Monday's Musings on Sports - All Star/All Pro Edition

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. Although Max resigned from 1050 more than a year ago (he has recently resurfaced on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles), I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

When I was growing up, I always looked forward to the All Star games. Whether it was the midsummer classic, the Pro Bowl in Hawaii or the various versions of the NHL game, it always seemed cool to watch the best of the best play together for once. Of course, this was before the days of Olympic Dream Teams when players every two years join together to represent their countries.

Two stories from this past weekend's games stood out and I would like to briefly discuss them in this post. Towards the end of the Pro Bowl, there was one play which really made me chuckle. The game was already decided as the NFC had a three score lead. The AFC was attempting a final drive down the field with about two minutes to play. Matt Cassell lined up to throw a pass and many of the players stood around idly. There was no pass blocking and no one rushing the quarterback. Cassell threw the ball to Dwayne Bowe who ran a few yards before lateraling the ball to another player. Just before the second player was about to be tackled he lateraled the ball to Alex Mack, an offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns who was only playing in the Pro Bowl because Nick Mangold had been injured in the AFC Championship game. Mack caught the ball and rumbled forty yards into the end zone. Only one NFC player tried to tackle Mack and it seemed like most of the players just wanted to see him score. It kind of reminded me of the scene in the Replacements when John Madden talked about how he loves to see a fat guy score. (Fumiko Scores! Fumiko Scores!).

The second story involved the NHL All Star game. Unlike its many previous incarnations, this year's NHL all star game had a schoolyard format. Two players were selected as captains and they were allowed to "choose up" their teams from the remaining players who had been selected for the All Star game. As part of the fun, the player who was chosen last would be given a new car and the right to choose a charity which would receive a $20,000 donation. The player who earned this dubious distinction was Phil Kessel, but he was a good sport and looked at the bright side.

The two stories made me think of a vort that I heard about last week's parsha. Although Mishpatim has many mitzvos which involve diverse aspects of life, the first mitzva in the parsha deals with the rules of eved ivri - Jewish slaves. As discussed in the parsha, a Jew can become a slave if he steals and is unable to repay the victim. This slave should be freed after seven years and he must be given gifts when he leaves servitude. Furthermore, during his time of enslavement, the master must support the slave's wife and family. The vort that I heard from R' Mansour asked - why is this mitzva mentioned first in Parshas Mishpatim. R' Mansour answered (I don't recall in who's name) that the Torah mentions this mitzva first to show that the man who was enslaved as a punishment was treated well because the purpose of the sentence was rehabilitation. As such, the slave is sent free with gifts and with family intact, to demonstrate that the sentence has worked to reform the thief.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Blue Moon's newest seasonal brew - the Spring Blonde Wheat Ale.

After three years of offering the lime infused Rising Moon Spring Ale as its spring seasonal brew, the Blue Moon Brewing Co has retired its well regarded spring beer. In its place, Blue Moon has provided the Spring Blonde Wheat Ale, a beer which claims that it is a Wheat Ale, but lacks any of the characteristics of this style of beer.

The Sping Blonde Wheat Ale poured a deep yellow color, but unlike the wheat beers that I am familiar with, the brew was completely translucent. Although the bottle indicated that the beer was brewed with lemon and orange peel, the lemon was dominant, so dominant that it masked any wheat beer flavor.

Bottom line - the Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale both tasted and looked like it was designed by Blue Moon's corporate parent - MillerCoors. If you are looking for a macrobrew that is easy to drink with a little fruity flavor - this is for you. But if you are seeking an American Wheat Beer to go with a meal, look elsewhere.

Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. For the experts take on Spring Blonde Wheat Ale, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/65085.

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, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday's Musings on Sports - Social Media Decidedly Unsocial to Cutler

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. Although Max resigned from 1050 more than a year ago (he has recently resurfaced on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles), I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Yesterday afternoon, I turned on the Bears game and was surprised by what I saw. The enigmatic Jay Cutler was out as Quarterback for the Chicago Bears and with less than a minute left in the Third Quarter, the Bears had inserted little used Caleb Hanie (no, not Asher Hanie) at Quarterback. As I had not been following the game, I was very surprised since the use of the third quarterback (aka emergency quarterback) so early in the game meant that Jay Cutler would not be returning and that 2nd string QB Todd Collins had been ineffective.

