Thursday, March 29, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Tzav

Generally, R' Frand does not give his shiur on the last Thursday Night before Pesach and instead the shiur is given by a guest speaker. This week, Rabbi Neuberger gave a fantastic shiur in R' Frand's place, but he did not speak on the parsha. As such, I have reproduced a vort on the parsha from R' Mansour, which I heard on www.learntorah.com . Same rules as usual apply. 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 parsha begins with a discussion of the laws of the Olah sacrifice. The Olah was brought twice daily, every day of the year. The Torah writes that the mizbayach was burning all night - it was never extinguished.

The Sefer Hachinuch explains that the miracle that the mizbayach burned all night was not an open miracle. The Kohen was commanded to put some pieces of wood on the mizbayach, even though they were not needed.

R' Mansour explained that this teaches us a lesson about how Hashem conducts the world. Very seldom are miracles truly open. When Hashem makes a miracle, He involves a natural component so that the skeptic can choose not to believe that it comes from Hashem. R' Mansour gave the example of the Krias Yam Suf. The night before the Jews crossed the Yam Suf, the Torah explains that there were strong easterly winds blowing - abnormal winds. The next day when the Jews crossed, Pharaoh said - its a natural phenomenon. In so doing, he disregarded the fact that the sea split into twelve corridors (one for each tribe) and that the floor of the seabed was marble. Would this have happened from wind?

Similarly, Hashem made a miracle that the mizbayach was lit constantly. The skeptic could look at it and say - the mizbayach is lit because its being fed by the Kohen. But if he paid close enough attention, he would realize that the fires were being fed by an independent source.

The gemara notes that when it rained on the mizbayach, the fires would not be extingiuished. But the question can be asked, why couldn't Hashem just make a miracle that the rain would never fall on the mizbayach?

R' Mansour answered the question by analogizing the mizbayach to the Jews. The Jews do mitzvos because each one of them has a motivating spark to do the right thing. However, there are many cynics who would like to pour water and drown out the excitement. These are the symbolic waters which are trying to extinguish the fires of the mizbayach. We can draw inspiration from Hashem's promise about the mizbayach -it will never be extinguished, even if rain falls on it. The lesson to us is that the symbolic water should not extinguish the fires in our neshamos.

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Monday, March 26, 2012

Monday's Musings on Sports - Tebow Time?

After Peyton Manning made his decision to sign with the Denver Broncos, speculation began as to whether the Broncos would keep last year's controversial starter, Tim Tebow. The Broncos did little to diffuse the situation and it became an open secret that they were taking offers for Tebow. At first it seemed that Tebow would be traded to a team which was looking for a starting quarterback and Jacksonville seemed a strong possibility. There was also some talk about Tebow possibly going to the Miami Dolphins, especially after they failed to land Matt Flynn.

Soon thereafter, reports began to circulate about teams which were looking to add Tebow as a hybrid player to run the option or wildcat as a change of pace. Teams in this category included the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers. And then news broke that the New York Jets were serious about trying to land Tebow. Soon thereafter the trade was finalized and then "unfinalized" due to the Jets' purported failure to read the fine print in Tebow's contract with the Broncos. A few hours later the Jets and Broncos worked a slightly modified deal which allowed for some of the money which had been advanced to Tebow by the Broncos to be paid back by the Jets.

Once the deal was truly final, every sports story faded into the background. It did not matter that Saints Head Coach Sean Payton had been suspended for a year, or that Greg Williams was suspended indefinitely for Bounty Gate. (For my thoughts on that story click here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/03/mondays-musings-on-sports-mutiny-of.html). The NCAA Sweet 16 and the departure of various Cinderellas (or is that Cinderelli?) also seemed to matter less. Instead, sports media of every persuasion wanted to discuss the acquisition of Tim Tebow, whether this was a good or bad move for the Jets, whether this would impede Mark Sanchez's development and whether the move was a reaction to the poisonous state of the Jets locker room circa 2011.

Surprisingly, the viewpoint of the media was skewed based on proximity to New York. Most of the national press and radio hosts felt that the move was good for the Jets. Their angle was that Tebow could be a change of pace to force the defenses to game plan for unconventional plays. The thinking was, if the defenses have to study and plan for Tebow, they would not be as prepared for the Jets standard plays (and vice versa).

The New York pundits seemed to be universally against the thought of Tebow coming here. I can't possibly recite all the negative viewpoints that I heard, but distilled to their core the views were that the Jets had done this to sell tickets or to try to cure the locker room from the disease that permeated last year. The press seemed to think that the trade was not properly thought through by the Jets and that Tebowmaniacs would be clamoring for him to start for the Jets after Sanchez had a bad half.

