Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Nasso

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

In the middle of Parshas Nasso is the formulation of Birkas Kohanim - the priestly blessings. The Ramban notes that there was a prior command to bless the Jews in Parshas Shemini (Vayikra 9:22) wherein Hashem commanded Aharon to bless the Jews in connection with the completion of the mishkan. However, the difference between the two blessings is that the blessing in Shemini was event driven, whereas the blessing in Nasso is an ongoing command.

Rashi in Parshas Shemini states that the blessing Aharon gave in Shemini was the actual formulation of the bracha which is recited in Nasso. The Ramban argues and states that the blessing given in Shemini was not the three bracha formulation we are familiar with.

R' Frand asked - why is the blessing of the Kohanim in Nasso? Sefer Vayikra was all about the duties and responsibilities of the Kohanim. Why should Birkas Kohanim appear in Nasso? The parsha certainly does not need the extra pesukim.

R' Frand answered his question by quoting the sefer Chikrei Lev who explains that there was a specific event which necessitated the command to bless the Jews. In Nasso, the Jews are counted again, but in a different manner from the way they were counted in Ki Sissa. In Ki Sissa, the Jews donated shekalim which were counted and in that way the census was taken. However in Nasso, each Jew was counted as a member of his household and tribe. Chazal write that each Jew came before Moshe and Aharon and recited his name, his father's name, his shevet and his yichus. Additionally, each tribe now had a place in the marching order and specific responsibilities.

The Chikrei Lev explained that in Sefer Bamidbar there are now individuals and individual tribe or familiar responsibilities and in Parshas Nasso there are "holier than thou" people - the Nazirim. This is fertile ground for backbiting and jealousy. Once there was the potential for divisiveness, Hashem required the blessing of Kohanim which ends with Shalom. We learn that every blessing requires peace because as taught by Rashi in Bechukosai that if there is no Shalom, there is nothing.

How does one have Shalom? By being happy with what one has. Hashem can give you a bracha of resources and that they are safely yours. But if the person looks at another and is jealous that he has more, there is no Shalom.

In these parshios where people are differentiated and there is a potential for strife, there is a need for Shalom.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Bamidbar

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

In Bamidbar 1:14, the Nasi of Gad is called Elyasaf Ben De'uel. However in Bamidbar 2:14, the Nasi of Gad is called Elyasaf Ben Re'uel. The obvious question is why is Elyasaf's father's name different later in the parsha?

R' Frand answered the question by quoting the Chida who observes that Moshe is buried in the land of the tribe of Gad. The Chida explained in the name of the sefer Imrei Noam that Gad was the bechor of Zilpa and Dan was the bechor of Bilha. Gad could have complained to Moshe and said why am I only a part of a tribe in the marching contingent? Dan is the leader of the tribe group and Gad as a bechor should be given a leading role. However, Gad kept his mouth closed and as such was a friend (reyah) of Moshe and did not challenge Hashem.

Had Gad been named a leader of a tribe group, it would have been temporary as this was only for purposes of travelling in the desert. However, by having Moshe buried in his land and earning the name Re'uel - the friend of Hashem, Gad was given an eternal gift.

R' Frand then told the story of the Sdei Chemed, a prolific author. They once asked the Sdei Chemed how he had such a fantastic memory and was able to bring together so many resources in his seforim? The Sdei Chemed answered that it had to do with a story which occurred when he was learning in yeshiva. There was a boy in yeshiva who was jealous of the Sdei Chemed. The boy bribed the cleaning lady to say that she had been intimate with the Sdei Chemed. When the story came out, the Sdei Chemed was very embarrassed and left the yeshiva. However, the Rosh Yeshiva did not believe the cleaning woman and fired her.

