PTIJ: Why get drunk specifically in bed? [closed]

Question

In Megilla (7b) the Gemara states:

אמר רבא: מחייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא, עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי

Rava stated: One must get drunk in bed, to the point where he doesn't distinguish between "cursed is Human" and "blessed is Mordechai".

What's the significance of getting drunk in bed? As a side note, how do we know Rava is talking about getting drunk on Purim specifically, as the Poskim seem to understand?

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This question is Purim Torah and is not intended to be taken completely seriously. See the Purim Torah policy.

Answer 1

We know that one is to drink until they fall down/asleep:

H. Megillah 2:15

כיצד חובת סעדה זו. שיאכל בשר ויתקן סעדה נאה כפי אשר תמצא ידו. ושותה יין עד שישתכר וירדם בשכרותו

What is the nature of our obligation for this feast? A person should eat meat and prepare as attractive a feast as his means permit. He should drink wine until he becomes intoxicated and falls asleep in a stupor.

Furthermore we know that one must safeguard their life against all dangers.

H. Roseah uShemirath ha-Nefesh 11:4

כל מכשל שיש בו סכנת נפשות מצות עשה להסירו ולהשמר ממנו ולהזהר בדבר יפה יפה. שנאמר (דברים ד ט) "השמר לך ושמר נפשך". ואם לא הסיר והניח המכשולות המביאין לידי סכנה בטל מצות עשה ועבר ב(דברים כב ח) "לא תשים דמים"

it is a positive mitzvah to remove any obstacle that could pose a danger to life, and to be very careful regarding these matters, as Deuteronomy 4:9 states: "Beware for yourself; and guard your soul." If a person leaves a dangerous obstacle and does not remove it, he negates the observance of a positive commandment, and violates the negative commandment: "Do not cause blood to be spilled."

Given that alcohol related falls pose a serious threat to life, Rabha holds that one must besot themselves only from the safety of פוריא, leaving no obstacle between the drinker and his destination.

Answer 2

Since people are busy delivering their own shalach manos, there aren't any available designated drivers. Therefore, the best solution is to get drunk in bed.

Answer 3

One might refer back to D'varim 22:8:

כִּ֤י תִבְנֶה֙ בַּ֣יִת חָדָ֔שׁ וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ מַעֲקֶ֖ה לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ וְלֹֽא־תָשִׂ֤ים דָּמִים֙ בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ כִּֽי־יִפֹּ֥ל הַנֹּפֵ֖ל מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃

When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it. (Trans. Sefaria)

If we instead read לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ (l'gagecha) as the sound of someone so drunk that they are gagging on food and drink, perhaps they need protective rails on the side of their bed so that they do not fall onto the floor in their stupor.

Going further, Bava Kama 15b:18 ("one may not allow a hazardous situation or item to remain in one’s house." (Trans. Sefaria)) would imply that one has the positive obligation to make the whole house safe for drunks on the night of Purim; if that is not possible, perhaps it is simply that one's own bed is the safest place to fall down drunk.

Answer 4

• On Purim the level of simchah we reach is so great that we are mischaber to the neshamos of the previous generation, who live in a world where there is only simchah.
• Therefore on Purim we have the koach to be mashpiah on the maasim of the previous doros, just as they have the koach to be mashpiah on us.
• The previous doros "sleep in their beds" as if it were.
• It is not possible for us to explain to the previous doros that they are not dead because from a logical perspective this is incorrect.
• The Vilna Gaon explains that the reason there is a chiyuv to get drunk on Purim is because we transcend the mind. We serve Hashem even when inebriated and only capable of emotion.
• By getting drunk in bed we are able to connect to the previous doros from an illogical emotional perspective and be mashpiah the koach of chiyus onto them, and thus bring about techiyas ha'meisim.

This is the meaning of the gemara in Megillah 7b:

רבה ורבי זירא עבדו סעודת פורים בהדי הדדי איבסום קם רבה שחטיה לרבי זירא למחר בעי רחמי ואחייה לשנה אמר ליה ניתי מר ונעביד סעודת פורים בהדי הדדי אמר ליה לא, בכל שעתא ושעתא מתרחיש ניסא

• Rabbah and Rebbi Zeira made a seudas purim together, and they became drunk.
• Rabbah slaughtered Rebbi Zeira, the next day he prayed for him and resuscitated him.
• The next year, Rabbah said to Rebbi Zeira, "Come back and we'll make a purim seudah again."
• Rebbi Zeira said, "No. Every year the miracle of the resucitation of the dead occurs on Purim [and it should not be wasted specifically on me]."

Answer 5

This is the source of saying lchaim when you drink. The reishonim explain the minhag when a person is chayiv mita (bed) they gave him wine. So we say lchaim to show this drinking isnt the same as those who drink before they go to mita. Now when a person is chayiv Mita this gemara is saying he has a mitzva to drink. Now there's a machlokes why that is. Either so he wont feel so bad about this punishment. Or it's to help him fall asleep to fulfill the punishment. The reason why a person is chayiv mita for certain sins, is because if he had enough sleep he wouldn't dream of doing such a sin.