The matter came to a head today when the Jets held a press conference to introduce their new backup quarterback. This might be the first time in history that a team held a press conference to welcome a backup. To his credit, when asked during the press conference about the need for a press conference, Tebow twice made references to the fact that the event had been engineered by management, including reportedly saying "It’s my job to come in here and earn respect by how I work. I can’t control this press conference … You can blame the guys upstairs.”

At this juncture its far too early to say whether Tebow will improve the team or cause greater dissension than last year. For all of Tebow's good intentions and his stated goal of just being a team player, there will be a time that Mark Sanchez falters, as every other player does. The question will be whether the media/fans push the team into making a change at QB and whether the team functions as a team.

The Tebow team question made me a think of the Medrash which Rashi relates in connection with the obligation to put salt on bread. Rashi states that when Hashem separated the waters during creation, the water on the earth was jealous of the water which went to the heavens. Hashem told the lower water - I will give you a consolation prize - your salt will be used on sacrifices which will ascend to heaven.

In a shiur last week, R' Frand asked - why put the accent on the salt? The water wants to be in the heaven. R' Frand answered that salt is derived from water which evaporates. The message of the consolation to the water is that even in this world, the lowest of the low - the salt which is left behind during evaporation - can ascend to a higher purpose.

I don't know if Tim Tebow truly views playing for the Jets as a wildcat option QB as his mission for this team or whether Tebow would like to be more than just a change of pace player. But if the team can get him and Mark Sanchez to buy into a team concept, even the lower piece can join together for a positive purpose.

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sunday Night Suds - Josephs Brau Plznr


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Josephs Brau "Plzner" Czech Style Lager.

I first came across this beer in Trader Joe's on Atlantic and Court in Brooklyn. Trader Joe's has a number of house beers which it contracts out for production. Many of the Joseph's Brau (perhaps all, although I am not certain) beers are certified kosher by the Va'ad of Detroit, so it gives me an opportunity to expand my beer horizons.

Another perk of buying beer a Trader Joe's is their generous policy of allowing the customer to buy singles without penalty. Some beer stores will not allow the purchase of singles, while others will "upcharge" by making the customer pay the price for 1/5 of a six pack when buying a single bottle. Trader Joe's freely allows customers to buy singles, or a mix a six pack of their own.

Not long after I purchased the Plznr, I spoke with the mashgiach for the Va'ad of Detroit who oversees the Joseph's Brau production. He raved about this brew, so I chilled it for a while and finally tried it this weekend.

By now I am sure that you are wondering why the beer is spelled the way that it is. The back of the label reveals that the Czech Pilsner style was developed in the town of Plzn (now known as Pilsen in the Czech Republic). I imagine that they named the brew Plznr as a tribute to either the city or the brewmaster, but who knows.

As a Czech Pilsner, this beer has a leg up on most domestic pilsners, since it has some hop bitterness to go with the typical crispness of a pilsner. The alcohol content (5.4% abv) is on the high end of the scale for this style of beer, but not overpowering.

This beer would go well with Asian food or spicy/peppery food which packs some heat.

Joseph's Brau Plznr is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and there is a tiny Va'ad Hakashrus symbol on the back of the bottle. Please keep in mind that not every Trader Joe's brew is under kosher supervision, so check the label or search my site for the link to the latest list of beers under kosher supervision.

To see what the experts at Beer Advocate think about this beer, click this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10707/76549 .

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 www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayikra

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parshios 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 second pasuk of this week's Parsha details the general rules of karbanos. The pasuk reiterates that Hashem told Moshe to tell the Jews that when a man (Adam) among you brings an offering... (Vayikra 1:2).

Rashi teaches a number of thoughts on this pasuk. The first thought involves the words "adam ki yakriv", which Rashi explains is the Torah's way of advising that these rules relate to a voluntary sacrifice - a nedavah. Rashi then teaches that the word Adam is used in order to teach that just like Adam Harishon did not bring sacrifices from stolen propety, so too we should not offer stolen property as sacrifices.

Rabbi Frand asked - why does Rashi teach these thoughts out of order? It would have been more logical to teach the thought about Adam Harishon first, since the word Adam appears earlier in the pasuk.

