Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Bava Basra 39

Bava Basra 39 contains some well needed clarification of the concept of macha'a - protest. Since the commencement of the perek (Chezkas Habatim) the gemara has laid out disputes about whether macha'a must be done in person, the length of time one can occupy and work the field (without macha'a) before having a chazaka of adverse possession and what percentage of the field must be worked in order to justify the chazaka.

On the bottom of Bava Basra 38b (spilling over to the top of 39a) the gemara begins a discussion of how the protest is lodged. It must be done in front of witnesses, but there is a dispute as to whether the macha'a is effective if the witnesses either say that they will not inform the occupant of the field or are instructed not to inform the occupant of the field that there has been a macha'a. At the root of the dispute is the use of the doctrine of chavreich chavra ees beh - literally translated as your friend has a friend. As applied, this means that although these witnesses may not have contact (either by instruction or otherwise) with the occupant of the field, they will tell their friends who will tell others, until the protest reaches the occupant. [Kind of reminds me of that old commercial - they told two friends and they told two friends and they told two friends - my wife Sarah tells me that was a commercial for Pert shampoo.]

Towards the bottom of 39a, the gemara mentions a dispute as to whether R' Yochanan held that the macha'a must be in front of two or three witness. Initially, the gemara attempts to link this machlokes to the position of Raba Bar Rav Huna that anything said in front of three is not embarrassing talk (lishna bisha). The Rashbam explains (what at the time is the position attributed to) R' Chiya Bar Abba as stating that only two is required because the protest will become well known and there will be no danger of lashon hara.

I found this interesting as whether the protest is said before one, two or three, I would not have thought that one making the protest that someone stole his property has committed the aveira of lashon hara. Assuming the statement to be true (otherwise it would be surely motzi shem ra) the protester must be loud and clear that he is protesting the occupancy or he stands to lose his property.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Erev Yom Kippur Thoughts on Teshuva a/k/a The Second Half of the Drasha

On Thursday night/Friday early morning, I summarized half of the this year's Rabbi Frand Teshuva Drasha. As I was unable to finish before my head dropped, I am continuing the summary in this motzei shabbos post. Same rules as always apply - I have attempted to reproduce these thoughts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand. [Ed Note - Blogger's spell check still was not working, so please excuse typos which I missed].

Rabbi Frand then quoted R' Shimshon Pincus who said that shabbos is an exceptional mitzva. Other mitzvos require an affirmative act in order to be mikayaim them - such as shofar which must be listened to or a lulav which must be waved, or learning torah. Shabbos does not require affirmative steps as Hashem brings it to us and gives us this holy present. Our only requirement is to appreciate the shabbos and prepare for its coming. Rabbi Frand indicated that this actually requires no additional steps - just a cognizance of the purpose of one's actions. The mother may already be peeling the potatoes or sauteeing the onions, the husband and children may be cleaning the house - they just need to realize that they are doing it to make shabbos special.

Rabbi Frand then mentioned a Mrs Ariella Jaffe from Highland Park, New Jersey who has started a program where the house is ready for shabbos by chatzos (midday) on Friday. She explained that her kids used to dread the coming of shabbos as she heard one of her children say - oy tonight is shabbos. She spoke with her daughter and saw through her eyes the scrambling and tension that went into the weekly Friday rush to get ready for shabbos. Now, when the kids come home from school they can relax as the afternoon gets on towards shabbos. Additionally, during the week as the food is prepared for shabbos, the kids might ask - is that dish for tonight or for shabbos. Knowing the great aromas from the week are from food which will be eaten on shabbos heightens their anticipation and appreciation of shabbos.

Rabbi Frand then said to the men that they are not off the hook in the preparation of shabbos. While they may not have the time to cook or even shop for shabbos, there are actions they can take to improve shabbos. Suggestions included: getting a dvar torah ready for the shabbos table (try Kosher Beers on Thursday nights after 11 PM for a summary of that week's Rabbi Frand vort), buying a special game to be played on shabbos with the kids (ours is Simpsons' Life), looking up a medrash in a sefer or listening to music for better zmiros.

Rabbi Frand then mentioned that he had been at a levaya (funeral) for Abe Shmel (unsure on the spelling) who recently passed away in his 90s. When Mr. Shmel came to America he did not have the time to learn Torah in a yeshiva and at the age of 11 he became an apprentice in a bakery. Every Friday morning he would go to work at the wee hours to make the challah for shabbos and as a result he would not have time to prepare a dvar torah. But he always made certain to sing zmiros with energy and fervor. As a result he has left children and grandchildren who are shomrei mitzvos.

Rabbi Frand then quoted a vort from the Or HaChaim Hakadosh on "v'shamru bnei yisrael es hashabbos...l'dorosam bris olam" He said that v'shamru does not mean guard. He connected it with the line about Yosef and his brothers where it is written in Vayeshev - "v'aviv shamar es hadavar" - Yaakov knew what was transpiring. If you watch out for shabbos and have an awareness and desire for it, you can insure your children will be bnei and bnos torah as it will be a bris olam.

Rabbi Frand quoted from R' Mattisyahu Solomon's new sefer (I did not catch the name) that we are living in dangerous time for raising children. How do we protect them --- show them a proper shabbos. He quoted a gemara that said that anyone who keeps shabbos properly, even if he worships idols like the generation of Enosh, Hashem will forgive him. The Taz asks - how do we understand this? If the person did not do teshuva, how is he forgiven and if he did do teshuva, than that is the cause of the forgiveness! He answered that worshipping idols caused a permanent stain on a person's neshama. However, by properly keeping shabbos along with doing teshuva the stain can be erased.

