Why Rav Moshe Drank Uncertified Whiskey
When a person announces that he’s different from everyone, it is the opposite of המקום רוח and הימנו נוחה הבריות רוח. If you can’t serve your Creator without stepping on others, the problem isn’t that people are offended by you—it is only a sign that something is wrong with your avodas Hashem. The bigger problem is that you aren’t advancing, that you’re on the wrong track. You’re going... but you’re going in the wrong direction. This person may be taking on more and more stringencies—but with every measure of avodah, he fills himself up with two measures of hubris. The proof of this is that he struggles in other areas of his life—which can only come from ga’avah.
Rav Moshe Feinstein was once asked whether spirits require a reliable hechsher, and he ruled that they do. “And if you have seen me partake of uncertified mashkeh when I sat at a dais, I only did so out of respect for those rabbanim who are more lenient and who were in attendance. But in general, it is preferable not to drink it.”
The peshat is that sometimes by withholding from doing something, a person may lose more than he gains. He may have taken one step by taking on a chumrah, but he took two steps back by insulting another person. Yes, it is difficult to strike the perfect balance, but we must at least consider these things and think about what the נוחה הבריות רוח הימנו is telling us.
