Too Many Pour Decisions   

On the surface, they look like your regular frum wife and mother. But they’re carrying a secret: during a typical Shabbos seudah, their husband is sprawled out on the couch, drunk. Or maybe he’s drinking too much at night. Or at simchahs. For so many, what started off as a few sips has begun spiraling toward addiction. How to spot — and stop — a drinking problem.

Alcohol is not the answer. It only makes you forget the question. – Anonymous

First a man takes a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes the man. – Japanese proverb

Esti G. is about the most normal girl you could imagine, a veritable poster girl for a Bais Yaakov alumna. Her life story checks all the boxes: married, three cute children, works in a school, busy with her life, and family simchahs.

Except that Esti is struggling with a secret problem, one I never dreamed of until I ran into her at the supermarket one day. After exchanging hellos, to my astonishment she pulled me aside and hissed, “I have something you need to write about!”

She looked dead serious. I pushed my cart over to one side and prepared to hear her out.

“You absolutely need to write about all the drinking that’s going on in our community!” she said, glancing around to make sure no one was coming down the aisle. “Do you have any idea how many husbands are spending their weekends drunk? They come home hours late from shul. They spend the rest of the weekend sleeping. They scream at the kids. It’s not all right!”