Rabbi Frand then told a story from the book "the Lilac Bush" by Mrs Judith Cohen Mandel Novak. She grew up in a town in Hungary where her father was the Rabbi and his father before him had been the Rabbi. She recalled the wonderful zmiros at her family's shabbos table as she sat and sang with her many sisters. When the Nazis invaded Hungary, she and her family were deported to a concentration camp. She was the only member of her family to survive. After the war, she and some others from her town decided to take a train back to see what was left. While on the train they were all conversing and becoming increasingly bitter about the trip. They decided that when they got to the town they would go and stone the shul because they were angry at Hashem and this was His house. Mrs Mandel picked up a stone and was about to throw it, when she had a flashback to her parents' shabbos table. She realized that if she threw the stone, she could never have another shabbos like that again. She put the stone down.

I apologize again for not being able to complete this post on Thursday night, because the closing of the drasha was quite powerful. Rabbi Frand said that as we enter Shabbos Shuva we can fix our shabbos and our souls by deciding that this shabbos will be different. The next shabbos is the first day of Sukkos and we can welcome the shabbos warmly in our sukkah. The following shabbos is Shemini Atzeres and we can also incorporate shabbos and yom tov. By that time we will already be three shabboses into our new cycle, building towards our next Yom Kippur.

Gmar Tov.

Thusday's Thoughts on the Teshuva Drasha

The following is a brief summary of part of Rabbi Frand's Teshuva Drasha which was broadcast this week. I have attempted to reproduce these thoughts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand. [Ed Note - Blogger's spell check was not working, so please excuse typos which I missed].

Rabbi Frand began by talking about recidivism -- that people may do teshuva and then slip back later. Later, when we start the teshuva process anew, we will get a little voice saying why bother starting teshuva if by sukkos we will already be backsliding.

Rabbi Frand then gave a suggestion as to how to be able to keep our teshuva - start keeping shabbos. But wait, aren't we shomrei shabbos and how will this help since it has not stopped us from backsliding. Also - what is the connection between shabbos and teshuva?

Rabbi Frand then told a story about a friend who was involved in five car accidents over a period of time. The insurance company wanted to drop them from the policy. The insurance agent then said to the company - four of the five were not their fault don't drop them. The insurance company said that they had "bad karma."

The people then went to Rabbi Weinberg and asked about the accidents. He decided that the accidents must be a form of skeela - a punishment. Rabbi Weinberg asked about the goings on in the house. He was told that erev shabbos they were running around until the last minute. Rabbi Weinberg said it must be for chillul shabbos. Not that they were violating shabbos, but the running around and accepting shabbos at the last moment was problematic. Rabbi Weinberg told them to accept shabbos 1/2 hour early and to sit and learn during the time. The accidents stopped. The insurance agent asked to have them reinstated as the problem had been "a religious issue." The company agreed.

Rabbi Frand then mentioned a Gemara in Shabbos where R' Yochanan says that if the Jews keep two shabbosim k'hilchasan the moshiach will come. However, the Talmud Yerushalmi on Taanis contains a statement from R' Levi - if the Jews keep one shabbos k'tikna the moshiach would come.

How can we reconcile the two statements? The Gemara in Shabbos says keep the shabbos according to the halachos of what can or cannot be done for two weeks and the moshiach will come. But if (like the Yerushalmi) we keep a perfect shabbos - it will only take one shabbos.

In sefer Beraishis the chumash tells the story of Kayin's punishment for killing hevel. Hashem tells him na v'nad you will be banished but with a sign, and then Kayin leaves Hashem. The Medrash says that on the way out, Kayin bumps into Adam. Adam asks where are you coming from? Kayin answers that he had just spoken with Hashem and had done teshuva and I made a deal with Hashem. Adam hits his forehead and says I did not know that teshuva had this power. Adam then went and wrote the perek of Tehilim - Mizmor Shir L'Yom HaShabbas.

Rabbi Frand then asked three questions about this medrash: (1) did Adam not know about teshuva? (2) How does one make a deal with Hashem and (3) What is the connection with shabbos?

The Nesivos Shalom (Slonover Rav) explains that Kayin was afraid for his soul - that Hashem was banishing him into the physical world - what will happen to my neshoma? When Kayin asks - everyone who finds me will kill me - he means that his soul will be vulnerable from all the physical temptations of this world. Hashem answers - I will give you a lifeline - and He gives Kayin an Os (sign).

The Medrash Tanchuma notes that something else is an Os - Shabbos is an Os for the Jews showing their bond with Hashem. The shabbos Os will be what can save your soul from the world, Kayin is told. Adam knew about teshuva, but he did not realize that it had the strength to fix the soul. This was the deal cut between Kayin and Hashem -- that he had to survive the week and its temptations and then shabbos would come and fix his soul.

Rabbi Frand mentioned that we all have a neshoma which came from the kisei HaKavod. Now, our souls are in this world - the land of the physical. But we have the shabbos which can fix the damage caused by this world.

Rabbi Frand then said that perhaps this is what the gemara meant by saying that shabbos was equal to all the mitzvos. Indeed a different gemara states that Hashem said to Moshe I have a present in My treasure house and shabbos is its name. Go and tell the Jews the power of shabbos.

Rabbi Frand then told a story about a woman in Irvine, California. She attended the small shul where a colleague of Rabbi Frand's was the Rabbi. This woman was a true giyores who had even studied in Israel. She would come every shabbos afternoon to the shalosh seudos in the shul and when they got to the line in the yedid nefesh song - "my soul is sick for your love" the woman would cry. Why? Because her soul knew that in a matter of half an hour it would be forced to reenter the physical world. Thus she wanted the soul to be healed by shabbos, as the next line in the song is kel na refa na lah - she wanted her soul to be healed as well.