As the afternoon wore on, I learned that Cutler had injured his knee and that my beloved Jets would not be in the Superbowl. (I know that the latter has nothing to do with this post, but I just needed to mention it). What was shocking to me were the media stories wherein present and former NFL players had "tweeted" that Cutler was a wimp for taking himself out of the game and that these players would have played with a knee injury.

Today, the Bears released the results of an MRI which was taken on Cutler's knee after the game. The test revealed that Cutler had a sprained MCL - an injury which usually sidelines players for 3-6 weeks.

I am not a Bears fan (although I am married to one) but even I am aware of the pounding that Cutler took this year. Cutler was sacked 52 times this year (12 more than the next QB on the list) and sustained a concussion in a game where the Bears gave up 10 sack to the NY Giants. Still, he only missed one game (the one which followed the Giants game) and even played the entire game in Week 17 when the Bears had already clinched the 2nd seed (he got sacked six times in that game).

I don't know how many of the players who buried Cutler yesterday have "tweeted" an apology, but the rush to judge Cutler and bury him by twitter was decidedly "unsocial." Indeed, it seems that the sound byte generation has been supplanted by the "tweet" an even smaller piece of information which is easy to transmit and often times results in the "tweeter" regretting the statement made. How many stories came out this year where athletes were either disciplined or exposed as morons based on their tweets?

Its a shame that twitter does not have the same protections that people do from speaking loshon hara. Chazal teach that the power of speech is so important that Hashem gives us two protections against its misuse - our lips and our teeth. If only there were protections against athletes and the misuse of their tweets...

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - Leienkugel 1888 Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds drowns Jets fans' sorrows in Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock.

After watching the Jets play bridesmaid for the third time in my life, I went down to my dining room to drink the green bottle of Leienkugel 1888 Bock that I had put in my fridge to chill. When I pulled it out, I also saw Thursday night's szechuan wontons and said to myself - how about trying this as a combination? Well, it was more than just a good pairing, it was practically perfect. (Even Mrs Kosher Beers agreed, and its tough to impress that palate).

Since its been almost two years since I last reviewed a bock, I thought it prudent to reprint the Beer Advocate explanation of the beer style:

The origins of Bock beer are quite uncharted. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some believe the name Bock came from the shortening of Einbeck thus "beck" to "bock." Others believe it is more of a pagan or old world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter.

As for the beer itself in modern day, it is a bottom fermenting lager that generally takes extra months of lagering (cold storage) to smooth out such a strong brew. Bock beer in general is stronger than your typical lager, more of a robust malt character with a dark amber to brown hue. Hop bitterness can be assertive enough to balance though must not get in the way of the malt flavor, most are only lightly hopped.

The Leinenkugel 1888 bock had a stronger flavor than a typical lager and the dark color as per the definition above. The alcohol level was not on the high end (slightly more than 5.0% abv) but the alcohol taste was a little more pronounced then I expected.

As I mentioned above, the 1888 bock blended very well with Wing Wan's (our local kosher Chinese restaurant) spicy szechuan wontons. Try it with your spicy dishes and let me know what you think...

Leinenkugel 1888 Bock is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, although the product currently in the marketplace does not yet have an OU on the label. If you would like a copy of the LOC please contact me via email.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Leinenkugel 1888 Bock, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/46550.

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, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Yisro

The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand this evening. 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.

In Shemos 18, Moshe discusses with his father in law Yisro all that Hashem did for the Jews when they were leaving Egypt. At Shemos 18:11, Yisro responds to Moshe - "ata yadati ki gadol Hashem m'kol HaElohim, ki badavar asher zadu aleyhem" - now I know that Hashem is greater than all the other gods, for the Egyptians were punished in the very way that they plotted against them.

Rashi explains that the Egyptians had tried to kill the Jews through drowning, as such, they were punished midda k'neged midda by being drowned themselves.

