Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Tazria

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.

In Vayikra 13:2, the Torah discusses what happens if a person has various forms of tzara'as. The Netziv in the Ha'amek Davar quotes the Zohar who states that there are four synonyms in Chumash for the word person. In this pasuk, the Chumash uses the word "adam". When the Torah uses the word "adam" it is the highest form of man. Indeed the gemara states that the term is reserved for the Jews. If this is the case, it is odd that the term "adam" is used here, as negaim and tzara'as are not positive things. Indeed, the gemara in Erchin lists the things which can result in tzara'as and the primary reason is one who speaks lashon hara. Another reason is because a person is stingy or haughty. As such, a person brings a karban of low brush and birds who chirp as the offering. However, given the reason that tzara'as comes, why does the parsha use the highest form of man?

R' Frand answered by quoting R' Nissim Alpert who explains that the difference between a mensh and a regular person is not whether the person sins. A person who is a mensh can still sin. What differentiates a mensh from the average person is that he admits that he has sinned and wants to repent.

The end of the pasuk uses the language "v'huva" - meaning that the person is brought to Aharon Hakohen. Who brings the person? The person brings himself to Aharon - not that he wants to go, but he knows that he needs to go.

R' Frand compared this to someone who knows that he is ill and needs to go to the doctor. The person is afraid to go to the doctor because he doesn't want to be told why he is sick, or because he does not want to be told that he needs to change his eating patterns or other habits. The use of the word "adam" demonstrates that the metzorah has sinned but he goes to Aharon. This person takes himself to Aharon, even though he knows that he will hear something unpleasant. However, since he is a mensh, he goes on his own volition.

Another vort said by R' Frand this evening dealt with the concept of childbirth and more specifically, the Torah that the fetus learns. The Rabbenu Bachaye teaches that the embryo sees the entire world from end to end. Similarly, the gemara in nidda states that the baby learns the entire Torah while in the womb and then the angel strikes the baby and he forgets everything.

R' Betzalel Ranshberg (sp?) asks on the gemara in nidda - why is it that Hashem teaches the baby everything and then makes the baby forget? He answers by quoting the Vilna Gaon who explains that the baby learns the whole Torah before the baby comes down, because without this learning the baby would not be able to understand or comprehend Torah after he is born. The purest existence that a person has is the nine months when he is learning Torah. Now, when the person learns the Torah as an adult or even a child, he is relearning what he learned in the womb. As a result, the person can understand it.

The Gaon brings a proof from the gemara in megilla which states that if a person says that he worked hard and understood Torah he is to be believed. The language utilized by the gemara for having understood Torah is "U'Matsasah" - meaning that he found the Torah. The Gaon explains that the word "found" implies that it had once been his and was lost, but now he has found it again. What was lost? The Torah which was learned in the womb, but now has been rediscovered by the hard work.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - Esther, the NCAA Tournament and Syria or Who Knows Why You Are Here?

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.

While driving to work this morning, I heard an interesting discussion on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the morning program which centered on whether the NCAA Tournament was the best way to choose the nation's top college basketball team. At the heart of the discussion was Mike Greenberg's assertion that the team which won the tournament was not necessarily the best team in the nation, just the team which was able to prevail in the six matchups in the tournament. Greenberg underscored his point by making reference to two of the more memorable NCAA Championship games - the 1983 victory by NC State over Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma and Villanova's 1985 victory over Georgetown. In both of these games, the winner was not the best college team in the country as had the teams played a best of five or best of seven series the underdog would not have prevailed. The hosts of the show eventually decided that the NCAA Tournament champion was the team which was playing the best at the end of the season. However, in so doing they hypothesized that the NCAA regular season had little value as it did not matter whether the team had a good season, as long as it made the dance.

The argument itself has some merit as Cinderella team VCU did not win its conference tournament and had to win a play in game in order to even make the tournament. The flaw in the argument is that the 68 teams which make the tournament still have to do well enough in the regular season to qualify for the dance. More importantly, the same argument made by the Mikes in relation to the NCAAs would apply to the Super Bowl. If a team goes undefeated in the regular season but loses in the Super Bowl to a team that barely made the playoffs, does it mean that the undefeated team was the "best team." Of course not, its just the best team during the regular season.