Rabbi Frand then told a story from R' Soloveichik's prior teshuva derasha. The Rav said that in his town in Europe there was Mojitz shteeble where they would sing songs for long periods of time at shalosh seudos. The Rav recalls that someone used to sing long and loud and fervently. The man then approached the Rav and asked him do you recognize me? The man said to the Rav - I am Yankel the Trugger (Porter). The Rav explained that he did not recognize him as all week long he was Yankel the Porter, but now he looked like Yankel the Prince. The Rav asked once, at a time well after shabbos was over - when will we daven maariv? Yankel responded - do you really want the week that badly?

Rabbi Frand then made reference to the old movie theatres where they would start the movie with a newsreel. In 1933 they showed a news reel which included the wedding of the daughter of the Munkatcher Rav. The footage showed the pagentry and elegance and included a message from the Rebbi, given to the Jews of America. He told them keep the shabbos - and not just to go regularly to shul and then out to work. This will keep you safe.

Rabbi Frand then said that although he is a misnaged and has been in a litvish yeshiva for 45 years and puts on tefillin with a bracha on chol hamoed and eats gebruchtz, he is jealous of the way chasidim keep shabbos. He made specific references to those in New Square in NY or Belz in Israel. And while we don't need to be like them in order to keep shabbos properly, all that we can do we should do, so that our souls will be in better shape before next Yom Kippur.

How do we improve our shabbos - its knowing that shabbos is more than just sleeping, eating and praying. They have a program for ba'alei teshuva - "turn Friday Night into Shabbos." We need a program "turn Shabbos into Shabbos." The problem is that shabbos comes every week so we take it for granted.

Rabbi Frand then told a story from a Rabbi Bender. (Rabbi Frand stated parenthetically that he was jealous of Rabbi Bender and Rabbi Wein who always meet people while travelling and hear interesting stories. Rabbi Frand said he has been travelling a lot recently, but no stories other than someone telling him he was wearing a "heck of a big hat"). Rabbi Bender was travelling on a plane and was learning. A Roman Catholic from Topeka, Kansas came over to talk to him and asked - Do you have shabbos? Where the wife dresses in her finest clothes and and the best dishes are served and singing abounds? Why did he ask? Because this man had seen a shabbos by a neighbor and wanted to know if others had one like that as well.

So how does one fix their shabbos? If you want to do a better mitzva you need to learn about it and prepare for it. This can include coming to shul a little early, not talking about week day type things on shabbos, not reading chol publications, not saying "if it weren't shabbos..." and not davening at the first minyan which rushes to end shabbos the earliest.

I will b'n attempt to summarize more of the derasha in another post over the next few days.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Bava Basra 32

Bava Basra 32 continues the discussion of R' Nachman's position that a beis din can reverse its prior holding. As part of this discussion, the gemara mentions a dispute between R' Elazar and R' Shimon Ben Gamliel in relation to a person who was a kohen and then his lineage was questioned. Subsequently, one witness came and said that he was of proper descent, but then two witnesses came and testified that he was a ben gerusha or ben chalutza. Later, another witness came and testified that the kohen was of proper lineage. R' Elazar took the position that we do not restore the kohen to his position, while R' Shimon Ben Gamliel ruled that he is restored.

The gemara then attempted to explain the dispute between R' Elazar and R' Shimon Ben Gamliel as dependent on whether we are concerned that beis din will be damaged as appearing to be flip flopping. R' Elazar would thus rule that since there are already two witnesses who have testified that the man is of tainted lineage we will not accept a later arriving single witness, while R' Shimon Ben Gamliel is unconcerned with the image of Beis Din.

The concern about the image of Beis Din and the kiddush/chillul hashem possibly created by the act of changing a ruling reminded of a story Rabbi Frand told in his pre-Rosh Hashanah shiur last week. Rabbi Frand mentioned that he had been invited to speak at a learning camp in the mountains where his son was a rebbi. Rabbi Frand then mentioned a story he had been told about the camp.

Originally, the camp had wanted to open on a property in a different part of the mountains. When they inquired about the property, they were told that they would need a variance in order to open. When they applied for the variance, the town set the matter down for a public hearing. Once news of the hearing got out, so many residents of the Town wanted to speak that they decided to hold the hearing in the school auditorium.

The hanhala of the camp related that when they arrived at the meeting they were the only ones not wearing tattoos. The meeting started and each speaker got up and stated their disapproval for the camp as it would bring traffic, parties, loud noise and drinking.

Finally, the director got his opportunity to speak. He first passed out a schedule to the audience and explained the program - the day would begin with prayers followed by talmud study, meals, some sports and more talmud study with later prayers. When he was done speaking, the audience all rose to clap. The town official who was chairing the meeting then said that his son was married to a Jewish girl and their child was Jewish. The official said that he hoped one day his grandchild could attend the camp "wherever it will be located."

Although the Rabbi had walked into a hostile situation where he was clearly not wanted and was unsuccessful in changing their minds as to whether they wanted a camp, he had created a kiddush hashem and this is all we can ask for.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday's Special Edition - Belated Thoughts on Rosh Hashanah

Due to some family and life commitments last week, I was unable to post a vort from Rabbi Frand's Thursday Night shiur. With apologies to you sports fans, I would like to summarize a few thoughts from last Thursday's pre-Rosh Hashanah shiur. Same rules as the usual Thursday post apply - I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

One of the points discussed in the shiur dealt with the portion of the selichos entitled machnisei rachamim. R' Frand quoted the Halichos Shlomo (R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach) who asks - who is the tefillah said to? The tefillah gives an appearance of davening to the angels, yet it is prohibited to pray to angels.

R' Shlomo Zalman answered that people need to understand that they are not praying to the angel. Much like when a person goes to pray at the grave of a tzaddik -- we do not pray to the tzaddik, we pray that he goes before the kissei hakavod to ask for us. Similarly, in machnisei rachamim we ask the angels to do their jobs - each angel has a job designated by Hashem, some of which are to be the ones who carry our tefillos before Hashem. The purpose of the tefillah is to ask the angels to do their jobs and carry our prayers to Hashem.