R' Frand quoted a sefer from R' Freund (sp?) who questioned the use of the word "gadol". It is known that the word gadol when describing Hashem is an attribute of His midda of chessed. R' Frand asked - shouldn't Yisro have used the word "gibor" -strong, rather than gadol?

R' Frand answered that the punishment by way of midda k'neged midda is a chessed. The reason for this is that when Hashem punishes in this manner, a person can understand what he did wrong and correct his actions. R' Frand indicated that previously, when a person was sick or had something occur to him, the person would go to a Navi who would be able to tell him why he was being punished and what could be done to correct his bad acts. Nowadays, we do not have nevi'im, but if a person is punished midda k'neged midda, he can understand what he is doing wrong and correct it.

R' Frand then said over a thought from a shmuz from R' Chaim Shmulevitz about a woman who was trying to marry off her daughter. The shadchan proposed that she marry a certain boy who was one of the finest in the yeshiva. The only problem was that the boy had a limp. The mother refused to allow her daughter to marry the boy. Soon thereafter, the mother broke her leg. She wondered why this had happened to her. The answer was obvious...

R' Frand also quoted the Ramchal who explains that Hashem does not punish because He is angry with us. A person is punished to send a message to that person. It is up to us to figure out why.

R' Frand then asked the obvious question - how does the midda k'neged midda punishment help the Egyptians who were drowning at yam suf? R' Frand offered two answers. The first answer, which was given by the Ibn Ezra, explains that the punishment was given so that the Egyptians who lived would know that Hashem is G-d. The second answer that R' Frand gave is that those who drowned at yam suf were given an opportunity to understand what they did wrong and repent. Since drowning is not instantaenous, there was time for these people to reflect.

R' Frand then digressed to briefly discuss the anniversary of the Space Shuttle explosion. He said that when the Challenger blew up, people said - at least they died instantly. However, this deprived the deceased from having final thoughts before dying. R' Frand surmised that it would have been better to have a few moments to get one's thoughts in order and do teshuva before the end.

The vort made me think about the p'shat as to the three ways that the Egyptians died at yam suf. The Torah uses three descriptions - some who died by drowning like lead, others who sank like stone and still others like straw. Chazal teach that the most righteous of the Egyptians sank quickly like lead, while the middle of the ground people sank less quickly like stone. Meanwhile, the most evil people were tossed like straw until they finally were killed.

I would like to suggest that perhaps what made the "lead" category of people drop so fast was that they quickly understood what was occurring and that it was punishment for their actions. Having understood this and accepted it, they had completed their teshuva process and died quickly. By contrast, the "stone" category required a little more thought process to recognize why this was happening to them. However, once they too understood the reason for the punishment they too sank.

The "straw" group was unable or unwilling to see that the punishment was related to their actions. As such, they were tossed until they were able to look past their wickedness and accept that they were responsible for their actions. Only then did the straw finally sink below the surface.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - Brooklyn Pilsner

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Brooklyn Brewery's Pilsner.

Picked this up at Trader Joe's on Court Street where they let you mix a six pack of singles and don't upcharge you for making the mix pack. In some beer stores, they will not allow you to buy singles or mix a six pack. These are usually stores with lower sales volumes where the proprietor is concerned that if he allows people to buy singles, he may get stuck with a bunch of six packs which are going bad (more than six months old) with two - three bottles in each six pack.

Other stores will allow you to mix a six pack, but they upcharge the bottles. By way of example, taking one bottle out of a six pack should result in being charged 1/6th of the six pack price. When a store upcharges, they charge you 1/5 (or even 1/4) of the six pack price. At Trader Joe's they allow you to buy as many singles as you want (whether or not you actually buy a six pack is irrelvant to them). So I filled a six pack holder with some beers that I wanted to try, along with some of the better TJ beers like the Stockyard Oatmeal Stout and Black Frog Dark Ale.

The Brooklyn Pilsner is a beer that I had tried many years ago when I first found out that Brooklyn was making kosher certified brews. It has been quite a few years since I had a Brooklyn Pilsner and I had forgotten how crisp it was, with a little bit of hops and some bitterness at the end. This is the kind of beer that you can enjoy in all seasons - at the end of a long hot summer day or with a sefer on a long winter Friday night.

