Rabbi Gail Swedroe, Associate Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim at YAD’s Torah on Tap on August 31, 2022. Credit: Shelby Klein

By Allison Teegardin

In general, Jews have always been more closely connected with wine than beer. While the connection to wine has not weakened over time, beer has also made itself known and appreciated. So well-known in fact, a rabbinic decision was made that one can make Havdalah or kiddish with wine or beer. However, it should be noted this is not preferred over wine and generally applies in places where beer is like the wine of the country.

It is believed to have all started back in 586 BCE when Jews were exiled to Babylonia after the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. It was there that they got a taste for beer since wine wasn’t available. Notably, one of the famous Talmudic Rabbis Rav Pappa was known as a proud brewer in Babylonia around 300CE.

In the 1800s, Jews were prohibited from producing beer but had secured an important role in brewing. In Germany, as Jews were sent out of cities and forced to settle in smaller rural towns, they began farming hops, a key ingredient in beer. By the 1930s, Jews farmed approximately 70% of the hops grown in Germany.

Beer brewing in modern Israel was slow to develop and didn’t begin until the 1930s. Widespread reports tell of people home brewing because of the poor quality of the water. Homebrew recipes were made using barley and hops as preservatives to make the water safe to drink by killing bacteria. These homemade brews yielded about a 2% alcohol content.

Dr. Harvey Raben, Director Emeritus of Congregational Learning at Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin, Texas has been home-brewing beer since 2004. Before starting out on his creative adventures, he recalls being a student in Israel in the 1960s when he drank beer as a safer and tastier alternative to tap water. “We were encouraged not to drink water out of the tap as there were some breakdowns with the system and the water wasn’t safe. So, we drank the light Goldstar lager which cost 60 cents for a 22oz bottle,” Dr. Raben said. “There was also a dark Nesher beer that was like a root beer malty carbonated beverage.”

Back then, the beer selection was slim. Today, Israel has approximately 40 plus breweries. However, if you were looking for Israeli beer on the shelves in a store, you might not know they existed as wine was still king of the shelves.

“It was difficult to get beer on the shelves in the market because of all the wine,” Dr. Rabin said. “Beer pubs started opening and were a place for breweries to test out brews – they could determine what people liked to drink. If people wanted beer at home, they could call the pub and ask to have bottles home delivered.”

Many breweries in Israel infuse unique ingredients into their beers by using a lot of indigenous fruits like sabra, pomegranate and dates. “Israeli beer is not mainstream in the U.S.,” Dr. Rabin said. “You can maybe find some in New York City, but otherwise, to taste it, you have to go to Israel.”

A bit closer to home, Shalom Austin’s Young Adult Division (YAD) shares its love of beer at one of its signature events, Torah on Tap. The idea for Torah on Tap began in the early 2000s when a group of young Jewish professionals started inviting rabbis and professionals to speak to the group about various contemporary topics every four to six weeks. Wanting a casual environment where young adults could engage in a conversation about a variety of Jewish topics, the group would meet at different bars around Austin. Some events even took place at people’s homes.

“People who attend Torah on Tap are not necessarily active in a congregation but are interested in learning,” Ian Spechler, former YAD board member and leader of the Torah on Tap program from 2008-2015, said. “This is a casual way for young Jewish community members and Austin’s Torah experts to come together for a relevant Jewish conversation in a casual setting.”

On August 31, 2022, YAD hosted Torah on Tap at The Dogwood in the Domain. The topic was “Jewish Views on Reproductive Decisions” and it included an interactive conversation with Rabbi Gail Swedroe, Associate Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim, about what Jewish texts have to say about reproduction. The event was well attended with more than 20 people there.

In attendance, past-YAD board member, Sam Burg, who has been involved with YAD for eight years, said, “Torah on Tap is a great way for people to have Jewish conversations with great teachers like Rabbi Swedroe.” Rabbi Swedroe began the conversation with a reading of text from the Torah. After each section, she would open it up to the audience to ask questions and comment on the materials. Noting that she presented a lot of information in a short time, Rabbi Swedroe said there is so much more to discuss, and this conversation is just getting started. As the event concluded, one attendee summed it up by thanking Rabbi Swedroe for a “respectful and awesome conversation.”

To learn more about YAD visit: shalomaustin.org/yad.