Brooklyn synagogues battle underage drinking

Jews have traditionally suffered from fewer alcohol-related problems than other religious and ethnic groups — a trait scientists have attributed to both culture and genes.

But underage drinking has become a concern in at least one Orthodox community in Brooklyn, where religious leaders and medical workers are now speaking out about the phenomenon, known as “shul-hopping.”

“This has been going on for years, unfortunately, but there’s more of it [now] because there are more kids out there,” an emergency medical technician in the Midwood neighborhood told the Brooklyn Daily last week. “It’s a taboo topic that’s always been swept under the rug.”

While the article doesn’t provide statistics, the perception that the problem has increased is apparently widespread. The underage drinking typically takes place at Friday night “shalom zachar” parties, in which male members of the religious community celebrate the birth of a baby boy. The trend is described as “a guy thing” by a female teenager quoted in the piece, and has led to such wild drinking that some celebrants have passed out and been hospitalized. The pattern has inspired “a handful of Midwood synagogues to change their party policies when teenagers are involved,” the articles says.

Local observers tell the Brooklyn Daily that Midwood synagogues served significantly less alcohol at this year’s Purim parties than in the past, and that the problem — once an issue to be avoided — is being addressed more openly.

“More and more organizations are talking about it,” says Ruchama Clapman, a social worker. “People are ready to hear about it now.”