Brooklyn Pilsner is under the kosher supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit as are all 12 oz Brooklyn beers which are brewed in the Utica plant.

For the experts' take on the Brooklyn Pilsner please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45/788.

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).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Beshalach

The following is a brief summary of two vorts said over by R' Frand this evening. I have attempted to reproduce the vorts 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.

This evening, Rabbi Frand said over two vorts on the Az Yashir - the song that the Jews recited when they were crossing the Yam Suf when leaving Egypt.

The first vort asked the famous question of Rashi (and others) - why the use of the conflicting tenses in Az Yashir? It should have been Az Shar - then they sang. The gemara answers that this is a proof to techias hameisim (resurrection of the dead) from the Torah.

Rabbi Frand then asked - why is this source for techias hameisim? R' Frand answered by quoting the Chiddushei Harim who explains that there is an obligation on every Jew to believe in certain things. Among the obligatory beliefs are that Hashem created the world and that He will resurrect the dead.

The problem for those who left Egypt was that they did not need faith to recognize G-d and believe in His power. The gemara writes that a maidservant who crossed the Yam Suf had a greater understanding of Hashem than the prophet Yechezkel. As this was the case, it was difficult for the people of that generation to satisfy their obligation to believe in Hashem. R' Frand used the example - if you see my hand in front of you, it would be difficult for you to believe on blind faith alone that I have five fingers up. Since the person can see my hand, he does not need to believe me when I tell him the five fingers are up, he can see it for himself.

In order for the people at Yam Suf to satisfy their obligation to believe without seeing, they needed some other quality of Hashem to believe in. It is for this reason that the language of Az Yashir is used - to show that they demonstrated belief in Hashem and his powers by believing that He will resurrect the dead.

Rabbi Frand's second vort was based on the sefer Chikrei Lev who asked two questions about the Az Yashir. The first question was - why is the Az Yashir in the Pesukei D'Zmirah part of davening. The second question asked was - why is there no mention of Egypt in Az Yashir?

Rabbi Frand answered that the miracle of Yam Suf was a personal battle between Hashem and Pharaoh. The purpose of Yam Suf was to prove to Pharaoh and the world that Pharaoh was not the god that he pretended to be. Pharaoh pretended to be a god and put on a charade that he never went to the bathroom. Yam Suf demonstrated that Pharaoh is not a god and that there is no other besides Hashem.

With this understanding, we can comprehend why the Az Yashir is in Pesukei D'Zimrah. While the song is a song of praise to Hashem, it also is a demonstration that Hashem is the only G-d. This is a prelude to Krias Shma, when we publicly accept and affirm that there is only one G-d - Hashem. To begin this process, we say the Az Yashir wherein Hashem demonstrated the falsity of Pharaoh's claim to being a deity and with which we conclude with the phrase that Hashem will be King on all the world and on that day He will be one and His name will be one.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday's Musings on Sports - Neutrality is for Dogs, not Coaches

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. Although Max resigned from 1050 more than a year ago (he has recently resurfaced on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles), I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Over the course of the past week, the New York and national media carried sound bites of Rex Ryan quotes about the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. One story contained a quote from Rex Ryan that the game against the Colts was "personal" to him because he had played Manning seven times and had never beaten him. Another story included a quote from Ryan that Manning was the top quarterback in the league. This was of course viewed as a slight to Tom Brady.

Following the Jets victory over the Indianapolis Colts, stories began to percolate about Rex and his thoughts about New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick. Much like the quote about the game against Manning, Ryan also indicated that this game was personal and that the game would come down to Ryan against Belichick.

There are two schools of thought about speaking publicly about an upcoming opponent. One very strong opinion is that you never provide "bulletin board fodder" for the other team - don't say anything boastful which could wind up on the bulletin board in the opposing locker room as motivation.

The second viewpoint is that the players on the opposing squad are professionals who don't require extra motivation in order to beat you. Coaches/players who subscribe to this theory will not shy away from making statements about the other team and will do their best to motivate their own players by making outlandish statements.

Its obvious which way Rex Ryan leans...