Months later, the cleaning woman visited the Sdei Chemed and confessed that she had been bribed. She asked for his help in getting her job back as she was destitute. She also offered to tell everyone that she had been bribed and he could then regain his reputation. The Sdei Chemed thought about this and agreed to help her get her job back, but on one condition -- that she would not reveal that she had been bribed to lie about him. The Sdei Chemed reasoned that it was already a tremendous chillul Hashem that lies had been spread that a student had been intimate with the cleaning woman. However, if the story got out that she had been bribed by a different student to make up the tale, there would be two chillul Hashem stories. As such, he got her the job back, but did not reveal the secret.

Following this incident, the Sdei Chemed experienced a tremendous surge in his memory and ability to learn. The Sdei Chemed attributed his success to his not speaking out about the bribe and preventing a terrible story from being told.

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Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Session IPA

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Session IPA.

Over the last ten years or so, beers have begun to be classified as Session beers. The term is a bit amorphous as a Session Beer is simply a beer that a person can drink a few bottles or pints of during a few hour period without feeling overly intoxicated. Of course, this needs to be balanced by the beer having some flavor and character, since otherwise there would be no reason to have a few beers (unless one was at a baseball game and had a designated driver to bring him home).

The experts at BA wrote a piece back in 2005, which seeks to add a little more body to the definition of a "Session Beer." I have reproduced some of the more informative observations by BA below, but would suggest that you follow this link (http://beeradvocate.com/articles/653) to read the full piece. As explained by BA, a Session Beer is:

Any beer that contains no higher than 5 percent ABV, featuring a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish - a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. The purpose of asession beer is to allow a beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or session, without overwhelming the senses or reaching inappropriate levels of intoxication. (Yes, you can drink and enjoy beer without getting drunk.)

While the Saranac Session IPA meets the BA definition of Session Beer, it does so with some sacrifice. The beer pours a rich golden color with a little bit of foam and Saranac's trademark carbonation. The first few sips from my tulip glass revealed great hop notes and some pine and citrus. All well and good, but then the beer failed to move deeper into IPA territory. While I was expecting that successive sips would deepen the hop flavor and produce other and varied notes, the beer just stayed on the fringe of a good IPA or perhaps a Pale Ale with a little too much hop. The resulting beer was easy to drink, but lacked enough real hop kick to make me want to buy a six pack.

Oddly, although this beer is supposed to be consumed in multiples over a period of time, I can only find it as part of the 12 Beers of Summer Box which contains just two of the Session IPA.

Saranac Session IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced by Saranac. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Session IPA, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/80728.

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 - Parshios Behar Bechukosai

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

This week's Parsha talks about the mitzvos of Shemittah and the process of Yovel which occurs on the Yom Kippur of the Fiftieth Year. In Vayikra 25:9, the Torah teaches that the Shofar should be blown in the seventh month on the tenth day, on Yom Kippur the Shofar should sound throughout your land.

Rashi asks - since it says Yom Kippur, don't we know that it is Tenth Day of the Seventh Month? Why does the Torah need to also tell us the date and month when the Torah already says it is Yom Kippur?

The Maharal asks the following question on Rashi's question - the pasuk mentions the Tenth Day of the Seventh Month before saying it is Yom Kippur. If you were to ask which thought was extra, you would say Yom Kippur because the tenth day of the seventh month already teaches that it is Yom Kippur. So why does Rashi say that the tenth day of the seventh month is superfluous?

Rabbi Frand said that the Maharal gave two answers, but R' Frand indicated that he only wanted to focus on the second answer. The Maharal's second answer is that Yom Kippur is integral to Yovel and that is why the mentioning of Yom Kippur is not superfluous. In Yovel, the ancestral land returns to the family which was forced to sell it. Similarly, the slave goes free and returns to his family, rather than remaining in servitude.

Yom Kippur is a similar concept. Yom Kippur effects a return of the person to the way that they had been previously, before they had sinned. Yom Kippur puts things back in their original state much like Yovel returns land to its owners and a slave leaves his master.

Because Yovel is integrally linked to Yom Kippur based on the common theme of returning things o their original state. As such, Rashi asks - why does the Torah need to mention that it is the tenth day of the seventh month.

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Sunday Night Suds - Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds continues the Cinco De Mayo theme and reviews Blue Moon's Agave Blonde Ale.