The Mike and Mike argument made me think of two seemingly unrelated items from the last week or so. Over the last few days, news has broken about the dissent in Syria and the riots and anti-government protests which are occurring there. I wondered to myself, could the rebellion in Tunisia which led to the overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt and in turn inspired the current fighting in Libya and Bahrain been the Divine way of setting up the dominoes so that Syria could fall? If so, then much like the positioning of VCU to play the series of teams that it did to advance to the Final Four, the pattern of world events could have been arranged by Hashem to lead to the overthrow of the Syrian government and the uncoupling of Iran from the forces which threaten Israel.

A similar concept with ancient Persia was seen in in Megilas Esther. In the megilla there is a discussion between Mordechai and Esther, wherein Mordechai asks Esther to go to the king and ask for the Jews to be spared from Haman's plan. Esther indicates that she cannot go because no one can go before the king without permission. Mordechai responds - who knows if for this very reason you have become the queen? Mordechai in effect tells Esther that her positioning through seemingly normal events could have occurred just so that she would be able to save the Jews. Who knows if the steps from Tunisia to Syria follow the same theme? Only time will tell.

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Sunday Night Suds - Lone Tree Brewery California Steam Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds continues the review of Lone Tree Brewery beers by looking at their California Steam Ale.

As mentioned in last Sunday's post, Lone Tree Brewery is based in Neve Daniel (Israel) and was started by two olim who missed the quality beer they enjoyed before they moved to Israel. (For more on Lone Tree and its founders click here: http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2011/03/sunday-night-suds-lone-tree-brewery.html).

Having successfully rationed my supply of Lone Tree, I sampled the California Steam Ale without the influence of other Purim related alcohol. Before discussing the Lone Tree California Steam Ale, reference is due to the gurus at BA who offer the following explanation of the California Steam style:

The California Common, or Steam Beer, is a unique 100% American style lager. It's usually brewed with a special strain of lager yeast that works better at warmer temperatures. This method dates back to the late 1800's in California when refrigeration was a great luxury. The brewers back then had to improvise to cool the beer down, so shallow fermenters were used. So in a way the lager yeast was trained to ferment quicker at warmer temperatures. Today's examples are light amber to tawny in color, medium bodied with a malty character. Mildly fruity with an assertive hop bitterness. Anchor Brewing Co. trademarked the term "Steam Beer" and as such all other beers must be legally referred to as "California Common."

Before going further in discussing the Lone Tree I must admit that I am unfamiliar with the process that Lone Tree uses in making the beer and as such I don't know whether the yeast utilized does ferment at warmer temperatures. Additionally, the beer had some interesting characteristics which make me hesitate to classify the beer as a California Steam (lager). The bottle had a fair amount of sediment in it and the pour was quite cloudy. The beer also was quite dark in color and had an abundance of fruit.

So what is the Lone Tree California Steam Ale? Its certainly not a lager and even reminds me of a barleywine. Having said that, the beer was quite drinkable and I wished that I had savored it with a stew as I believe that it would make a great combination.

Lone Tree beers are under the hashgacha of R' Abba Shaul from Gush. The Lone Tree website (http://www.lonetreebrewery.com/) contains a link to the certification along with a complete list of the beers offered by Lone Tree.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. (The Lone Tree bottle even indicates in Hebrew on the reverse side label that the beer should be consumed responsibly). 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 Shemini

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.

The Ba'al Haturim writes on the first pasuk of the parsha that the Yom HaShemini was the first of Nissan. Previously during the last seven days of Adar, the Jews had been involved in the process of inaugurating the mishkan and karbanos were brought. During this time frame, Moshe was the Kohen Gadol. Moshe now states that he was zocheh to be the Kohen Gadol for seven days and that this was based on (according to the Ba'al Haturim) Moshe's being engaged in a seven day dialogue with Hashem as to whether he should take the Jews out of Egypt. During this period, Moshe argued with Hashem that Moshe should not take the Jews out of Egypt.

This episode is also discussed in a gemara in Zevachim wherein R' Yehoshua Ben Karcha indicates that Hashem got angry at Moshe and it is explained that the original plan was that Moshe would be the Kohen and Aharon would be the Levi, but because Moshe refused to take the Jews out of Egypt he lost the kehuna.

