On Drinking

A number of years ago, when I was still president, my shul
decided to go dry, cold turkey. It was at the behest of Rabbi Hershel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere who persuaded his shul board to ban hard alcohol. Rabbi Billet was looking for community support but, as far as I can tell, we were the only other shul to take that step which seemed drastic at the time.

I wrote about how that unfolded here and here.

I raise this, of course, in the context of the story of a frum teen who was recently busted for wrecking a car, on Shabbos, while totally drunk. This story was picked up in Newsweek, of all places, and is, predictably, raising public consciousness.

It takes strong leadership, like that displayed by Rabbi Billet and Rav Weinberger, to deal with these problems head on. Sadly, what's missing is leadership. Leadership by parents and leadership by Rabbanim and other so-called leaders.