R' Shlomo Zalman then quoted a Magen Avraham on Shulchan Aruch 61:7 that a person who is praying shmoneh esrei by himself - does he finish shmoneh esreh with "oseh shalom ..v'imru amen?" Who is there that should answer amen. The Magen Avraham answers that everyone has angels who watch over him and they are the ones that should answer amen. Thus you are saying to the angels - do your job and say amen.

Another example is the Shalom Aleichem prayer which is said Friday Night - how do we say Barchuni L'Shalom - do we ask the angels for berachos? R' Shlomo Zalman answers that we say to the angels - you who are appointed by Hashem to give berachos - do your job. This can also be seen from the language of the Shalom Aleichem - they are first malachei hashares and later malachei hashalom. The famous ma'amar chazal says - when the angels first come in they look to see if the house is in order, if it is, then the angels give a beracha. Here the angels have come in and are acting in the capacity of malachei hashares. We then say to the angels, now that you have come in and see that things are in order - do your job and give us the beracha Hashem asked you to give.

Rabbi Frand said a number of other vorts which I unfortunately don't have time to summarize here. I hope to detail some of them on other occasions. But I did want to repeat at least one other vort said about the end of the year. The gemara in Megillah notes that Ezra had set up that we always read the klallos in Bechukosai before Shavuous and those in Ki Savo before the end of the year. The gemara explains that this way the klallos will end with the year - the new year will not start with a mention of klallos.

R' Frand then menitoned that people now say to each other at the end of the year - tichleh shana v'kililoseha - let the year end with its curses. R' Shlomo Zalman was not happy with this since in saying this, the person is kafoi tov - rejecting the goodness, since there were certainly good things in the year. Furthermore, R' Shlomo Zalman had problems with the people who printed the phrase in calendars - since this is printed before the year is up and one could be deemed as opening their mouth to the Satan.

R' Frand then quoted the Tollner Rebbi (my b-i-l Doni would be proud) that the word tichlech is that the kilallos should have a tachlis - there should be a purpose in the klallos.

R' Frand then mentioned that the past year had more than its share of klallos starting with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and many other events which created the current economic crisis and with it quite a few chilluilei Hashem. R' Frand then said that to counter act this, one must go out of his way to make a kiddush hashem and that the opportunities to do this can be found in many places in one's daily life. R' Frand even gave the example of getting off a flight and giving up a thumbs up to the pilot and saying good flight. When R' Frand does this in his obvious Orthodox Jewish garb - he makes a kiddush Hashem, even though the person receiving the thanks does not even know him.

We too have many opportunities in our daily life to make a kiddush Hashem and it is up to us to do our best to make the klallos a tachlis and a purpose which can be corrected in the new year.

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Bava Basra 25

Bava Basra 25 is one of those dapim which make you wish that you had more time to learn. Its chock full of interesting aggadita which could really be developed if you had a few weeks. I would like to discuss a few brief points in this post.

As a tangent on the discussion of where a person could build a tannery without having its pungent aromas overwhelm the town, the gemara discussed the direction one should face when praying.

R' Yehoshua Ben Levi in applying/interpreting R' Akiva's statement about the location of a tannery said that we should be thankful to the anshei kinesses ha'gedolah who set the location to face when praying as west - since the Shechinah is there.

The gemara then brought numerous opinions that the Shechinah is everywhere, before reciting that R' Sheshes (who was blind) asked his servant to face him in any direction except east because the minim had taught that one should face east.

Tosafos (d'h Lechol) asks the obvious question - what about the gemara in berachos which recites that we should daven facing Yerushalayim? Tosafos answers that these amora'im hold like R' Yishmael that the Shechinah is everywhere, while the ones which say to face west hold like R' Akiva, and only R' Chanina holds like the gemara in Berachos that one should pray facing Yerushalayim.

I can't resist a daf which laughs at you (to use a term coined by R' Daniel H and myself when we were learning daf yomi while I was still in law school). The bottom of Bava Basra 25 contains a ma'amar of R' Yehuda in the name of Rav about a pasuk in Ha'azinu (32:2) which is used as a proof (according to Rashi d'h Ya'arof) that Moshe compared the Torah to the four winds. Just as the world cannot continue without the winds, the world could not exist without Torah. The concepts are truly deep and I will leave it to the reader to attempt to understand the meaning beneath the attributes of each wind mentioned by R' Yehuda.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday Musings on Sports - Mets, Martinez and the Morality of Gallerstein

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Monday post was usually devoted to sports with highlights and analysis of the Max Kellerman show which formerly aired on 1050 ESPN Radio. As Max has resigned from 1050 and has not yet resurfaced on the NY area radio waves, I have decided to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Over the weekend, the Mets were eliminated from the race for the NL East. This was accomplished via a sweep by the Philadelphia Phillies of a day-night doubleheader. The first game featured a near collapse by the Phillies as a 5-2 lead became a 5-4 cliff hanger, much like the previous game where the Phillies blew a 9-5 lead and lost 10-9 on two David Wright home runs.

The second game of the doubleheader was a 1-0 loss at the hands of former Met pitcher - Pedro Martinez. In winning the game, Martinez threw 130+ pitches, more than he had thrown in any one game for the Mets during his four years in Flushing. I wonder whether this ability to last in games is a result of his having not pitched until July, but I digress.

On my way back from Court this morning, I heard the end of the Brandon Tierney show. BT was attempting to provoke the update guy, Bob Gallerstein by asking whether it hurt that Pedro Martinez went the 8 innings in the loss on Sunday. Gallerstein would not take the bait, saying that once he realized that the season was lost in July, he was able to divorce himself from emotion over the team's (mis)fortunes. Although Brandon Tierney admitted that he was trying to get to Mets fans and Bob in particular (just another example of how much Tierney hates the Mets), Gallerstein would not be provoked.