The concept is difficult to understand - because Moshe argued with Hashem for seven days that he should not take the Jews out of Egypt, he was zoche to be the Kohen Gadol for seven days? One would expect that he would have been punished for delaying and arguing, not rewarded! What would have happened if he argued for thirty days - would he have been Kohen Gadol for thirty days?

R' Frand quoted R' Simcha Zissel who explained that Moshe refused for good reasons - he was humble and it was this humility that caused him to argue with Hashem that he should not take the Jews out of Egypt. Hashem punished Moshe for his refusal to act in accord with Hashem's wishes as His directives must be followed. As a result, Moshe lost the permanent Kohen Gadol position. However, Hashem also recognized that Moshe's motives were pure and therefore his seven days of humility were rewarded by seven days of being Kohen Gadol.

R' Frand then quoted R' Isaac Bernstein who offered a different approach to the perplexing statement of the Ba'al Haturim. He started by discussing a mishna in Pirkei Avos that a person who is consumed with jealousy, desire or honor will (through his actions) lose his olam haba. The Midrash Shmuel asks why does it say that he loses his olam haba? It should say that he does not receive olam haba. The Midrash Shmuel answers that it states that he loses olam haba because the person is allowed entry to see olam haba and then he is taken out. A person who loses olam haba without understanding it does not feel a loss. Therefore he is allowed brief entry and then is taken out.

Similarly, Moshe loses the kehuna, but needs to understand what he loses to appreciate his punishment. Moshe is given a taste of the kehuna so that he could appreciate what the reward would have been and why he lost it.

R' Frand then mentioned a story wherein he discussed this vort with a person who was in a wheelchair. The person in the wheelchair then told R' Frand about a friend of his who has spinal bifida and never was able to walk. This person stated that if he ever came back to this world through gilgul he would want to have spinal bifida again. He explained that everyone is so nice to him and takes care of him and he has nice friends and is allowed entry to Camp Simcha. He felt that his life was so good as it was and that he never needed to walk. R' Frand related that the fellow who told him the story said that he would never have said that. The speaker knew what it was like to walk before being confined to a wheelchair. The speaker understood what he lost and like Moshe understood the other side of the coin.

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Sunday Night Suds - Lone Tree Brewery India Pale Ale and English Northern Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at two beers brewed by the Lone Tree Brewery of Neve Daniel (Israel) - the India Pale Ale and English Northern Ale.

Last July, I was contacted by an Israeli journalist who had an interesting request. He was writing a piece on an Israeli brewery called Lone Tree and he wanted my review of their product. Normally I am hardly shy about my thoughts on beer, but in this situation I was simply at a loss. The brewery did not export to the United States and while they had a very interesting list of brews on their website (www.lonetreebrewery.com) that simply could not get me very far for purposes of sampling their product. As such, I politely declined the request from the journalist.

A few weeks later the article was published in Ha'aretz and I learned a great deal more about Lone Tree. As discussed in the article (found here at http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/anglo-file/strange-land-brew-1.302254) the brewery was started by a team of an American and a Scottish oleh who wanted to produce the quality beer they missed from their home countries. The brewery produces a modest volume of beer - about 250 - 300 bottles per week. The article also revealed that Lone Tree beer is sold in Jerusalem's Machane Yehudah and other outlets in Israel.

About six weeks ago I received another inquiry about Lone Tree, although this request came from the brewery itself. I was contacted by David Shire (the Scottish half of the Lone Tree team), who asked me whether I had heard of the brewery. I told him about my contact with Ha'aretz and inquired about the prospects for export. I learned that they had been approached by distributors in various countries about exporting Lone Tree, but they were not ready to do so at present (considering their volume is what the average craft brewery in the US produces in an hour, its quite understandable). However, David was willing to send a care package with a friend who was coming to the US and as such about ten days before before Purim I received bottles of Lone Tree's English Northern Ale, India Pale Ale and California Steam Ale. Once they were in my possession I knew that I had to save them to be sampled on Purim. Despite my yetzer hara (evil inclination), I did manage to keep them unopened until Purim. What follows is a brief review of the India Pale Ale and English Northern Ale (the California Steam Ale is being saved for next week's review).

The first bottle that I opened on Purim was the Lone Tree India Pale Ale. I chose this first, partly because I am a big fan of the IPA style and partly because I did not know what to expect from the English Northern Ale.

