Rea Bochner

Is Drinking Alcohol A Rite Of Passage Into The Fraternity Of Orthodoxy?

This past Simchat Torah, a friend and I watched warily as one of the congregants, usually a composed professional type, staggered around the front lawn of the synagogue, drunk and mumbling to himself. Inside, the other men of the congregation were bidding on aliyahs and other honors for the upcoming year, their wallets loosened thanks…