The famous aphorism, “a Jewish drunk is hard to find,” couldn’t be further from the truth. For example, Rabbi Eliyahu Guttmacher (1796-1874) — Tsadik of Grätz and a brilliant Talmudic scholar — received kvitlach (notes for blessings) for drinking problems that were destroying families. In his book “Yankel’s Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the […]