Bier is der Wein dieses Landes

Most of us are familiar with the Jewish practice of Kiddush (blessing over wine). We even see remnants of this traditions in our Christian bother’s traditions of Eucharist. Wine stands for life that is good, joyful, and sociable. Throughout much of history, wine was a luxury good that was only consumed on certain days. What many people don’t know is that another alcoholic drink has long been part of Jewish tradition: beer.

Barley is one of the 7 blessings of the promised land (Deuteronomy 8:8). Grains and beer were part of the offerings to the temple with beer poured on the altar morning and evening (read – God likes beer!). During the Babylonian exile, Jews developed a taste for beer. As the Talmud explains, it was brewed from either barley, figs, or mulberries (Pesachim 107a). Beer brewing was a recognized and respected profession and a good income could be made from it. Rav Papa said, “If I hadn’t brewed beer, I wouldn’t have gotten so rich” (Pesachim 113a).

So, can you drink wine for Kiddush? Well, that’s a debatable subject. In the Talmud ( the primary source of commentary and interpretation of Jewish religious law), Rabbi Elazar takes the position that “One does not recite Kiddush over beer.” The early rabbis made the elevation of wine over all other beverages for Kiddush on account of its superiority in taste. Kiddush is, after all, intended to be a celebration of Shabbat not just a nice beverage to drink with your meal. Elazar was really into his wine and was highly disinterested in beer so it is not surprising to see him almost putting down those who make Kiddush on beer instead of wine. It almost breaks his heart to see anyone making Kiddush over beer, when one can do it over his preferred beverage of wine.

But then there’s the story of Mar Junka and Mar Kashisha: “Once Amemar came to our village, and since we had no wine, we brought him beer. But he did not say Havdalah about it. (…) A year later he came to our village again, and since we had no wine, we got him beer. Then he said: Therefore, this is the wine of the land. Then he said Havdalah about it” (Pesachim 107a). Clearly, it is permissible to use GOOD beer or other local beverages for the Kiddush and Havdalah if wine is not available.

If you can read German, you should find this book:
Lilian Harlander, Bernhard Purin, , Eli Freedman, et al; Bier ist der Wein dieses Landes: Jüdische Braugeschichten; (Volk Verlag: 2016); ISBN: 978-3862222117