The Lone Tree India Pale Ale would have passed a Gordon Ramsay blind taste test challenge as the taste was pure IPA. The hops were readily apparent and the bite was absolutely perfect. I had my doubts about the carbonation due to the beer having made a trans-Atlantic flight in someones suitcase, but if there was any reduction it was lost on me.

The IPA went extremely well with the turkey and lentil rice served at the Purim seudah as the flavors blended perfectly. However, the IPA was of such high quality that it could be easily enjoyed by itself and I quietly lamented that I only had one bottle of this fine brew. I would rate this with superior domestic IPAs such as Sierra Nevada.

The second Lone Tree brew which I enjoyed with friends at our second Purim seudah was the English Northern Ale.

I must admit that I did not know what to expect from the Lone Tree English Northern Ale. This style of beer is not available domestically and my research on the normally authoritative Beer Advocate website did not turn up any reference to this class of brews. A similar search on RateBeer.com also did not yield any references to this style.

With no frame of reference to work with, I decided to try the beer by itself and along with some brisket. My first taste of the English Northern Ale revealed some citrusy hops, but a more subdued flavor than an IPA. I shared some with Mrs. Kosher Beers and my friend Jeremy R and we all thought that the beer was a very easy drinking brew. I would recommend the Lone Tree English Northern Ale to those who are looking to take a first step from macrolagers into ales as the subtle ale flavor makes this a good transition brew.

Lone Tree beers are under the hashgacha of R' Abba Shaul from Gush. The Lone Tree website contains a link to the certification along with a complete list of the beers offered by Lone Tree.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. (The Lone Tree bottle even indicates in Hebrew on the reverse side label that the beer should be consumed responsibly).

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!

Purim Post (but not Purim Torah)

The following is a summary of a vort that I heard as part of a Rabbi Mansour shiur during the week (www.learntorah.com). I am so enamored with this piece that I had to post it to the blog. Same rules as usual apply, I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistencies are the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.

In Megillas Esther, the King offers Esther that she can have her desire - up to half his kingship. The use of the language is odd and R' Mansour offered two explanations for the phrase. The simple explanation for why the king only offered half his domain was that the empire ranged from India (Hodu) to Ethiopia (Kush). In the middle of the realm was Jerusalem and Ahasverus was telling Esther - you can have anything except for the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash.

R' Mansour also gave a deeper explanation in the name of the Bobover Rebbi. There is a gemara in Eruvin which records a dispute between Beis Hillel and Beis Shamai as to whether a person is better off being created or not being created. This dispute went on for many years. The gemara concluded that man was better off not being created, but since we have been created we should act appropriately.

The Maharsha explains this difficult gemara by stating that the dispute was about probabilities. The odds are not in a person's favor to succeed as there are 248 opportunities to do a positive act and 365 possible negative actions. A person has a better chance to do an aveirah then to do a positive act.

The Bobover Rebbi explains that there is a way to tip the scale in our favor to justify being created. There are two parts to every mitzva - the deed and the thought. We learn that if a person thought to do a mitzva and was prevented from doing so, he gets credit for planning to do so. As such, there are two parts of each of the 248 mitzvos and together it equals 496.

The Bobover Rebbi brings a proof from the akeidah where Hashem prevents Avraham from sacrificing Yitzchak. Hashem says to Avraham - Avraham Avraham - even though you did not do it, I give you credit as if you did do it. Avraham is 248 and Hashem is telling him you get credit for doing and thinking about each mitzva.

One of Haman's claims against the Jews is that they were doing mitzvos by rote without thinking about what they are doing. Haman's statement to Ahasveros was "yeshno am echad" there is one nation. The gemara in Megilla teaches - don't read as yeshno, rather read "yoshnu" - they are sleeping. He is arguing that the Jews are performing mitzvos without thinking - mechanically - by rote and without intent. As a result (according to Haman) the Jews are better off not being created because its not 496 vs 365 because the Jews have one half of the 496 - the 248 actions without the 248 intent.

Esther is aware of this and she takes action. When Esther comes to visit the king at the party, it states "half the kingdom" as Hashem says that the Jews are only fulfilling half of what they should - its 248 and I can't protect you. Esther then comes to the king wearing malchus which is equal to 496. Esther understood that the tikun was not only to do the mitzvos, but the Jews needed to change the odds in their favor by paying attention and doing the mitzvos properly. She notifies the people of this and signals to Hashem that the Jews are ready to change.

