1. I keep hearing about this problem but I've never seen it. Where does it exist? I dont see it in the shuls I have davened in in Israel (where I live), and I never saw it in the shuls I have davened in in the USA. I have seen alcohol at kiddushes and I have seen people have some lechaims, but never getting drunk and plastered the way it is described here.  Is this a Flatbush problem? a Five Towns problem? A Boca problem? where?  I have definitely heard plenty of rabbis and others talking about this as if it is a real problem, but where is it happening? what type of shuls or communities?

This coming Shabbos is Shabbos Breishis, the Shabbos we begin the cycle of reading the Torah portions again from the first portion, Breishis.

The recent rise in the cost of living and some new taxes, in Israel, might have effected an interesting change in halacha.

I am not sure if it was just discovered or realized, or if this is something new being added, but Hamechadesh is reporting that as part of the new tax on sugary drinks, the price of grape juice will increase by 17%. 

According to the Lakewood Scoop, a local resident in Lakewood decided to turn in his smartphone for a simple kosher flip phone. When a fellow from Brooklyn heard about that decision, he called up the rabbi of the shul and sponsored a kiddush in the guy's honor, so as to encourage others to switch.

At the kiddush, the rav announced that several members had recently made the switch. One fellow was worried about being addicted to his phone, another gave his up despite using a filter so the kids would see him identifying with the bnei torah, and another to avoid lifnei iver...this particular fellow who the kiddush was honoring made the switch to set an example for his kids...

He turned in his Google and switched it for a kugel...

A video is going around social media in which construction workers from the Gesher Yehudit project can be seen taking a break from their work on Friday night to make kiddush and eat some dinner. They are in full construction gear and make kiddush while reading the text from a cellphone with the construction site in the background.

The reactions to this clip are varied, from shock to insulting to impressed to demeaning to insulting to insulted, and to all sorts of other reactions. Some feel bad that these people are forced to work and resort to making kiddush like this, while others think they are idiots, or worse, for making kiddush amidst such serious chilul shabbos, while others yet think they are wonderful for trying to keep some tradition despite the circumstances.

Life is complicated. It is not back and white, as many people make it out to be. Israel has a very high percentage of people who are not religious but keep some level of tradition. Many make kiddush on Friday night and have a family dinner, even while watching a football game n television or a movie or using their cellphones. These people were not forced to work on Shabbos against their will. At the same time that they felt it necessary to work, whether for the higher paycheck or for professional advancement or for belief in the task at hand or for whatever reason, they still felt it important to commemorate the day in their traditional manner. Had they been home, they also would have been mechalel shabbos. No religious Jew is being forced to be mechalel shabbos - at least none is evidenced in this video.

As an aside, I find it cute that they pass around the wine for drinking according to age. One might think, ok they did something traditional, but the overall chilul shabbos would show they don't care too much. That might or might not be true, but most, or many, people do what they know, what they grow up with, whether it makes sense or not, even if/when it contradicts other aspects of their lifestyle. I find it somewhat endearing. 

Yerushalmi Kugel can look pretty frightening to the uninitiated. It can take someone a nice amount of time to build up the courage to try it, though most people who try it once love it..

It is definitely frightening enough without having to deal with actual poison... According to Kikar, a kiddush in Beitar on Shabbos was tainted when it was discovered that the yerushalmi kugel was tainted..

for illustrative purposes only. this was NOT the poisoned kugel. as far as I know.

After davening, when the food was brought out for kiddush, they started eating the traditional yerushalmi kugel and noticed a weird sharp taste. Shortly after, it became a vomit-fest.

The gabbaim of the shul went looking for the cause and discovered on the kitchen floor an empty spray can of k300 - an insecticide against cockroaches and other bugs.

Refuah Shleima to all the poisoned members of that shul.

Can you imagine anything more frightening than poisoned yerushalmi kugel?

As if we don't have enough to fight about, in a Melbourne, Australia shul two people got into a fight at the kiddush over a piece of herring. It led to one stabbing the other, and then running away.
sources: Yahoo News (without the reason), Kikar and Jewish Press

It must have been pretty amazing herring to be worth stabbing someone over!

Maybe he was just trying to pick up another piece of herring with his toothpick and accidentally stabbed the guy next to him who was also reaching for it?

not over a bowl of cholent, not over a shot of good whisky, not even over a scoop of chopped liver. Herring!

The OU is right - kiddush clubs are dangerous places!

In a retaliatory move, some people are looking to boycott Scotch whiskeys.

