Never one to disappoint, I will repost what Chabad says about the Jewish view of alcohol consumption.
Heheh... You have to admit Chabad is a little unique in their views, practices with alcohol!
They have a "farbreingen" culture which is not necessarily practiced by most groups of Jews.
What was written in that article is the basic truth, that alcohol in moderation is OK. Wine is a part of the Jewish ritual of Kiddush and in the times of the Temples was used in the Wine libation. It is also true that the negative aspects of alcohol include the story of Noachs downfall and the story of Aarons sons Nadab and Abihu.
It is true that Chabad does like alcohol. But even so they do not encourage drunkenness.
You know, there could be a physical/racial element to this. Mediterranean peoples, like Jews, Italians, etc., are statistically less likely to become alcoholics. Something to do with the chemistry of the brain, which is different for different groups of people. This might be why Jews have a rather relaxed attitude toward drinking alcohol. But for Northern European people, especially those with Ugro-Finnish admixture and Slavs, it takes less exposure to alcohol to get addicted. This might be one of the reasons why there is, in general, more opposition to drinking among Protestants. (These are, of course, great generalities).
