Fridays with Manny

WHY THE COLOR GREEN?

Today, March 17^th, is St. Patrick’s Day. You may have wondered why the color green is part of the holiday’s theme. A simple answer is that traditionally green represents the Catholics of Ireland, the color orange – Protestants, and white symbolizes peace between the two religions, which is represented in the flag of Ireland.

The question is, “Why is drinking alcohol such a big part of celebrating on St. Patrick’s Day?” Of course, Irish people did not invent the tradition of drinking over a holiday. As I mentioned last week, Jews were commanded to get drunk long before St. Patrick’s Day. There is evidence that brewing alcohol was dated from 7000 to 6600 BC. I read that the history of the world had changed after brewing was discovered. Early humans were hunter-gatherers. Men hunted, women prepared food, took care of children and planted food. And after realizing that food can be converted into alcohol, men took over agriculture and, as they say, the rest is history.

Nevertheless, the patron saint of alcoholics is Venerable Malt Talbot, who was born in Dublin, Ireland. Whatever is your excuse, please drink responsibly. On St. Patrick’s Day, the color green is not only in alcoholic drinks and in the river in Chicago, some people use it as head coverings, as you can see in these three images.

Enjoy and Share with a Friend!