Rabbi Frand answered by quoting a vort from the Tolner Rebbi, who prefaced the answer with yet another question. The Rebbi asked, why did Rashi need to learn from Adam that stolen property should not be brought as a sacrifice? This was taught in a medrashic fashion, but it could have been learned from a gemara in Sukkah which utilized the word Mikem (from among you) to teach that a person can only offer what is his as a sacrifice!

R Frand answered these questions by first giving a preface about human nature. He explained that there are two types of people - those who love money and want to acquire more at all costs or those who are happy with what they have and do not need to chase after more. Who is the person who wants to bring a voluntary offering? Obviously, it is the person who is happy with what he has and is not possessed by an overwhelming desire to acquire more. It does not bother him to part with his money and that is why he willing to show how happy he is - by offering a voluntary sacrifice.

These two personalities are seen in Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov says - yesh li kol - I have it all. Esav says yesh li rav - I have a lot. If a person says I have it all - I can voluntarily share and give to Hashem.

Rashi teaches that a person like Adam Harishon who feels that "I have it all" can give voluntarily with a full heart - this is a person who can bring a nedavah. Rashi is not teaching us a halacha, he is showing us the type of person who can bring a proper nedavah. This is why Rashi mentions this first - these are the laws of nedavah. Who can bring a nedavah, a person like Adam Harishon.

This is also why Rashi does not teach the law from the gemara about stolen property. That relates to the actual karban itself. Rashi is not trying to teach us about the quality of the karban, he is teaching us how to be the proper donor.

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Monday, March 19, 2012

Monday's Musings on Sports - Rooting for an Upset and the Clouds of the Desert

This past weekend marked the beginning of the magical period known as March Madness. Teams which had earned their tickets to the NCAA Tournament by winning their conference tournaments or qualifying for an "at large"bid all laced up their sneakers for a chance at winning College Basketball's National Championship.

From the time that I was sixteen years old, it seemed that every year the media and the nation's attention was fixed on which "Cinderella" team would advance beyond the first weekend to the "Sweet 16." Although the definition of Cinderella has changed since Cleveland State and "the Mouse that Roared" upset Indiana in 1986, there is always great interest in the lower seeded teams and their debut on the national stage. This usually translates into louder cheers at the various first round venues (when they are not hosting a local team) for the 12 - 16 seeds and boos and jeers for the 1-4 ranked teams.

This year saw an uncharacteristcally large number of upsets including two number 15 seeds (Lehigh and Norfolk State) which upset number 2 seeds Duke and Missouri. This was the first time in eleven years that a number 15 seed advanced to the second round of the tournament. Meanwhile, a number one (Syracuse) barely escaped being the first number one seed to ever lose to a sixteen seeded team.

The public's fascination with the lower seeds has always intrigued me. Although people may view an underdog as a heartwarming story, this country always seems to want to be the victor in any professional or amateur event. I have a difficult time understanding why people would root for the low ranked team, since even if they win a game or two, they will never win a national championship. Indeed, most of these Cinderellas flame out in the round of 32 or Sweet 16 and never advance to the Final Four. Still, they manage to capture the hearts and minds of the home town fans in these outlying venues. Meanwhile, the teams which will ultimately vie for the championship do not feel at home until they make their way to the Final Four.

The last pasuk of Sefer Shemos contains a similar paradox which perhaps can shed light on the fans' behavior. At the end of Parshas Pikudei, the Torah writes that the clouds would be on the mishkan by day and the fire at night during all of their travels. Rashi notices the seeming problem with this statement since these items only surrounded the Jews when they were encamped, not when they travelled. Rashi answers that where they camped was also part of where they travelled, meaning - even the encampment was part of being on the road.

Rabbi Frand commented on this Rashi that the lesson was that even when we think we are encamped, the Jews are still travelling. The Rashi implies that a seeming home is still a journey on the road (even in a hospitable place) until we reach our final destination.

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA



This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA.

In late January I was in one of the local supermarkets when I saw a new Samuel Adams Brewmasters Collection mix box. Having learned the hard way that not every new Samuel Adams brew is under hashgacha, I resisted the urge to buy the box. Instead, I carefully recorded the new beer styles in the box and then went online to check the Star-K LOC for these brews. Of course, none of the beers were on the LOC, but sometimes the Star-K can be slow to update their online LOC, so I emailed the Star-K to find out about the two new brews. As I waited for a response, I received numerous emails from other beer aficionados who wanted to know if I had any information on these new brews (you know who you are). Several weeks later, I received a response from the Star-K that one of the new beers (the Whitewater IPA) was under hashgacha, but the other beer (Mighty Oak) was not kosher.