The conversation struck a chord with me in relation to a mashal (parable) from the Chida - Rabbi Chaim David Azulai. In the sefer Mashalei HaChida, there is a story told of a poor man who thought that he was going to be invited to the wedding of the child of a rich neighbor. The poor man put off making food for himself on the day of the wedding, figuring that he would be invited. As the day wore on, the poor man decided that he must not have made the guest list, so he ate his dry bread.

Still later, messengers from the rich neighbor came and told the poor man that he was needed at the wedding. As the poor man was now satiated, he forced himself to vomit up his bread, so that he could enjoy the delicacies at the wedding.

When the poor man arrived at the rich man's home, he was told that they were glad he had come, as they wished to hire him to work at the wedding. The poor man was sick to his stomach as he had already given up his own meal and would now not be eating at the rich man's home.

This is the problem with jealousy and why it is better to be happy with one's lot, rather than take the bait and longing for that which belongs to another. When a person spends all his time obsessing over the prize that belongs to his neighbor and foregoing what normally makes him happy, he will wind up with nothing but heartache.

Here, the Mets have been eliminated due to a combination of injury and poor planning. The average fan can do one of two things - sit and obsess over the moves which could have been made to plug the ever growing number of holes due to injury, or enjoy watching the players and prospects who were not traded, who are now earning their roster spots for next year.

I was glad that Gallerstein did not take the bait.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - PC Honey Red

This week's Sunday Night Suds review looks at President's Choice Honey Red.

In preparing for a trip to visit the newly Northern branch of my family, I perused the COR website in an effort to broaden my buying experience in Canada. I noticed that there were quite a few brews under the name "Presidents Choice", but this was not a brewery that I was familiar with. Indeed, it does not even sound like a brewery.

Armed with my list, I went on the "Beer Store" and LCBO websites, looking to see which beer stores located near where we were staying carried the Presidents Choice beers. Oddly, the Presidents Choice brand did not show up, but a little digging on the Beer Advocate website indicated that the PC brand carried at the Beer Store was in fact the Presidents Choice listed on the COR site. I could not actually convince the COR to send me the LOC for the PC beers as it is a private label (for the Loblaws supermarket chain), but the COR website gave me a broad list of PC beers which were available at the Beer Store.

The problem with websites sometimes is that while they give you availability, you lose the fine print. Evidently, "store brand" Canadian beer means almost the same as macro in the United States. The PC beers came in 12, 20 or 24 packs (no sixers or singles) so I had to be judicious in my choices. The last thing I wanted to do is get stuck with a 24 pack of beer that I did not care for.

Thinking that you could not go wrong with a Honey Red, I picked up a 12 pack of the brews and brought them back to our hotel. I knew that I had made a mistake when Sarah (happy birthday my love) told me that she could easily drink a lot of this beer. It has a bit of beer taste and leaves a nice bit of foam on the glass. Other than that it is an apple juice colored beer with a little more kick than apple cider. No hops to speak of, and no honey taste or smell. The lack of bite was so confusing, I really had to check three times to be certain that it had alcohol in it (it claims to be 5% abv, but that must have gotten filtered out when I crossed the border back into the US).

PC Honey Red is under the Kosher Supervision of the Kashruth Council of Canada. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about PC Honey Red, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/416/30975.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Nitzavim Vaylech

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand in his shiur this evening. I have attempted to reproduce this vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

The first pasuk of Parshas Nitzavim (Devarim 29:9) begins in unique fashion as Moshe tells the Jews "Atem Nitzavim Hayom Culchem" - You are standing today, all of you. Rabbi Frand then asked his audience if they knew the only four pesukim in Tanach which begin with the word "Atem" (Pesukim which begin V'Atem do not count).

Rabbi Frand then said over in the name of the Ba'al Haturim that the other three pesukim are (1) Shemos 5:11 wherein Pharaoh tells the Jews they must go and find straw on their own to make bricks (Atem l'chu k'chu lachem teven); (2) Shemos 19:4 where Hashem tells the Jews - you have seen what I did to Egypt (Atem r'eesem asher asisi l'mitzrayim) and a pasuk in Isaiah (I don' t have the cite) - you are My witnesses (Atem eidai n'eum Hashem).

But what is the connection between the pesukim? Rabbi Frand answered by making reference to a vort from the Reisha Rav (grandfather of noted constitutional lawyer - Nat Lewin) who wrote in his sefer Hadrash V'Haiyun that the Jews noticed a change - in the beginning in Egypt they saw public miracles. However, later in Jewish history the miracles appeared to be hidden or even non existent. The Reisha Rav said that this perception is incorrect - the miracle of today is even greater - the fact that there still is a Jewish people is a great open miracle.

Rabbi Frand then quoted R' Yaakov Emden in the Ya'avetz that if we think about the fact that there are Jews today, despite the generations and generations where people rose up and tried to wipe out the Jews, we would understand that the continuation of the Jewish people is a greater miracle than leaving Egypt.

Indeed, when Fredrick the Great asked his Court to prove that G-d existed, they responded - just look at the Jews - the fact that they still remain proves that G-d exists.

The Reisha Rav wrote that the Jews in Egypt were despondent when they had to look for straw to make bricks and they wondered whether they would continue as a people. However, Hashem took us out of Egypt amidst great miracles and as a result the Jews are told - you have seen what I did to Egypt.

Similarly, while Jews may ask now where are the public miracles - the answer is the first pasuk of this week's parsha - you (the Jews) are still in existence standing here. You (making reference to the pasuk from Isaiah) are My (Hashem's) witnesses and prove that He is in the heavens and controlling what occurs on earth.

