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Noah
Noah’s IntoxicationAfter emerging from the ark, Noah planted a vineyard and produced wine. He became absolutely drunk from his wine and found himself disgraced in the presence of his family. The Sages say that it is possible to illustrate the progression of the destructive effect of wine on a person by means of a comparison to the conduct of four different animals – an illustration that Satan himself presented before Noah.
When Noah came to plant a vineyard, Satan came and stood before him. [Satan] said to him: What are you planting? Noah said to him: A vineyard. Satan said to him: What is its nature? Noah responded: Its fruits are sweet both when they are moist, as grapes, and when they are dry, as raisins, and one produces wine from it, which gladdens the heart. Satan said to him: Let the two of us enter into a partnership concerning this vineyard. Noah said: Very well! What did Satan do? He brought a sheep and killed it beneath the vine, thereafter he brought a lion and killed it there, and thereafter he brought a pig and killed it there, and thereafter he brought a monkey and killed it beneath the vine. The blood of the killed animals dripped in that vineyard and Satan irrigated it with their blood. Satan alluded to Noah that before a person drinks wine, he is as innocent as a lamb, which does not know anything, and like a sheep, silent before its shearers. After drinking in moderation he is as powerful as a lion, saying that there is no one like him in the world. Once he drinks excessively, he becomes like a pig, sullied with urine and with something else.