An excerpt from the Jerusalem Post:

The Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC) – a partnership of 250 Jewish men’s clubs that claims more than 25,000 members throughout North America – has joined with synagogues both in Israel and in the diaspora in “suggesting a boycott of scotch from distillers located in West Dunbartonshire Council in Scotland at Kiddush and [in] public and private” celebrations.


The FJMC, which is affiliated with the Conservative movement, has called for Jews to avoid certain brands of spirits following a boycott of Israeli goods instituted by the local council of the whiskey-producing region.


“A boycott is like a snowball heading downhill,” said FJMC Executive Director Rabbi Charles Simon.


“It begins at the top of a large mountain, and gathers momentum until it is transformed into an avalanche.


If we wish to stop it, we need to act as soon as possible.”


Among the distilleries named in the boycott are Morrison Bowmore, Loch Lamond and Chivas Brothers.


Chivas Brothers produces the well-regarded Chivas, Glenlivet and Ballantine’s brands which are the preferred spirits in many so-called “Kiddush clubs,” which gather following services in some synagogues.


The decision by Rabbi Simon to urge FJMC members to engage in a counter-boycott came after well known Israeli-Anglo blogger and pro-settlement activist, Jameel Rashid, publicized on his website a letter to several distilleries located within West Dunbartonshire. Rashid wrote: “the global counterboycott of Scottish whiskey products, distilled in the West Durbanshire council region, is beginning.”


Anglo-Israelis, an important target market for purveyors of liquor here, have been circulating e-mails calling on both Israeli and American Jews to cease consumption of Scotch whiskey, and urging supporters of Israel to send copies of Rashid’s missive to the distilleries in question.


When “your local council representatives boycott my country – under the most unethical and immoral of pretext – you cannot expect your market to sit idly and pretend you are not perverting justice,” wrote Rashid.


Both Rashid, the pseudonym for an anonymous Israeli who writes the popular Muqata blog, and the author of the widely read website Israellycool, have posted the home phone numbers of local council members, urging participants in the counter-boycott to call them to express their discontent.


Explaining his rationale for the initiative, Rashid stated that “its best to contact the whisky distillers directly, since the West Dunbartonshire Council of Wise Men couldn’t care less what a pro-Israel, proliberty, person might think... but they might listen to voices of their constituents – specifically the Scotch whisky distilleries in their council’s region.”


The boycott against Israel was initially introduced by the West Dunbartonshire Council in response to what councilmen described as “the disproportionate use of force used against Palestinians” during the IDF’s Gaza incursion in 2009.


The council resolved that it “recognizes the disproportionate force used by the IDF in Palestine and agrees to boycott all Israeli goods as a consequence. Officers should immediately cease the purchase of any goods we currently source, which were made or grown in Israel. Officers should also ensure we procure no new goods or produce from Israel until this boycott is formally lifted by WDC.”

Way to go Jameel!

My thoughts:

1. I had no idea there was an official organizational body for the kiddush clubs. Fascinating. 
2. While I know they mean shuls having kiddush after davening, the term kiddush club normally, in the frum world, refers to the groups who go out in the middle of davening, usually right before the haftorah, and make kiddush, returning to davening in time for mussaf.
3. It is hard to believe that this boycott will be successful. Are they going to switch to drinking bourbon? While some (me) prefer bourbon over scotch, those who love scotch do not consider anything else to be a serious drink. Chivas and Glenlivet (and the Glen family) are very "Jewish drinks", like what J.B. used to be (trivia - what does J.B. stand for? Jewish Booze), with a strong foothold in the frum community, bearing a place of honor at the head table at the kiddush. It will be hard for people to make the switch.

A while back, the OU tried to put a stop to the popular Kidush Club phenomena in shuls. They say that aside from the disturbance, and aside form the disrespect shown when walking out during the haftorah (or whenever), it also promotes alcoholism and encourages the youth to drink.

I don't know how successful they were in their attempt to put an end to the Kiddush Club, but they are now receiving a big boost from international diplomacy.

Because Scotland agreed to release the Lockerbie bomber, many people and organizations upset over this are calling for a boycott on Scottish products, including, and mostly, Scotch Whiskies.

if they succeed, that might be the death knell of the Kiddush Club.

Of course, Kiddush Clubs that drink bourbon will not be affected by such a ban.

We will be making a kiddush this shabbos in our home after davening. The kiddush is in honor of the birth of our baby 2 months ago (or whenever it was). If you will be within walking distance (in Ramat Bet Shemesh), consider yourself invited. email me for our address if you need it... israeli.jew at gmail dot com