Armed with the Star-K's response, I resigned myself to having to pass on the Whitewater IPA, as I did not want to buy the collection box and then pour the two mighty oak brews down the drain. But then, this past weekend I was in the local beer store (Beverage Barn on Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park) looking for our parsha question brew of choice (Saranac Diet Root Beer!) when I saw that the Whitewater IPA was available in six and twelve packs. But even better, since the folks at the Beverage Barn are so nice, I was able to buy a single bottle to bring home to try. I brought the Whitewater IPA home and promptly stuck it in the fridge until I took it out tonight to sample with my dinner. Perhaps that was a mistake...

The Whitewater IPA has some very subtle flavors which were completely drowned out by our "Israeli night" themed dinner. My first few sips of the Whitewater IPA with the homemade lamb schwarma were fruitless, in the true sense of the word. Although the Whitewater IPA said that it was flavored with apricots and spice to "balance out" the hops, I tasted no apricot or fruit of any kind and the spice was absent. I cleared my palate and tried some more of the brew by itself but was truly unable to locate the promised fruit. Maybe I should have bought the six pack after all...

Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. Unlike most Samuel Adams brews, this bottle has the Star-K certification mark on the label. It is not on the current Star-K LOC (http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf ).

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Whitewater IPA, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/76800 .

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, March 15, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshios Vayakhel - Pikudei - Parah

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parshios 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.

R' Frand began tonight's vort by quoting the Shulchan Aroch, which contains an opinion that both Parshas Parah and Parshas Zochor are biblically obligated to be heard. This is derived from a Rashba in Gemara Berachos which states that there is a biblical obligation to hear Parshas Parah, but the question is why?

R' Frand quoted the Meshech Chachma who explains that the actual reading is not biblically obligated. Rather the meaning that the reading is "biblically obligated" means that when the Beis Hamkidash was standing and they did the avodah to make the parah adumah, there was an obligation to read the parsha of parah aduma while the avodah was being performed (like the avodah on Yom Kippur).

R' Frand then quoted the Malbim in the sefer Artzos Hachaim who asks - why is there no obligation to read the parsha of the egel hazahav every day? Because this was a negative event in the Jews history and it would be an embarrassment to remember the sin of the golden calf of a daily basis.

The Malbim quoted a Magen Avraham who notes that in Parshas Ki Sissa, the first two aliyos are quite long. Why? So that we can ensure that a Levi gets the story of the egel, because the Levi is not embarrassed by the story of the egel as the Levi'im did not sin with the golden calf.

The Malbim then explains that the reading of Parshas Parah is a remembrance for the egel. Chazal tell us that the Parah Aduma is the kappara for the egel. R' Frand quoted a Rashi that the mother (Parah) is coming and wiping up the mess made by the child (egel). The Parah Aduma parsha is a subtle reminder of the egel and is a remberance of the sin of the egel - this is why it is biblically obligated as a zachor of how the Jews provoked Hashem in the midbar.

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, March 11, 2012

Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Single Malt Ale



This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac's Single Malt Ale.

Let me first start this post with a disclaimer - the beer is not made with single malt scotch. This should hopefully sideline all those who think that they have gone to gan eden and seen a melding of scotch and beer. The beer is called single malt because it is made with a malt which is used in the production of scotch. However, the beer is not made with scotch.

[Having said that, I will probably still get many emails and comments asking about which brand of single malt scotch is used in the production of this beer].

Although this beer is branded a limited release for 2012 and is only available as part of the What Ales You 12 pack box (two bottles of Single Malt Ale per box), it is not Saranac's first foray into the land of "scotch beers." This brew was last marketed in 2004, although it did not get great reviews at that time. I am uncertain as to when they first produced a Single Malt Ale, but it appears to date back at least to 2001.

My personal favorite was the Saranac Scotch Ale which last was produced in winter 2007/2008. (It was the subject of my first post on Kosher Beers back in 2008 - http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/02/sunday-night-suds-saranac-scotch-ale.html). Although I made a personal appeal to a few of the good folks at Saranac to reinstate this brew, they have not restarted production of this gem, but I digress.

The Saranac Single Malt Ale is characterized as an English Brown Ale, which the experts at BA define as:
Spawned from the Mild Ale, Brown Ales tend to be maltier and sweeter on the palate, with a fuller body. Color can range from reddish brown to dark brown. Some versions will lean towards fruity esters, while others tend to be drier with nutty characters. All seem to have a low hop aroma and bitterness.