We should have in mind that when we do mitzvos that we are doing Hashem's commandments and not just a reflex action. In this way we can be zocheh to receive the complete malchus and the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash in our days.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits Parshas Tzav

Due to the late running fast, Rabbi Frand did not give a live shiur this evening. Rather than go without divrei torah tonight, I have reproduced a vort that he said on Parshas Tzav a number of years ago. Usual rules apply - I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistencies are the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

This week's parsha continues the discussion of the various sacrifices that are brought. One of the sacrifices mentioned is the mincha (meal offering). In Vayikra 6:7, the Torah begins a discussion of the mincha and specifies details of the process. In the middle of the discussion, the Torah states that the mincha offering is kodesh kodashim (most holy) like the chatas (sin offering) and asham (guilt offering).

The Klei Yakar asks - why does the Torah only compare the mincha offering to the chatas and asham when there are many other holy sacrifices. The Klei Yakar then answers his own question, stating that the chatas and asham come as atonement offerings and are elevated to most holy status. By example, a person who is righteous is considered holy. However, a person who becomes a baal teshuva - i.e. he returns to the fold and repents for his sins, is considered most holy. Indeed the Talmud teaches us that baal teshuva reaches a level that righteous people cannot hope to attain as all of his sins are converted to righteous acts (Mitzvot).

I was reminded of a story that R' Frand told at the Siyum Daf Yomi in 2005. There was a boy who went away to yeshiva to learn. When he returned, he used to sit at the dining room table learning Talmud. Meanwhile, his father would sit in the living room and watch the fights on television.

One night, the father asked the son if he could learn Talmud with him. The son agreed and over the course of the next few months they were able to learn one page of Talmud together. When they completed the page, the father indicated that he wanted to make a party to celebrate his accomplishment. The son was skeptical as such parties are usually reserved for finishing a volume of Talmud, not a page. Nonetheless, the son went and asked R' Moshe Feinstein ztl. R' Moshe answered him that his father should make a party and furthermore R' Moshe said that he wanted to speak at the party.

Not long after the party, the father died. When R' Moshe heard, he said that he wanted to speak at the man's funeral. In the eulogy that R' Moshe gave at the funeral, he made an allusion to the concept that certain people can achieve eternal heavenly reward by a single act. [Usually this concept is applicable to people who are killed for being Jewish or who take other singular great actions]. R' Moshe explained that this father had achieved eternal heavenly reward through the act of learning one single page of Talmud.

We can see from the Torah's discussion of the mincha offering and the story involving the yeshiva boy's father who chose to learn Talmud late in life that the actions of those who return can entitle them to incredible rewards, merely because they chose to act.

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Sunday Night Suds - Uinta Anniversary Barleywine Plus Bonus Pre Purim Kosher Beer List

This week's Sunday Night Suds beer review looks at Uinta's Anniversary Barleywine. Additionally, since this is the last Sunday before Purim, this blog post also contains the Pre-Purim Kosher Beer List.

A number of weeks ago I was notified by the Orthodox Union that they had added another brewery to their stable of kosher products - the Uinta Brewery of Salt Lake City, Utah. I contacted Uinta seeking information about who carries their products in New York but they directed me to Manhattan Beer (their distributor in New York) who are notorious for not being responsive to the public. Needless to say, Manhattan Beer did not answer my inquiries, however, I was able to locate Uinta in a number of beer stores including the vastly underrated Eagle Provisions on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.

Eagle Provisions is a very interesting store. From the outside Eagle appears to be a typical bodega/Polish grocery store. Inside, the store has the best variety of beer that I have ever seen. However, as impressive as their selection is the methodical way that they categorize the brews as the beers are sorted by state and country.

Although Eagle carried more than half a dozen varieties of Uinta, I chose the Anniversary Barley Wine which I intended to be my Purim seudah special brew. [This was later supplanted by a care package from the Gush, but that will be the subject of next week's post, i"yh].

So what is a Barley Wine? As defined by the experts at BA:

Despite its name, a Barleywine (or Barley Wine) is very much a beer, albeit a very strong and often intense beer! In fact, it's one of the strongest of the beer styles. Lively and fruity, sometimes sweet, sometimes bittersweet, but always alcoholic. A brew of this strength and complexity can be a challenge to the palate. Expect anything from an amber to dark brown colored beer, with aromas ranging from intense fruits to intense hops. Body is typically thick, alcohol will definitely be perceived, and flavors can range from dominant fruits to palate smacking, resiny hops.

