Purim is an extremely fun and festive holiday—we feast, we wear costumes, we exchange gift baskets, and we are encouraged to imbibe. Personally, I see nothing wrong with drinking responsibly at a social occasion. One or two drinks per adult, provided they’re not driving, shouldn’t be a problem.
For a small party or a couple, a bottle of wine or champagne could be the right option. When serving a crowd, however, it becomes more complicated. As we all know, alcohol is expensive and if you don’t drink regularly, you may end up with too much product and no use for it. There’s an easy way to avoid this: Be selective and stretch it.
By being selective, I mean buying only one type of alcohol. By stretching, mix it with other ingredients. Two good options are a party punch or wine spritzers. Food Network has tons of different punch recipes. This prosecco punch, created by Trisha Yearwood, looks very pretty!
Wine spritzers are so simple to make. Simply combine 3 parts wine with one part club soda in a pitcher, then divide evenly into glasses. A citrus twist is also a nice touch, but not required.
To make sure nobody is left out, I think it’s important to make soft drinks available too (a few 2-liters of soda plus some sparkling cider). Kids and adults who don’t drink will appreciate it.
Remember: The idea is to celebrate, not to become belligerent, sloppy, or a danger to yourself/others. Many bad things can happen when too much alcohol is involved. Please be careful!
I am very against the trend for yeshiva bocherim to get drunk on Purim. I know that we’re not supposed to be able to recognize the difference between Haman and Mordechai. However, I do not think it is a mitzvah for someone to get so plastered that they are not functional. Aside from the fact that these bocherim are underage. I personally think it is not in the spirit of Purim. As you can see, I have very strong feelings about this. It really upsets me that some yeshivas practice this; it think it’s terribly irresponsible.
Absolutely, nobody should be serving alcohol to underage students! Even though it’s a holiday and we’re encouraged to be festive, that’s no excuse to break the law. It’s only appropriate to drink on Purim if you’re of legal age and can do so responsibly.
We are pretty teetotalers here, so need chance of going overboard. Maybe a drop of wine in a glass of seltzer, is about as far as we go,
We have alcohol very, very rarely here too, but I don’t mind a glass on a holiday.