Agave is one of those plants that people pigeon hole due to its use in making tequila. While tequila is the most well known use of agave, there is much more to this plant.

The agave plant has four main components: the flowers; leaves; stalks and sap. The stalks are commonly chewed as they have a sweetness similar to sugar cane. The leaves also have a sweetness and they are harvested for eating when the leaves are filled with sap. When the sap rushes to the flowers, people cut off the flowers so that they can harvest the sap. The sap is then processed to create agave syrup which is used as a sugar substitute. It is also used to create Mezcal or tequila, although the two spirits are not identical.

Personally, I am not a big fan of tequila and have only tried it on rare occasions (to paraphrase the commercial, I don't always drink beer, but when I choose a spirit, I prefer single malt scotch). As all the tequila that I have sampled has been silver, I have not developed an appreciation for agave. I mention this as an introduction to my review of the Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale for reasons that will become readily apparent.

I first became aware that Blue Moon would be making an Agave Blonde Ale when I got an email from the OU with the list of new varieties of beer which are under hashgacha. The Blue Moon division of Coors has recently begun to add smaller batches of limited seasonal releases to their mix box. The Brewmasters Sampler Winter Box contained three standard Blue Moon, three of the rather bland Pale Moon, three of the usual winter selection - Winter Moon Abbey Ale and three of a special limited edition - Spiced Amber Ale. The Brewmasters Summer Box continued this theme by again providing three standard Blue Moon, three Pale Moon (have to find someone to take these off my hands), three of the wonderful Honey Moon Summer Ale and three of the limited edition Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale.

Unlike the special limited edition Spiced Amber Ale, the Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale lacks any particular strong flavor note and I have no desire to seek out the opportunity to buy six or twelve packs of this brew. The beer poured a rich amber color with some lacing, but not much of an aroma. The first Agave Blonde Ale that I tried was on the cold side and I did not find that I tasted anything but garden variety blonde Ale. I then had another the following day at a warmer temperature (only 2-3 hrs in the refrigerator) and I still could not taste much beyond average blonde ale.

If you are looking for an ale which is light on hops and lacks a strong identity, this beer is for you. But unless you really want to try the four flavors of Blue Moon in the Summer Brewmasters' Sampler Box, I would not recommend going out of your way to find one.

Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. For the experts take on the Agave Blonde Ale, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/80193.

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 Emor

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parsha 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 states that Moshe was commanded to tell the Kohanim that they should not allow themselves to become tamei. In so doing, the pasuk uses the verb "emor" (tell) twice. Rashi quotes the Gemara in Yevamos which asks why does the Torah use the verb twice? The gemara answers that the pasuk is telling the fathers that they should teach their children to be careful not to come in contact with tumah of dead bodies.

R' Frand quoted R' Sorotzkin in Aznayim L'Torah who notes that the Torah has two other places where parents are advised to teach a specific rule to their children. One of these is in connection with consuming blood while the other is not to eat vermin. In regards to each of these two other issurim, the gemara does not use a double language to learn that the father must teach the child not to transgress these commandments and only in connection with tumah does the Torah teach the rule through a redundancy.

R' Sorotzkin asks - why is it that only in connection with tumah is a repetition used to instruct the parent that he must teach the child not to have contact with tumah? He answers that a child learns from his parents and from what they see in the street/school. If a child is in a positive environment, the child will learn from the parents and the street/society will reinforce it. However, in a society which does not have the same values, it will be more difficult to teach the child.

In connection with not eating blood or vermin, the street teaches the same values as the kohain. Therefore, there is reinforcement to the child. However, when the child's friends want to play near a cemetery and the friends are not kohanim, the child will be subject to ridicule or peer pressure - why don't you want to play with us here? It is in this situation that the child needs the reinforcement of a double instruction from the father to be reminded that he is different.

