Sodo Shel Eitz Hada'as

The Torah View on Wine, Alcohol, and Intoxicants

Exploring the Mystery of the Tree of Knowledge

There is something especially mysterious about wine, which presents a duality of tremendous good and equally tremendous evil. On the one hand, wine occupies the pinnacle of holiness in the Torah, present at moments of utmost intimacy between us and Hashem. Yet wine also takes center stage at times of great destruction throughout history, and is responsible for an oversized proportion of damaging behaviors in today's society.

Drawing on sources from Tanach, the holy words of our Sages, and the Rishonim and Acharonim, this book seeks to illuminate the remarkable power and mystery of wine and alcohol, as revealed in the Torah, enabling us to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, the holy and the unholy.