Unlike the definition listed above, the Single Malt did not have reddish brown to dark brown color. It was somewhat low on hop aroma and bitterness, but had a great breadiness which can be attributed to the generous amount of malt. The beer was quite smooth and would be a good intro beer for someone looking to move beyond lagers. I could see pairing this beer with sharp or tangy salads (think lots of arugula) or fish. This beer would not stand up well to heavy meats or stews. Its a shame its not available in six packs as this would be nice to experiment with.

Saranac Single Malt Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced by Saranac. Although the beer does not have a Va'ad logo on the label, I have spoken with the mashgiach and he advised me that the Single Malt ale is under hashgacha and that the omission of the Va'ad certification mark was due to a printing error.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Single Malt Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/2301.

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!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Purim 5772/March 2012 Updated Kosher Beer List

As a community service, Kosher Beers publishes a list twice a year of the beers which are known to be certified kosher. The list will be updated periodically until the next edition (Labor Day 2012).

For the Purim 5772/March 2012 edition, I will again be using scribd to upload and maintain the list.

Kosher Beers List Purim 2012

Monday, March 5, 2012

Monday's Musings on Sports - Mutiny of the Bounty?

Today, sports radio and the Internet was dominated by discussions of a story about the New Orleans Saints and a bounty program which was administered by former defensive assistant coach Gregg Williams. According to the news reports, over the last three years, Saints players were rewarded for inflicting game-ending injuries on targeted players. If a player was knocked out of the game, the defensive player was paid $1,500 and of a player had to be helped off the field by cart, the Saints player was paid $1,000. Reportedly, payments were doubled or tripled for the playoffs.

During the day, the story evolved to include reports that Saints' Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis were aware of the bounties that had been taken out on opposing players. Speculation abounded that the Saints could be fined and possibly required to forfeit draft picks. If specific players were found to have intentionally injured other players, they could be subject to suspension and fines as well.

An interesting subplot involves the St Louis Rams who are not accused of being involved in the bounty pool. Williams is now an assistant coach with the Rams and if he is suspended for his role in the pool, the Rams would lose his services for all or part of their season. While they would not be required to pay Williams during the suspension, they still would lose a valuable member of their coaching staff during the season.

In listening to interview with former players, I was struck by the dichotomy between the media and the players. Defensive players who were interviewed largely viewed this as an unwritten rule which seems to exist in many locker rooms. It made me think back to a story a number of years ago about Rashard Mendenhall of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I remember that after his leg was broken, rumours circulated that the Baltimore Ravens had a bounty out on Mendenhall as well as Steelers WR Hines Ward.

While NFL players were not surprised and even seemed to tacitly condone these actions, media members who were not former jocks were aghast that these pools could be allowed to exist or were even encouraged by management.

It was hard not to find fault with the players for employing the bounty system. While I like seeing a hard (but clean) tackle, I can't see how an industry allows itself to have its star players taken out of games. Indeed, while modern medicine has progressed, some of these players suffered career ending injuries, many of which impacted on their daily lives beyond football.

I also heard an interesting take on this from Colin Cowherd at the beginning of his show. During the brief snippet that I heard at the top of the show, Colin mentioned that there are two things that could bring down the NFL - the government and lawsuits. There have been a number of recent filings wherein former players who have suffered from a wide range of illness (physical and mental) have asserted that the NFL knew or should have known about the concussions which were occurring and were more interested in glorifying big hits than player safety.

I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but the thought advanced by Colin has real logic. If former players can demonstrate that the league and the various teams knew that the players were truly cannon fodder, they could potentially bankrupt the league with lawsuits and payouts.

The concept of the players knowingly targeting stars made me think about a mashal that I read about Haman and his attitude toward the Jews. As written in the sefer Mor V'Hadas on Purim, Haman's attempt to wipe out the Jews because Mordechai would not bow down to him was compared to the actions of a very upset bird. The bird had built a nest near the water and the nest was soon crushed by a large wave. As a reaction, the bird began to scoop water out of the sea with his beak and dump it on the shore. The bird would then take some sand in its beak and dump the sand in the sea. The bird repeated and repeated this until it was stopped by another bird which said to him - what can you possibly hope to accomplish? All that you will do is exhaust yourself! However, to this bird which was caught up in the moment, there was no stopping him.

If the players truly targeted their own in an attempt to injure and possibly end the careers of star players, they really were acting illogically. People tune in to watch offense as much, if not more than defense. If the star players are constantly being knocked out and replaced by lesser skilled players, people will be less interested in watching football and will turn to other sports instead.

