In anticipation of Purim, Doctor Juni and Rabbi Kivelevitz discuss various aspects of the traditional celebration. Juni comments that encouraging inebriation is dangerous on several levels,while Kivelevitz contextualizes the origin of Purim shenanigans – especially drinking with abandon to (עד דלא ידע) -- in the millennia of oppression Jews have suffered, seeing it as a type of safety valve . Abandoning the community's usual grim reality provided a relief to the relentless misery.

Juni asserts that moderate social drinking and having a "shot" after a long day is not maladaptive. He outlines the psychology and chemistry of what occurs for one who is liquored up. He presents alcohol as a chemical depressant, taking issue with scriptural references suggesting that drinking makes people happy. Giving anecdotal and clear behavior references, he describes the direct physiological effects , eg:,slowing reaction time, interfering with logical thinking, and disolving inhibition.

Kivelevitz comments that many persons seek the disinhibitory effect, since it allows them to express beliefs and emotions they otherwise stifle due to impropriety.

Juni elaborates on how having a drink can make individuals more courageous, yet cause irresponsible and reckless actions.The doctor notes how alcohol engenders manic behavior (which can be perceived as “happy”) in equal parts with dangerous aggression.

Kivelevitz gives his take on the the institution of the "Purim Rov" in Chassidic circles, who role is to roast and satirize grand leaders of the courts of the devoted.He compares this with the "Purim Shpiels" that were a staple of Yeshiva life in the last century. Both,he insists were subtle methods for airing grievances which can be addressed and corrected after the Holiday.

The pair associate general lampooning and comic displacement as a powerful social catalyst,with Juni invoking Dr. Abraham Twersky’s spot on recognition of archtypes represented by the Peanuts characters in the three volumes of self-help the late psychologist authored .

Juni wonders about the phenomenon of "Purim Torah", where scholars and students alike seemingly poke fun at the methodology of Talmudic scholarship, and suggests this reveals an underlying dissatisfaction with a process that they have devoted their lives to. Kivelevitz, however, contextualizes this as a way to lovingly embrace a system that at times can lead to absurd conclusions.

Doctor Samuel Juni is one of the foremost research psychologists in the world today. He has published groundbreaking original research in seventy different peer reviewed journals, and is cited continuously with respect by colleagues and experts in the field who have built on his theories and observations. Samuel Juni studied in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin under Rav Yitzchack Hutner, and in Yeshiva University as a Talmid of Rav Joseph Dov Soloveitchick. Professor Juni is a prominent member of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, and has regularly presented addresses to captivated audiences. Associated with NYU since 1979, Juni has served as Director of MA and PhD programs, all the while heading teams engaged in important research. Professor Juni's scholarship on aberrant behavior across the cultural, ethnic, and religious spectrum is founded on psychometric methodology and based on a psycho-dynamic psychopathology perspective. He is arguably the preeminent expert in Differential Diagnostics, with each of his myriad studies entailing parallel efforts in theory construction and empirical data collection from normative and clinical populations. Professor Juni created and directed NYU's Graduate Program in Tel Aviv titled Cross-Cultural Group Dynamics in Stressful Environments. Based in Yerushalayim, he collaborates with Israeli academic and mental health specialists in the study of dissonant factors and tensions in the Arab-Israeli conflict and those within the Orthodox Jewish community, while exploring personality challenges of second-generation Holocaust survivors. Below is a partial list of the journals to which Professor Juni has contributed over 120 articles. Many are available on line Journal of Forensic Psychology Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. International Review of Victimology The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease International Forum of Psychoanalysis Journal of Personality Assessment Journal of Abnormal Psychology Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology Psychophysiology Psychology and Human Development Journal of Sex Research Journal of Psychology and Judaism Contemporary Family Therapy American Journal on Addictions Journal of Criminal Psychology Mental Health, Religion & Culture As Rosh Beis Medrash, Rabbi Avraham Kivelevitz serves as Rav and Posek for the morning minyan at IDT. Hundreds of listeners around the globe look forward to his weekly Shiur in Tshuvos and Poskim. Rav Kivelevitz is a Maggid Shiur for Dirshu International in Talmud and Halacha as well as a Dayan with the Beth Din of America. Please leave us a review or email us at [email protected] This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate