משלי, פרק ל״א, פסוק ז׳

Wine serves as a soothing remedy for the deep struggles of human existence. It offers a temporary refuge, allowing those at the lowest points of their lives to disconnect from a harsh reality. The primary approach among commentators is that intoxication brings joy to a heavy heart and dissipates deep sorrow. As a person drinks, the pain of destitution and the frustration of bitter, exhausting toil fade from memory, leaving the heavy burdens of a difficult life temporarily behind.

This relief can also be understood as addressing two distinct types of pain [אלשיך]. The first form of escape is for the impoverished and lost, who drink to forget their severe poverty. The second form of relief is for mourners and those with bitter souls. For them, the drink eases the agonizing memory of the effort and care they invested in raising a loved one who has since passed away.

This profound need for escape highlights a sharp contrast between ordinary people facing daily hardships and royalty. Wine is intended for those burdened by deep, persistent sadness who desperately need to forget their poverty and struggles. Kings, on the other hand, possess wealth and do not suffer from the kind of destitution or exhausting labor that requires such an escape. Heavy drinking is therefore entirely inappropriate for them, as any sadness they experience is merely temporary and coincidental [אלשיך].

On a spiritual level, this concept of drinking is tied to how wicked individuals receive their reward in this world [אלשיך]. Wine is given to a wicked person who is losing his spiritual world so that he may drink and forget that he is utterly destitute of commandments. The intoxication serves a specific purpose. It prevents him from awakening to his true spiritual state and repenting. Because he lacks the necessary merits to change, he simply receives his reward in the form of wine, which blinds him to his spiritual poverty.