The question about whether its better to be neutral or to take a position links back to the story of the dogs from last week's parsha. The Torah teaches that the dogs did not bark when the Jews left Egypt on the night of the last plague. As a reward for the dogs having kept quiet, the Jews are instructed to give their neveilos (animals which are improperly slaughtered or which have certain defects) to the dogs.

I heard a story told over in a R' Mansour shiur about the Brisker Rav. There was once a fight in Brisk between two wealthy men. The Brisker Rav approached a third wealthy individual and asked him to intervene in the argument and try to make peace. The third man told the Rav that he did not want to get involved and preferred to stay neutral. To this the Rav exclaimed - neutrality is for dogs! The Rav explained that the gemara teaches that when dogs see the angel of death they become very loud. However, when they see a good herald such as Eliyahu Hanavi, they become playful. On the night that the Jews left Egypt, the dogs saw the mashchis roaming the streets of Egypt, but also saw that the Jews would be leaving Egypt that night. The dogs chose not to act in either manner and instead stayed quiet or neutral. The Rav concluded - neutrality is for dogs, people need to take a stand.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Mothership Wit

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium's Mothership Wit - an organic Wheat Beer.

Normally, I have reservations about trying organic products. Its not that I am anti-green, but I do have concerns that the taste or quality of the organic product suffers as a result of the process.

So when a friend brought me a back a six pack of the New Belgium Mothership Wit when he came back from Chicago, I had some truly mixed feelings. New Belgium makes a quality beer and I have yet to try a variety that I have not liked. On the other hand, organic beer just sounds like it should be skunky.

While taking the individual bottles of the Mothership Wit out of the six pack holder, I noticed that they had instructions as far as the proper way to pour the beer. Entitled "how to fly the mothership", the instructions tell you to first pour some of the beer, then swirl the remaining beer in the bottle and then finish by pouring the remaining beer into the glass. I remember seeing similar instructions on some of the Coopers (Australia) varieties.

I experimented with the Mothership Wit by following the instructions for one bottle and pouring the other bottle in normal fashion. Simply put, following the instructions yielded a much more flavorful beer.

When properly "flying the mothership" I saw a beer which poured a straw yellow color but was not light on taste. The brew gave the unique banana bread like flavor which comes from a true witbier. It was also perfectly carbonated and was equally refreshing at the first and last sips.

New Belgium Mothership Wit is under the Kosher Supervision of the Scroll-K of Colorado. Although the beer does not bear the kosher symbol on the label, it can be found on the bottom of the six pack carrier. Additionally, if you would like me to e-mail you the LOC for New Belgium Mothership Wit, send me an e-mail and I will gladly oblige.

Please note that not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision. Please click on the link on the left side of my home page to see my latest Kosher Beer List.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Mothership Wit, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/30538 . 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).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Bo

The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand this evening. 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.

Towards the end of Parshas Bo (13:9), the Torah makes reference to the mitzva of tefillin and states that the tefillin should be an "os" (sign) on your arm and a "zikaron" (reminder) between your eyes. The Mechilta learns from this that as long as a person has tefillin on his arm then he can wear tefillin on his head. However when removing tefillin, one must first remove the tefillin of the head before removing the tefillin on one's arm.

Rabbi Frand then quoted the sefer Bei Chiya who connects this concept with a gemara in Avodah Zarah which discusses the time of moshiach. The gemara writes that during the time of moshiach, geirim will not be accepted as they will be insincere. The gemara further states that these "wanna be" geirim will want to wear the trappings of Judaism including tefillin on their heads and their arms. However, when these putative geirim see the war of Gog and Magog they will leave Judaism and remove their religious objects.

Rabbi Frand asked - why did the gemara describe the donning of the tefillin in the opposite of the normal order? Rabbi Frand answered that the tefillin are symbolic of the Jews. The Medrash states that before Hashem gave the Torah to the Jews, He went to all the other nations of the world and offered them the Torah. Each individual nation asked Hashem what was in the Torah. When they heard about the various proscriptions such as do not steal or do not kill, the nations said that they were not interested.

