28, 1. Woe is to the crown of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim ...7. These, too, erred because of wine and strayed because of strong wine, priest and prophet erred because of strong wine, they became corrupt because of wine, they went astray because of strong wine, they erred against the seer, they caused justice to stumble.
The prophet Isaiah is telling us something very obvious here. The Northern Kingdom was characterised by drinking and partying.
Now maybe this is figurative. Isaiah could be talking about a stupor that clouds the mind to religious and spiritual teachings. But the traditional and modern commentaries see this as a condemnation of drunken religious ceremonies.
Drinking on the leadership job is 100% not the Jewish way. Look at Amos 2,8 .... they drink in the house of their gods. Their gods, not ours. Take a look at Hosea 4,17 - drinking equals major league immorality and worship of foreign gods, especially as part of funeral rites.
Leadership, whether it is spiritual or temporal, priest, prophet or king, all require a clear head.
It's OK to enjoy a drink with one's dinner or in company of friends, but Prophetic Judaism steers a course of sobriety. To suggest otherwise is to deny the basic point of Judaism. Israel is a nation like all others. Judaism has elements to it that are found in other faith traditions. The difference is the focus on the highest level of ethics, morality, concern for other people and purity of body and mind.
In many ways, Biblical Judaism took the best parts of the world around it and separated out the dross. It kept only the pure spiritual core elements that are found everywhere. I think this process continues even today. Moses did not need to get high to reach the top of the mountain.
The picture is a Bronze age winepress is located on the north hillsides of Migdal Haemek, Israel.
