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Is there any problem with drinking socially during the Three Weeks?

Background: My Rav held that large social gatherings even without music give a person more Simḥah than privately listening to music, and as such he held that things many people avoid - eg., listening to music on the radio or even going to the movies, in which others' comments and interactions with you are a nuisance (but which he did not endorse year-round anyway, but in theory, if a "Kosher" movie were made that didn't have inappropriate previews, etc. etc. etc...) are much less problematic than going to a baseball game, for example, in which being part of the crowd is the experience.

I know drinking is not generally prohibited during the Three Weeks, but if we take the idea that large social gatherings are inappropriate, would smaller social gatherings with drinking involved be a problem, since social gatherings give one Simḥah and we know that wine provides Simḥah?

Does this extrapolation make sense based on the above, or is it an unnecessary restriction?

Seth J
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    You Rav's position, while reasonable, has very subjective criteria and is not one that is dealt with much in the sources. As such (even of course as it is not a practical matter) you might be better off asking him because I worry we won't find any sourced material to answer this. – Double AA Jul 17 '12 at 14:19
  • @DoubleAA, OK, what about the normative approach? Is music really the only restriction? At any point do we say, no, you may not go with your friends to the bar that is having a male-only all-acapella singing contest and beer festival? – Seth J Jul 17 '12 at 14:22
  • http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/17586/759 I think my comment there is still right, I just have to find someone who explicitly extends it backwards. But that doesn't mean it isn't incredibly difficult to draw a line. – Double AA Jul 17 '12 at 14:24
  • @DoubleAA His Rav's position, happens to be THE Rav's position, as in R. Soloveitchik. – Curiouser Jul 17 '12 at 17:39
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    @Curiouser I said it was a reasonable position. – Double AA Jul 17 '12 at 17:50
  • @DoubleAA It wasn't the reasonable part I was criticizing. It was the idea that it isn't dealt with much in the sources. If you had been aware that it was R. Soloveitchik's position, then you would have known that he believes the rules of the 3 weeks are identical to those of the 12 months of mourning. And that topic certainly has been dealt with extensively in the sources! – Curiouser Jul 17 '12 at 18:18
  • @Curiouser, I'd be surprised if R' Double AA wasn't aware of that. – Seth J Jul 17 '12 at 18:23
  • @SethJ Obviously he did not. Otherwise he would have realized that your question is exactly equivalent to one which has an extensive literature, about what one may do during the 12 months of mourning -- e.g. listening to music, going to movies, attending weddings, etc. If he did realize this, then he should delete his first hasty comment. – Curiouser Jul 17 '12 at 19:22
  • @Curiouser, I'm not going to get into a debate about what another commenter may or may not have thought. I'm sorry I speculated at all. Thank you for your constructive comment earlier identifying RJB"S as the source for the position; I thought as much but didn't want to say so without a firm source. – Seth J Jul 17 '12 at 20:36
  • @SethJ With all due respect, my correction to Double AA was also constructive in the sense that it was designed to help you to answer your question, by looking at the extensive literature on what is forbidden during the 12 months of mourning for a parent. – Curiouser Jul 17 '12 at 23:20
  • related to the comment thread: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/8607/603 – Menachem Jul 18 '12 at 22:33

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