English varieties are quite different from the American efforts, what sets them apart is usually the American versions are insanely hopped to make for a more bitter and hop flavored brew, typically using American high alpha oil hops. English versions tend to be more rounded and balanced between malt and hops, with a slightly lower alcohol content, though this is not always the case.

The beer poured a rich amber, with some similarity to an IPA. The first taste of the brew was a knockout punch of hops, malt and some fruit - maybe a little apricot in the flavor. The beer has a high alcohol content (typical of barleywine) as it was slightly above 10% abv. After having just one of these with dinner tonight, I could feel the alcohol and I do not recommend having more than one at a meal (maybe at a Purim seudah...).

Uinta Anniverary Barleywine is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, although there is no OU on the label. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the LOC for Uinta, please send me an e-mail.

For the experts' take on the Uinta Anniversary Barleywine please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/3840.

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!
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Pre-Purim Kosher Beers List - As a public service, Kosherbeers is proud to offer a list of beers which are known to be under kosher supervision. As the scribd format worked so well for the Labor Day version, the Pre Purim list is provided in this format as well.

Kosher Beers List Purim 2011

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayikra

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 Vayikra 2:1 the Torah instructs that when a person brings a flour offering (karban mincha) it should be comprised of fine flour along with oil and levonah (commonly translated as frankincense). Later in the second perek (2:11) the Torah writes that a flour offering should not be chametz because leaven and honey should not be offered to Hashem as part of the mincha.

Rabbi Frand then made reference to the karbanos which are said in the davening. The portion of davening (which is actually a gemara in Krisus and a mishna in Yoma) discusses how the ketores was made. In this discussion, Bar Kapara states that if honey was added to the mixture, no one would be able to stand the smell. Immediately thereafter, the Beraisa asks, why was honey not added to the mixture - because the Torah (citing to Vayikra 2:11) states that no honey or leaven should be offered...

Rabbi Frand asked, why the use of double language? The gemara had already told us that if honey was added, the smell would be too difficult to bear, so why cite to the pasuk as well?

Rabbi Frand answered by quoting a Sifri which discusses how one should act when he is around food which is not kosher. A person should not say, I don't want pork because its disgusting. Instead he should say - I would like to try it but the Torah forbids us from eating it.

Similarly, the Torah itself offers two rationales for why the honey should not be added to the mixture. The smell of honey mixed in with the ketores might be overpowering, but the reason that we don't combine them is because Hashem commanded us not to do so.

R' Frand then told over a story from R' Mordechai Kaminetzky who related a story where an obvious non-Jewish person was standing in line at the checkout of a supermarket with her young son. The boy wanted a candy from the checkout line but the mother would not buy it. When the boy continued to beg, the mother responded that the candy was not kosher. The boy looked at her and said - but the label says that the candy is delicious?

The lady then turned to the frum woman behind her in line and asked - how is it that when you tell your child the food is not kosher it is the end of the story? Doesn't it mean that it does not taste good? The frum woman responded that not kosher means that we can't eat it, not that it does not taste good.

This is the reason that the gemara follows with the citation to the pasuk. The reason that we don't mix the honey in is because the Torah forbids it.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - When Crying Isn't a Shame

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.

After the Miami Heat's loss to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, reports began to circulate that some Miami Heat players were crying in the locker room. These news reports were fueled by Miami Coach Eric Spolstra's admission that the players were frustrated by losing and that some had been crying.

As could be easily be predicted, the media had a field day with this story. From the juvenile reporters (maturity, not age) to the more seasoned members of the press, everyone had a take on this story.

While listening to the Mike & Mike in the morning program, I heard a story recounted by Jay Bilas as to his desire to make it to the NCAA Final Four and his heartbreak and his team's despair after falling short. He talked about how some players did cry when the team was eliminated as they had come so close to the NCAA championship, but did not make it to the final weekend.

With all due deference to Tom Hanks, sometimes crying in sports is OK. When a player comes close to his goal of winning a championship, it is understandable when he breaks down if he falls short. Similarly, if a player knows that the game he is playing in will be the final game of his career, it would be understandable that he cries when the game ends.