Rabbi Frand then made reference to a set of pesukim in Vayelech (Devarim 31:20-21) where Hashem tells Moshe that after Moshe dies and the Jews are in Israel the Jews will turn to other gods and Hashem will get angry towards them and punish them, but the Torah will speak before it that it has not been forgotten (V'ansa hashirah hazoas lefanav l'eid ki lo tishcach mipi zaro).

Rabbi Frand told a story about the Ponovich Rav who came to Israel in 1941 and started a yeshiva. People thought that he was crazy since at the time Rommel was rampaging through North Africa and he was only a few hundred miles away.

Not long after the war, a boy came to the Yeshiva and asked to be admitted to learn. The boy was brought to the Rav who asked him his story. The boy said that he had been in Yeshiva but was captured and interred in the concentration camps. The Rav asked him - do you remember anything that you learned before you were in the camps. The boy replied that he remembered learning a gemara in Eilu Tereifos.

The Ponovich Rav gave the boy a kiss and then immediately grabbed the boy and began to run through the streets of Bnei Berak stopping people and telling them - "this boy was in the camps and he still remembers Eilu Tereifos."

The Rav then stopped at the home of the Chazon Ish and brought the boy in to meet him. The Chazon Ish said - this boy proves the pasuk in Vayeilech - the Torah will be a witness that it will not be forgotten.

Just another nes which demonstrates the greatness of Hashem and our continued existence despite all those who seek to destroy the Jews.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Wednesday's Weird But True Legal Cases - Vol LI

This week's weird (but true) legal case is inspired by a CLE (continuing legal education) course I recently took on the laws of search and seizure.

Before getting into the case, a brief introduction is in order. The Supreme Court of the United States hears cases in three different ways. Certain cases are original jurisdiction (such as those where a state is a party or those involving certain ambassadors) while others reach the Supreme Court on appeal from either the highest court of a state or from a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. When parties seek to appeal in the latter situations, they typically file for a writ of certiorari by which the Supreme Court indicates that it is willing to hear the controversy. In order to obtain the writ, four justices of the Supreme Court must agree to hear the matter.

In Pennsylvania v. Dunlap, 129 S.Ct. 448 (2008) a petition for a writ of certiorari was filed by the State of Pennsylvania, which asked the Supreme Court to review a decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The underlying controversy involved an officer who arrested the defendant after the officer saw a hand to hand transaction in a high crime neighborhood. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the officer lacked probable cause based on his observations, the prosecutors sought review of the decision.

Although the appellants were unable to obtain the requisite four justices, the Court did not summarily deny the application. Instead, Chief Justice Roberts along with Justice Kennedy wrote a dissent from the denial of certiorari. The first two paragraphs of the dissent read like a novel and are reproduced below:

North Philly, May 4, 2001. Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He'd made fifteen, twenty drug busts in the neighborhood.

Devlin spotted him: a lone man on the corner. Another approached. Quick exchange of words. Cash handed over; small objects handed back. Each man then quickly on his own way. Devlin knew the guy wasn't buying bus tokens. He radioed a description and Officer Stein picked up the buyer. Sure enough: three bags of crack in the guy's pocket. Head downtown and book him. Just another day at the office.

You can look up the decision and read Chief Judge Roberts prose at
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-1486.pdf .

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up.

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Bava Basra 18

On Bava Basra 18, the gemara continues a series of questions which were posed to Rava's position in relation to the use of property within close proximity of a neighboring property.

On Bava Basra 17b, Rava had stated that the laws preventing one from making use of his own property (when it was situated close to a property of another) applied even when the object which could potentially be damaged (usually a fence) was not yet present on the neighboring property. The gemara then began to question Rava by mentioning other beraisos in which neighbors were told not to perform certain acts near the border of their property - such as not planting, plowing or urinating near the border as it would damage the fence. The gemara then opined - since the beraisa mentioned a fence by name, it must only be where there is a fence that the activity is banned. However, where there is no existing fence, the activity would be permitted --thus contrary to Rava's position. The gemara then answered that the use of the fence in the example was only to teach that these activities (which cause moisture) are banned because they damage fences, however even if there was no fence up yet the actions are still barred.

I would like to briefly discuss two of the questions posed to Rava on Bava Basra 18a. One of the situations involved distancing a mill from the border. The gemara indicates that the vibrations from the mill could damage the fence. Rabbeinu Gershom offers two rationales - one that the use of the mill will cause vibrations which would damage the fence. The other explanation is that the use of the mills will cause sound waves which could damage the fence. This grasp of physics by a Rishon was quite striking to me.

The other example dealt with the planting of mustard seed in proximity to a neighbor's bee hive. The gemara recites that the planting should be barred because the mustard seed was damaging to the bees. Rashi explains that the bees would eat the mustard seed and then have a sharp taste in their mouths. They would then return to their hive and eat the honey, thus damaging the neighbors yield from the hive. As a result the Rabbanan prohibit the planting of the mustard seed. The gemara then (in the hava meena) recites that R' Yosi allows the planting as the mustard seed owner could say to his neighbors - you distance your bees from my mustard as they will eat my plants and damage my yield.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up.

Kosher Beers Semi Annual Kosher Beers List - September 2009 Update

THE LIST IN THIS POST WAS UPDATED IN SEPTEMBER 2011. THE MOST RECENT LIST CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING ON THE LINK ON THE TOP LEFT OF THE HOMEPAGE.

In response to many requests, I have compiled an updated list of those beers under Kosher supervision. This post will be updated regularly as new information becomes available - the most recent update was 11/29/09.

[Ed Note -Merely because a beer is not on this list does not mean that it is not kosher. This list contains the results of my research and is based on what I have been able to independently verify].

