Holy drink

"Wine plays a great role in Jewish life and tradition as well. It is considered a holy drink — the only liquid drink that, before consuming, has its own special blessing. Wine is part of all life cycle events in Jewish life. It appears at weddings and circumcisions, redemptions of the first-born and in Talmudic times at the house of the mourners. There are many non-Ashkenazic groups of Jews today who still continue the custom of drinking wine and reciting special blessings in the house of mourners.

Wine is meant to inspire and comfort us, to lend dignity and importance to an occasion, to raise an ordinary or even extraordinary human event to a higher spiritual level. It is the blessing over the cup of wine that constitutes the Kiddush ceremony that ushers the holy Sabbath into our homes. It is wine or its equivalent that is the centerpiece of the Havdala service when we take leave of the Sabbath.

Again, just as in every other facet of life, wine's positive and negative effects are determined by the moderation, appropriateness and wisdom in using and consuming it. I have always felt that this is perhaps one of the reasons why wine has its own special blessing both before and after consumption — to remind us of its special quality and to caution us to drink it wisely, with holy intent and purpose."

Click on the link below for the full article:

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/wein/wein_wine.php3