Epstein is the Professor of Religion on the Mattie M. Paschall Davis and Norman H. Davis Chair and Director of Jewish Studies at Vassar...

Looking for suggestions on selecting wines for your Passover Seder? While you could check out suggestions for very specific wines, how might you go about selecting different wines for each of the four cups minimum at the Passover Seder? To provide insights for these questions, the 97th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Brad du Plessis providing some suggestions. Brad du Plessis presentl...

Having heard of certified kosher-for-Passover apple cider/beer, as well as new kosher-certified vermouths, I was intrigued to speak with the man behind these creations. For the 96th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show , Yoni Schwartz of Promised Land Beverage Co. speaks on his Exodus hopped cider , as well as his kosher-certified dry vermouth and sweet vermouth. Schwartz lives in Cedarhurst, NY wi...

When Purim rolls around, it's often celebrated as an occasion for levity and silliness, with a special focus on - you guessed it - drinking. As such, the 95th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show welcomes Rabbi Adam Rosenthal to discuss 14th century Purim parodies that are all about drinking. Rabbi Rosenthal is presently employed at a synagogue in LA and working on his doctoral dissertation fr...

With Purim on the horizon, it’s time to discuss Purim-drinking! Specifically, how have various rabbis discussed this matter? Having discussed medieval rabbis’ normative writings previously on The Jewish Drinking Show , I’m excited to welcome back Rabbi David Fried to discuss significant rabbinic normative writings in the 16th-17th centuries on this matter. Rabbi Fried teaches Judaics at the upper...

Following-up from the previous episode of The Jewish Drinking Show on an early history of modern Israel's wine history , Adam Montefiore shares about Israel's wine history from the 1970s to the present for the 93rd episode of the show. Adam Montefiore is a wine industry insider turned wine writer, who has contributed to the advance of Israeli wines for 35 years. He is the wine writer for...

How did the Israeli wine industry get going in the 19th century? Israeli wine writer Adam Montefiore joins the 92nd episode of The Jewish Drinking Show to discuss this topic. Adam Montefiore is a wine industry insider turned wine writer, who has contributed to the advance of Israeli wines for 35 years. He is the wine writer for the Jerusalem Post . Previously, he worked many years for Israeli wine...

How important was beer to 17th century Jews? Apparently, more significant than you or I might guess. In fact, one 17th century rabbi argued that it was significant enough to create a leniency to a Biblical commandment in certain circumstances. In a comment to Rabbi Moses Isserles' gloss on Shulhan Arukh  YD 293:3 , Rabbi David HaLevi Segal wrote that "beer is man's life" (in hi...