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, March 4, 2012

Sunday Night Suds - Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale



This week's Sunday Night Suds beer review looks at Uinta's Hazel Amber Wheat Ale.

[As a quick programming note, I hope i'yh to post this Purim's Updated Kosher Beers List on Tuesday as a freestanding post. The format will be through scribd and will contain many beers which were not on the Labor Day list.]

Many breweries have been experimenting with cross-over brews which involve collaborations between brewmasters and restaurant chefs who are looking to infuse with the brew with certain flavors which will complement their dishes. One of the Heineken Man's friends tipped me off to a fascinating article which ran in the Chicago Tribune (aka "The Trib") last month about certain Midwest area collaborations. I have provided a link to the article here here, but there is no guarantee as to how long the article will be available for reading on the "the trib" website.

Unlike some of the more well intentioned (or perhaps just intentional) hybrid or cross-over beers, you sometimes come across a brew which tastes like it has been mixed from two different foods but the flavors just don't seem to work together. That brings us to the Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale.

The Hazel Amber Wheat Ale is an American Dark Wheat Ale which does not seem to fit the category ascribed to it by the folks at BA. The brew was not cloudy and did not have a significant amount of foam. The alcohol content was on the extreme low end (4% abv) and the "hint of coriander" promised on the Uinta website was nowhere to be found. Indeed, the one flavor that I kept tasting was Lipton Tea - just not a combination I am looking to have with an ale (or any beer for that matter).

Given the significant number of quality Uinta brews that I have sampled over the last year (see review of Anniversary Barleywine -here , Wyld -here and Baba Black Lager -here) I guess that at some point I was destined to get one from Uinta that swings and misses. Luckily for me, it came in a mix box, so I only have three more to drink or give away...

Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union and bears an OU on the label. For the experts' take on the Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/76114.

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, March 1, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Tezaveh + Esther

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening along with a vort that he said on Megillas Esther. I have attempted to reproduce these 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 Shemos 28:31-35, the Torah describes the Robe of the Ephod that the Kohain Gadol wore. At pesukim 33-34, the Torah writes that the hem of the robe had pomegranates and gold bells around them. The Torah then writes in pasuk 35 that these were on the Robe so that they would be heard.

Rashi on 28:33 writes that the bells had clappers inside of them and the pomegranates were hollow. However, the Ramban writes that he is unaware of where Rashi learned this from and that if there were pomegranates interspersed there would not be any sound - so why would they even be needed there? Instead, the Ramban learns that these devices were made from cloth - there was a pomegranate made from cloth and inside the pomegranate was a pseudo bell which was also made from cloth. R' Shevell in his explanation of the Ramban asks - based on the Ramban's explanation that these were made from cloth, how could they make sounds? R' Shevell answers that it was a miracle that sound came from the robe.

R' Frand then asked - why was a miracle necessary? There were many miracles in the mishkan - why was it necessary for the devices on the robe to miraculously make noise?

R' Frand answered by quoting his son R' Yaakov who said in the name of a R' Yosef Blum (sp?) that the message of the Robe was that when a person does something holy he should not make noise to draw attention to himself - do it quietly, humbly and "without bells and whistles." If the act being done is important, Hashem will create the necessary noise so that people will be aware of the act (if they need to be aware of it). However, the person doing the holy act should not try to raise the public's awareness of his deeds.

R' Frand also said a vort on Megillas Esther. He asked - how many times does Charvonah appear in the Megilla? He answered that Charvonah appears twice - once in the beginning of the Megilla when Ahasverus tells his advisors to get Vashti. The second time that Charvonah appears is when he tells the king to hang Haman from the tree he prepared for Mordechai.

The Pirkei D'Rebbi Eliezer explains that the two Charvonahs are actually different people. The first Charvonah (whose name ends with an aleph) is actually Charvonah, but the second Charvonah (whose name ends with a heh) is Eliyahu HaNavi. We see that he is zachor latov - just like Eliyahu.

R' Frand quote a R' Zalmi Mintz who said in the name of R' Ephraim Waxman that the message is that the geula came because Charvonah said the tree was made by Haman for Mordechai who spoke good about HaMelech. Chazal teach that every time that the Megilla states HaMelech, it refers to Hashem. Mordechai never said anything negative or complained to Hashem about what the Jews were enduring - this is why they were saved. This is also the message to us - don't question and ask why things are happening or why Hashem is doing what he does. Don't complain - just trust in Hashem that He has a master plan and in so doing we will be zoche to the geulah b'miheira b'yamenu and live to see layihudim haysa orah.

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