R' Frand then quoted R Weinberg, who explained that the problem for the nations was not that they were unhappy with the answers, but that they asked the questions in the first place. For the Jews, the situation was the opposite as they said na'aseh v'nishma - we will do and then we will listen.

The decision to first do and then only later understand can be seen in the order that the tefillin is put on. Jews first put the tefillin on our arms to indicate action, only once we have acted do we put the tefillin on our heads.

The wanna be geirim in the times of moshiach demonstrate by their actions that they are not ready to embrace the concept of first doing and then understanding why. It is for this reason that they first put tefillin on their heads and only afterwards put it on their arms. As their acceptance of Judaism is based on thought first, it is not suprising that when they see adversity they take their tefillin off and leave Judaism behind.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday's Musings on Sports - Waiting, Hoping, Moshe and the Giants

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. Although Max resigned from 1050 more than a year ago, I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Ed Note - I received a heads up from "Kellerman fan" that Max has resurfaced on the radio in Los Angeles. I clicked on the website and heard a few minutes of classic Max being Max (he was doing the rant about his mouth having touched the "dirty microphone that everyone spits on"). Unfortunately, I had to go into a meeting and could not stay with the show, but I am glad to hear that he is back on the air somewhere.

Yesterday was one of those days that come a few times a year when a team wins a game which it needs to make the playoffs, but later learns that it has been eliminated as a result of another team's win or loss. Sunday's NFL action began with one NFC wildcard slot available. If the Green Bay Packers won, the spot belonged to them. If the Packers lost and the NY Giants won, then the Giants would have made the playoffs. Finally, if both the Packers and Giants lost, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won, the slot would go to Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers played an early (1 PM game) against a New Orleans team which had already clinched a playoff spot, but still had a chance to move up and take the #1 position. Despite playing against a good team, the Bucs finished strong and beat the Saints 23-13. They now had to sit and wait for the results of the 4 PM games.

Meanwhile, the NY Giants were about to begin their 4 PM game against a Washington Redskins team which had underachieved all season. Despite their talented roster, the Skins had only managed to win five games going into the final week of the season and did not seem like they would be match of a challenge to the Giants.

But the game that everyone wanted to know about was taking place at Lambeau Field where the Chicago Bears who had very little to play for, were promising to play their top players all games against the Green Bay Packers.

When I got home Sunday afternoon and turned on the Giants game, it seemed like the announcers were giving as much air time to the results of the Bears - Green Bay game as the Giants - Skins game. Meanwhile, the players in the Giants game had to split their attention between the task at hand and watching the scoreboard of the GB - Chicago game.

The scoreboard watching and waiting was sitting in the back of my head as I was preparing today's daf yomi. The gemara in Zevachim discusses how the land of Binyamin was sitting and anxiously watching over the land of Yehuda in case some of the Beis Hamikdash would be built in Yehuda's land. R' Rosner in his shiur on the daf drew a parallel to Moshe sitting and anxiously waiting to see if he would be allowed to enter the land of Israel at the end of his life. L'havdil, both exercises involved the same concept - the task which was to be performed by the watcher was complete and now it was left to sit back and see if what they wanted would be taken from them.

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Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Latitude 48

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams' newest IPA - Latitude 48.

To answer the question that you are dying to ask - the Latitude 48 is not brewed at the 48th parallel. However, geography has something to do with the brew. As explained by the brewers on their website, the Latitude 48 is "brewed with a select blend of hops from top German, English, and American growing regions all located close to the 48th latitude within the “hop belt” of the Northern Hemisphere."

The Latitude 48 poured a rich copper color with a good amount of foam. My first sip of the Latitude 48 turned into a gulp as I really enjoyed the hop notes which struck me when I started drinking the brew. My second drink revealed a great amount of citrus which stayed with me even after I had swallowed.

I would recommend this beer to anyone looking to try IPAs for the first time. The beer has the hop notes of an IPA, but lacks the bite of some of the stronger IPAs.

Samuel Adams Pale Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. However, like many other Samuel Adams brews, this bottle does not have the certification mark on the label. If you would like to confirm the kashruth status of the Latitude 48 click http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf to view the Star-K LOC for Samuel Adams.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Latitude 48, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/57252.

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).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!