Is there a Torah of Being Stoned?

(א) מאימתי קורין את שמע בערבית. משעה שהכהנים נכנסים לאכול בתרומתן. עד סוף האשמורה הראשונה דברי ר' אליעזר. וחכמים אומרים עד חצות. רבן גמליאל אומר עד שיעלה עמוד השחר. מעשה שבאו בניו מבית המשתה אמרו לו לא קרינו את שמע. אמר להם אם לא עלה עמוד השחר חייבין אתם לקרות

Mishnah Berakhot 1:1

(1) From when may one recite Shema in the evening? From the time when the Kohanim go in to eat their Terumah [produce consecrated for priestly consumption], until the end of the first watch – so says Rabbi Eliezer. And the Sages say: Until midnight. Rabban Gamliel says: Until the break of dawn. It once happened that his [Rabban Gamliel’s] sons came from a house of feasting. They said to him: We have not recited Shema. He said to them: If dawn has not broken, you are obligated to recite it.

Satan came and stood before Noah, saying, “What are you planting?”

Noah said, “A vineyard, whose sweet fruits produce wine that causes the heart to rejoice!”

Said Satan, “Let us be partners in this vineyard!” And Noah agreed, “Yes.”

Satan then brought a lamb and slaughtered it under the vine. Then he did the same, one after another, with a lion, a pig, and a monkey, sprinkling their blood throughout the vineyard, thus causing Noah to drink their blood in his wine.

In so doing, Satan hinted to man that when a person begins drinking alcohol he is timid and innocent like a lamb. Then when he drinks just enough he is strong like a lion, thinking that none are as strong as he. But when a person drinks too much, first he acts like a pig, polluting himself with urine. And finally he behaves like a monkey who dances around uttering vile words, completely out of control.

And all of this happened to Noah.

(Midrash Tanchuma)

אורח חיים צ״ט:א׳

(א) שָׁתָה יַיִן כְּדֵי רְבִיעִית, אַל יִתְפַּלֵּל עַד שֶׁיָּסִיר יֵינוֹ; וְאִם שָׁתָה יוֹתֵר, אִם הוּא יָכוֹל לְדַבֵּר לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ, אִם הִתְפַּלֵּל תְּפִלָּתוֹ תְּפִלָּה, וְאִם אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְדַבֵּר לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ, אִם הִתְפַּלֵּל תְּפִלָּתוֹ תּוֹעֵבָה וְצָרִיךְ לַחֲזֹר וּלְהִתְפַּלֵּל כְּשֶׁיָּסִיר יֵינוֹ מֵעָלָיו;

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 99:1

1) If one drank even a little bit of wine, one should not pray until one has sobered up. If one drank a more substantial amount of wine, the question is whether this person can speak before a king. If one can speak before a king, that person may pray. If one cannot speak before a king and that person prays, that prayer is an abomination, and that person must wait until sober and repeat the prayer.

Now, Jews do not abstain from alcohol like Muslims. Our way is to sacramentalize wine and alcohol. We know this is a powerful substance, so we use it in a sacred context and with a l'chayyim, "to life!"

And I felt it was the same situation with psychedelics.

The issue for me was how was I going to do it? Why was I going to do it? And what responsibilities was I taking?

The silliness of "dropping acid" and then going downtown to see Yellow Submarine was never okay with me. That is loading-up your instrument to go to the highest levels, and then taking it to the penny arcade. It's a waste, a real waste.

…So I dressed in my Sabbath clothes and entered the chapel with my records of Mozart and Hasidic melodies under my arm. It was a beautiful room—womblike—in its warmth and comforting shadows…then I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to remember. He said, "Yes. The rules of the road are two: trust your traveling companion; and, when in doubt, float downstream."

I drank down the holy draught and there was a silent moment of drinking it in. The record player was going and I was sitting there on pins and needles waiting for something to happen. Noticing this, Leary said, "Don't push it. It will happen when it's ready. When it happens you will know that it is happening." Well, before long I was dancing through several sides of the Hasidic records and wasn't winded a bit. I used to be pretty heavy and would often get winded, but I was just fine now. I usually danced only with my feet, but then, I felt as if I was dancing with my very bones, and I kept saying, "It's better than schnapps! It's better than schnapps!"

Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

I interpret the young people’s escape to drugs as coming from their driving desire to experience moments of exaltation. In my youth, growing up in a Jewish milieu, there was one thing we did not have to look for and that was exaltation. Every moment is great, we were taught, every moment is unique. Every moment can do such great things. Jewish education may not have trained us in the art of relaxation, but our tradition did teach us something else. If I was rich as a child and as a young man, it was because I was offered numerous moments of exaltation, one after the other, in my home, in the synagogue, among my family and elders. Today, in America, Jews may have learned how to relax, but we have not learned the sources of exaltation. Man cannot live by sedatives alone. He needs not only tranquilizers and sedatives, he also needs stimulants.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

דברים ל׳:י״ט-כ׳

(יט) הַעִידֹ֨תִי בָכֶ֣ם הַיּוֹם֮ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ֒ הַחַיִּ֤ים וְהַמָּ֙וֶת֙ נָתַ֣תִּי לְפָנֶ֔יךָ הַבְּרָכָ֖ה וְהַקְּלָלָ֑ה וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּֽחַיִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן תִּחְיֶ֖ה אַתָּ֥ה וְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃(כ) לְאַֽהֲבָה֙ אֶת־יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לִשְׁמֹ֥עַ בְּקֹל֖וֹ וּלְדָבְקָה־ב֑וֹ כִּ֣י ה֤וּא חַיֶּ֙יךָ֙ וְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמֶ֔יךָ לָשֶׁ֣בֶת עַל־הָאֲדָמָ֗ה אֲשֶׁר֩ נִשְׁבַּ֨ע יהוה לַאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֛ם לְיִצְחָ֥ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לָתֵ֥ת לָהֶֽם׃ (פ)

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

(19) I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—(20) by loving the LORD your God, heeding His commands, and holding fast to Him. For thereby you shall have life and shall long endure upon the soil that the LORD swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them.

אורח חיים תרצ״ה:ב׳

חייב אינש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי: הגה וי"א דא"צ להשתכר כל כך אלא שישתה יותר מלימודו (כל בו) ויישן ומתוך שישן אינו יודע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי (מהרי"ל) ואחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט ובלבד שיכוין לבו לשמים ואין להתענות בפורים מלבד תענית חלום וע' לעיל סי' תקס"ח וסי' תק"ע. יש נהגו ללבוש בגדי שבת ויום טוב בפורים וכן נכון (מהרי"ל) ונוהגים לעשות סעודת פורים לאחר מנחה וערבית יתפלל בלילה ומתפללים מנחה תחלה בעוד היום גדול ורוב הסעודה צריך להיות ביום (מנהגים) ולא כמו שנוהגין להתחיל סמוך לערב ועיקר הסעודה היא ליל ט"ו וכשחל פורים ביום ששי יעשו הסעודה בשחרית משום כבוד שבת (מנהגים) ומי שרוצה לעשותה תמיד בשחרית הרשות בידו (ת"ה) יש אומרים שיש לאכול מאכל זרעונים בפורים זכר לזרעונים שאכל דניאל וחביריו בבבל (כל בו) . טוב לעסוק מעט בתורה קודם שיתחיל הסעודה וסמך לדבר ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה ודרשינן אורה זו תורה (מהרי"ב) וחייב במשתה ושמחה קצת בשני ימים בי"ד וט"ו (מנהגים) וכן נהגו ויש אומרים דאם הזיק אחד את חבירו מכח שמחת פורים פטור מלשלם (ת"ה סי' ק"י) וע' בח"מ בדיני נזיקין :

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayyim 695:2

One is obligated to be intoxicated on Purim to the point where he does not know [the difference] between "accursed is Haman" and "blessed is Mordechai". Rama: Some say it is not necessary to become drunk so much, but rather to drink more than he is used to (Kol Bo), and to fall asleep, and while he sleeps he does not know [the difference] between "accursed is Haman" and "blessed is Mordechai" (Maharil). [There is no difference] between one who has more and one who has less, as long as his heart is directed to heaven. One should not fast on Purim, except for a fast for a [bad] dream, and see earlier Siman 568 and Siman 570. There are those who have the custom to dress in Shabbat/Yom Tov clothes on Purim, and that is correct (Maharil). We have the custom to make the Purim meal after the afternoon prayer, and pray the evening prayer at night. We pray the afternoon prayer while most of the day remains, and most of the meal needs to be during the day (Minhagim). And it should not be like those who have the custom to start close to evening, and most of the meal happens during the night of the 15th. When Purim falls out on Friday, they should have the meal in the morning because of honor for the Sabbath (Minhagim). And one who wants to [have his meal] every [Purim] in the morning is allowed to (T"H). Some say that there is [significance] to eating seeds on Purim as a remembrence for the seeds that Daniel and his friends ate in Babylonia (Kol Bo). It is good to delve a bit in Torah before one begins the meal, and a support for that is (Esther 8:16) "The Jews had light and happiness...", which we learn out "radiance" - that's Torah (Mahariv). One is obligated to drink a little and be a little happy on two days, the 14th and the 15th (Minhagim), and so is the custom. And some say that if one causes damage to his fellow through his happiness on Purim, he is exempt from restitution (Terumat HaDeshen, Part I 110). And see Terumat HaDeshen Laws of Damage.

א ר ו ר ה מ ן = ב ר ו ך מ ר ד כ י
10+20+4+200+40 + 20+6+200+2 502 50+40+5 200+6+200+1