As a foreword, please note that the major kashruth organizations utilize the chazakah that unflavored beer does not require a hashgacha as unflavored beers are made only from four ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast. For a great article by Rabbi Tzvi Rosen on kashruth in alcohol, including an in depth analysis of beer making please click here http://www.star-k.com/kashrus/kk-thirst-highspirits.htm .

Additionally, for those trying to make sense of the different styles of beer which can be found in your local beer store - please click here for the Beer Advocate beer style list which breaks down the beers both by their type and country of origin: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style .

Assuming that you are looking for a beer with a hashgacha, I have compiled a list of beers along with their certifying agency. Please note that the list below is not meant to be exhaustive as it only reflects the results of my individual research. Finally, to my friends, I have not tried every beer on this kosher beer list and merely because I list them here does not mean I recommend them for your consumption. If you find a beer which looks interesting to you, please feel free to search the archive on the kosherbeers site to see if I have reviewed it.

Samuel Adams - as per Star-K, the following varieties are kosher even without a certification on the label. Please note that not every variety of Sam is on this approved list. To see the Star-K LOC for Samuel Adams, please click here - http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf .

Black Lager; Blackberry Wit Beer; Boston Ale; Boston Lager; Brown Ale; Cherry Wheat; Cranberry Lambic; Cream Stout; Double Bock; Hefeweizen; Holiday Porter; Honey Porter; Imperial Stout; Imperial White Ale; Irish Red Ale; Light, Octoberfest; Old Fezziwig; Pale Ale; Summer Ale; White Ale; Winter Lager.

Gordon Biersch - the following beers were listed as certified kosher on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on April 26, 2010.

Blonde Bock; Czech Style Pilsner; Dunkelweizen; Festbier; Hefeweizen; Marzen; SommerBrau; WinterBock.

Josephs Brau - the following beers were listed as certified kosher on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on April 26, 2010.

Dunkelweizen; Hopfest; Oktoberfest; Summer Brew; Winterfest.

Brick Brewery - This Canadian Brewery only sells its fine product in Ontario. However, should you be lucky enough to find some where you are located, the following varieties are approved by the COR on their website - http://www.cor.ca/en/20177

Brick - Amber Dry; Anniversary Bock; Premium. Laker - Honey; Ice; Premium Lager; Premium Light; Red; Strong.Waterloo - Dark Lager, Wheat.


Brooklyn Brewery - This beer company brews in multiple locations including Brooklyn, New York and Utica, New York. The following beers which are brewed in Utica and sold in 12 oz bottles were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on March 10, 2010.

Brooklyn - American Ale; Black Chocolate Stout; Brown Ale; East India Pale Ale; Lager; Monster Ale; Oktoberfest; Pennant Ale; Pilsner; Summer Ale; Weiss Beer; Winter Ale.
Post Road - Pumpkin Ale.


Coopers Brewery (Australia) - The following beers are listed on the LOC from Kosher Australia which can be found by clicking here http://www.coopers.com.au/media/files/2506.pdf

Coopers - Best Extra Stout; Dark Ale; Extra Strong Vintage Ale; Mild Ale; Original Pale Ale; Premium Ale; Premium Light Beer; Sparkling Ale; Special Old Stout.


Coors (including Blue Moon) - To my knowledge, all beers produced by the Coors Brewing Company (including its Blue Moon subsidiary) are under the Orthodox Union. The beers generally have an OU on the label. The following are the varieties which I have seen with an OU.

Coors Golden Ale (aka banquet beer); Coors Light; Keystone Light; Blue Moon; Full Moon Winter Ale; Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale; Honey Moon Summer Ale; Pale Moon Pale Ale; Rising Moon Spring Ale, Killian's Irish Red.


Lakefront Brewery - also certified by the Star-K. Very difficult to find outside of the Midwest, although some are available in Brooklyn at American Beverage on Court Street in Cobble Hill. The following varieties are found on the Star- K LOC which can be viewed here - http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_8197_lakefrontbreweryinc.pdf .

Big Easy Lager; Bock Dark Lager; Cattail Ale; Cherry Lager; Cream City Pale Ale; East Side Dark Lager; Fuel Coffee Stout; Holiday Spice Lager; Klisch Pilsner; New Grist Beer; Oktoberfest; Organic Barleywine; Organic ESB; Pumpkin Lager; Riverwest Stein; Snake Chaser Stout; White Beer.


FX Matt Brewing - this company brews many different brands of beer at its Utica factory. The following beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on March 10, 2010.

Lake Placid: Ubu Ale; IPA; 46'er Ale.
Saranac: Adirondack Lager; Amber Wheat; Belgian Ale; Belgian White; Big Moose Ale; Black Diamond Bock; Black Forest; Black & Tan; Bock; Brown Ale; Caramel Porter; Chocolate Amber; Dunkel; ESB; Golden Pilsner; Hefewiezen; Helles; High Peaks Imperial IPA; Imperial Stout; India Pale; Irish Red Ale; Kolsch; Light; Maple Porter; Marzenbier; Mocha Stout; Mountain Ale; Nut Brown Ale; Oatmeal Stout; Oktoberfest; Pale Ale; Pale Pale Ale; Pomegranate Wheat; Pumpkin Ale; Rauchbier; Roggen Bock; Rye Pale Ale; Rye Pilsner; Season's Best; Scotch Ale; Single Malt; Stout; Summer Ale; Summer Brew; Traditional Lager; Winter Wassail;
Utica Club : Light, Pilsner.

Kirkland - the following beers which are sold at Costco under their Kirkland house brand are certified kosher. These beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on April 26, 2010.

Kirkland Signature Amber Ale; Signature German Style Lager; Signature Hefeweizen and Signature Pale Ale.

Miller - only select beers produced by the Miller Brewing Company are under kosher supervision by the OK laboratories -

Miller Genuine Draft (MGD); Miller Genuine Draft Light and Miller Lite.