In sharp contrast to the above scenarios is the situation involving the Miami Heat. These players have not seen the end of their journey or come close to their ultimate goal but been denied. If Coach Spolstra is to be believed, these players are crying out of frustration with losing. Given that the Heat will make the playoffs and that there is still plenty of time left for them to earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference, there is no reason for players to be manifesting their frustration by publicly crying.

The atypical crying by the Miami Heat players when they have not yet reached the end of their road reminded me of an interesting vort on Megilas Esther. The fourth perek of Esther states that the Jews had "avel gadol" translated as "great mourning" (not Alonzo) that Achasverosh had approved Haman's request for a decree to kill the Jews.

The question asked by the Sefer Mor V'Hadas on this pasuk is what is avel gadol? Are there periods of mourning which are avel katan? He answers that avel gadol is different because of the way that it manifests. Usually, a person mourns a loss and the feeling dissipates as time goes on. As such, the feeling of loss is greatest during shiva, but lessens during shloshim and the remainder of the year.

In contrast, the avel period in the megillah got worse every day. Each day the Jews realized that they were one day closer to Haman's decree being fulfilled and the end of their nation. As such there was avel gadol as the threat came closer and closer...

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Sunday Night Suds - Brooklyn Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds review looks at Brooklyn's flagship brew - Brooklyn Lager.

About two or three years ago, Brooklyn Brewery began to buy air time on local radio stations to promote its beers. The ads were more than just catchy slogans or jingles as they offered suggestions about food pairings with the Brooklyn brews and were often voiced by Brooklyn's affable Brewmaster - Garrett Oliver.

Those who are not regulars on the Beer Advocate forum boards or heavily involved in the New York beer scene may not know him, but Mr. Oliver is a highly visible presence who has contributed to the development of brewing in New York. From my early days on BA, I found Mr. Oliver to be easily approachable and he always answered by questions from beermail.

Besides participating on BA, Garrett Oliver has also been very public in discussing and sharing his interesting experimental brews. Although not all his beer concoctions are permitted to the kosher consumer, Mr Oliver has inspired quite a few craft breweries as well as countless home brewers.

But enough about the brewer, lets talk about the brew itself. Brooklyn lager pours a rich amber color with a good amount of lacing on the glass. It is one of my favorite lagers because it has some hop bite to it, not enough to cross the chasm into ale land, but the hops are present as are some floral notes.

Brooklyn lager goes very well with steaks, stews and other hearty beef dishes. If you have tried a combination which worked for you, please e-mail me or comment on this post.

Brooklyn Lager 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 Lager please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45/148.

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).

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Pikudei

This week, Rabbi Frand was out of town and Rabbi Neuberger gave the Thursday Night shiur from the Agudah in Baltimore. The following is a brief summary of a vort that R' Neuberger said over as part of the shiur. 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' Neuberger.

The last pasuk of Parshas Pikudei (and for that matter the last pasuk of Sefer Shmos) states that the cloud of Hashem would be on the mishkan by day and fire would be on it at night, before the eyes of all of the house of Israel throughout their journeys.

R' Neuberger observed that the language at the end of the pasuk appears to be strange as the Jews were referred to as Beis Yisrael as opposed to the more common Bnei Yisrael (which ends Sifrei Vayikra and Bamidbar) or just plain Yisrael (which ends Sefer Devarim). R' Neuberger said that he had heard an explanation for the use of the term Beis Yisrael from a Rabbi Lonsky (I did not quite get the name) who stated that the theme of Sefer Shmos was in fact bayis and thus the language in the last pasuk of the Sefer was quite fitting.

R' Neuberger explained that Sefer Shmos begins with a reference to Beis Yisrael as the first pasuk uses the phrase Ish U'Bayso Ba'oo. Another example of the Bayis theme can be found in the commandment to observe the Karban Pesach - the mitzva which distinguished us from the others in Egypt by which the Jews were commanded to take a sheep for Beis Avos and for the Bayis.

The pinnacle of Sefer Shmos is another bayis moment. The meforshim explain that Har Sinai was akin to the wedding of the Jews with Hashem. At that moment the Jews became a true bayis for Hashem and the Torah. As such, it is only fitting that Shemos ends with a reference to Beis Yisrael.

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