New Belgium -only select beers produced by the New Belgium Brewing Company are certified kosher under the LOC which I received from the Scroll-K. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on June 30, 2010 and included:

1554 Black Beer; 2 Below; Abbey; Blue Paddle; Fat Fire; Frambozen; Mighty Arrow; Mothership Wit; Old Cherry; Skinny Dip; Sunshine; Trippel.

Pete's Brewing Company - The following beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on March 10, 2010.

Pete's Wicked Ale; Rally Cap Ale; Strawberry Blonde; Wanderlust.

President's Choice - PC is the private label brand for the Loblaws supermarket chain. The following PC beers are listed as are approved by the COR on their website - http://www.cor.ca/en/20177:

Choice 2.5, Dry, Genuine Draft, Genuine Lager, Honey Red, Light, Low Carb 2.5, Pilsener, Wheat.

Redhook Brewery - This brewery produces beer on both the East Coast (New Hampshire) and West Coast (Woodinville, Washington). Both breweries produce beers which are under the kashruth supervision of the OU (all Redhook bottles which I have seen have the OU on the label) including:

Blonde, Copperhook Spring Ale, ESB, Longhammer IPA, Winterhook Winter Ale.


Spoetzel Brewery - This small town Texas brewery has a cult like following among those who have tried its product. The following beers (brewed under the trade name Shiner) were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on December 31, 2009.

Blonde; Bock; Bohemian Black Lager; Hefeweizen; Holiday Cheer; Kolsch; Kosmos Reserve; Light; 99 Helles; 100 Commemorator; Smokehaus; Spezial Leicht.

Trader Joe's - the following beers which are sold at Trader Joe's under their own label are certified kosher. These beers were listed on an LOC which I received from the Va'ad of Detroit by fax. The LOC indicated that it was subject to renewal on April 26, 2010.

Trader Joe's Bavarian Hefeweizen; Bohemian Lager; Hofbrau Bock and Vienna Lager.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up.

Sunday Night Suds - Waterloo Wheat Beer

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at the newest kosher Canadian brew - the Brick Brewery's Waterloo Wheat.

Prior to my recent trip to Canada to visit the Northern branch of the family, I contacted the COR (the Toronto based Kashruth Council of Canada) to inquire as to the beers under COR supervision. I received a January 2009 letter of certification by email from the COR which contained the beers which are currently listed on the COR website. I then went down to the Beer Store (one of the two legal outlets to buy beer in Ontario) and while looking at the chart on the wall, I saw that the Waterloo Wheat label on the chart had a COR on the label. Since I adore wheat beers, I had to buy it, even though it only came in 12 and 24 packs.

Although the experts at Beer Advocate call the Waterloo Wheat a witbier, the brew does not taste like a typical witbier. There is no spice note or even the slightest hint of coriander. I would say that the beer tends towards an American Wheat Beer, but even for an American Wheat Beer the Waterloo Wheat was rather pale, almost like a blonde.

Having said that, the Waterloo Wheat does have some flavor and is rather drinkable. It went well with shabbos leftovers and probably would not conflict with most meat dishes.

Waterloo Wheat is under the Kosher Supervision of the Kashruth Council of Canada. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Waterloo Wheat, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/416/37476.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Ki Savo

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand in his shiur this evening. I have attempted to reproduce this vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

The beginning of Parshas Ki Savo contains a description of the bikkurim ceremony where a farmer brought his first fruits to the Beis Hamikdash and they were given to the Kohain with much fanfare. Within the Torah's discussion of the ceremony (Devarim 28:1-11) the Torah indicates that after giving the fruits to the Kohain, the farmer bows as it states V'hishtachavisa Lifnei Hashem Elokecha (Devarim 28:10).

The Midrash Tanchuma writes that Moshe saw with ruach Hakodesh that the Beis Hamikdash would one day be destroyed and that the Jews would no longer be able to bring bikkurim. Therefore Moshe established the concept of praying Shemoneh Esrei to compensate for this loss.

Rabbi Frand then asked, what is the connection between Shemoneh Esrei and bikkurim?

Rabbi Frand began his answer by making reference to the Minchas Asher (R' Asher Weiss) who discusses many situations in the Torah which involved bowing, including Ya'akov and his wives bowing to Esau (Bereishis 33:3,6). Why did they bow? Because bowing connotes respect - which we see in some cultures today. Rabbi Frand made reference to the bowing ceremony when one meets the Queen of England and Japanese ceremonial bowing.

The Minchas Asher also mentioned another form of bowing brought down in the Torah. When Eliezer learned that he would be able to bring Rivka back to Yitzchak, the Torah states that he bowed to Hashem (Bereishis 24:51). This was bowing as a sign of acknowledgement that Hashem had done something good for him.

In Shemoneh Esrei there are two periods of bowing - in the beginning in the Avos portion and towards the end in the Modim portion. These demonstrate the two forms of bowing - the first wherein the person demonstrates that he is subjugated to Hashem. The second bowing is an indication that he acknowledges the good that he has received from Hashem.

So which form of bowing is found in the bikkurim ceremony? Rabbi Frand answered that it is a machlokes. The Vilna Gaon in the sefer Aderes Eliyahu says that the bowing is showing subjugation, because when leaving the King, one must still bow his head and show that he is respectful of the King.

In contrast, the Tosafos in Gemara Sukkah says that the bowing comes while the Kohain is waving the basket with the fruit and that this is an acknowledgement of the goodness received from Hashem.

The Midrash Tanchuma's message is that Moshe saw that the bikkurim ceremony afforded the Jews the opportunity to perform both forms of bowing. Knowing that the Beis Hamikdash would be destroyed, Moshe set up the Shemoneh Esrei so as to allow us to continue to practice both forms of bowing.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!