R' Frand then quoted R' Isaac Bernstein who enhanced this vort by quoting R' Yaakov Kaminetsky. A later pasuk teaches that if a kohen's daughter has an affair while engaged, she gets the penalty of seraifah - burning, which is the most severe form of death. Why? Because she embarrassed her father. But why does she get this severe penalty?

R' Frand quoted a gemara in Sukkah which he used to answer the question. The gemara discusses Miriam the daughter of the house of Bilgah. The house of Bilgah was punished in their receipt of Lechem Hapanim because of the actions of Miriam. What happened? Miriam left the religion and married a greek general. When the greeks invaded the Beis Hamikdash, Miriam came with them and hit the altar with her shoe and said "Lukus, Lukus" (wolf, wolf) how long will you steal the Jews' money? The gemara then asks - why is her family punished for her actions? The gemara answers that she must have heard the complaints of Lukus, Lukus at home, therefore her family was punished.

R' Kaminetsky noted that only the daughter of a Kohain was punished for her actions as being reflected of her father. Why only the daughter? Because during those times the daughter was only at home and did not go to school. As such, any actions that she took which were off the derech were solely reflective of her home as there was no environment to influence her.

R' Frand also quoted the Satmar Rav who explained the Miriam story. He asked - why is that the parents were only punished for Lukus Lukus and not because she converted out and married a non-Jew? The Satmar Rav answered that it happens that a girl meets a boy and is led astray because she has fallen in love with him. This cannot be blamed on the parents. But the fact that she said Lukus Lukus is reflective of her home environment and it is for this reason that her family was punished.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - LeBron, Leadership and the Parting of the Sea

This morning I went against my usual habit of late. With the Rangers proceeding deep into the playoffs, I have been listening to NHL Home Ice on XM channel 92 when I am driving in my car. Although the hosts can be a bit "hokey" at time (or maybe just Canadian, I can't necessarily tell the difference) they have great insights and Phil Esposito in the afternoon.

But this morning I went back to Mike & Mike on ESPN radio. After picking up my morning iced coffee at DDs, I caught the tail end of a discussion about the Knick-Heat basketball game. The hosts were talking about how at the end of the game, Dwayne Wade had the ball with the chance to tie and/or win the game. Since Wade missed the shot, the guys were talking about whether the play was designed to go Wade and inquired where LeBron James was at the time. One of the guests noted that James was not trying to get free from being defended by Amar'e and was more or less in the periphery.

With this as a launching pad, the guys began to talk about great players and how they want the ball when the game is on the line. The host recalled that if the Celtics needed a basket with the game winding down, Larry Bird would tell KJ or whomever was inbounding the ball that he wanted to take the shot. It made me think about the scene at the end of Hoosiers where they draw up the play to have the ball go to a secondary shooter, but then Gene Hackman gives in and runs "the picket fence" so that Jimmy Chitwood can take the game winning shot.

The desire to have the game in your hands when time is winding down is not unique to basketball. The great NFL QBs like John Elway, Joe Montana and the pretty boy in New England want to bring their teams back in the last two minutes, rather than watch their defense try to keep the other team from scoring. In the most recent Superbowl, Coach Belichick instructed his defense to allow Ahmad Bradshaw to score so that the offense could get the ball back with the chance to win the game. This was not an indictment of the Giants' defense, but a testament in the Coach's faith that the QB wanted the ball with a chance to win.

In sharp contrast to the great QBs, there are some players who can't handle the pressure and do not want to have the ball in their hands at the end of the game. The most notorious example of this was Donovan McNabb at the end of the Superbowl in 2004 when he famously vomited in the huddle before blowing his team's last chance to win the game.

The desire to lead when it would be easier to follow the crowd can be seen in the Yam Suf story. When the Jews reached the water, they complained to Moshe that they had fled Egypt, only to die at Yam Suf. At that point, the leader of the tribe of Yehuda, Nachson Ben Aminadav stepped to the forefront. He walked headlong into the sea to show his faith that Hashem had a master plan and that the Jews were not destined to drown at Yam Suf. Although Nachshon could have sat back and watched whether his brother in law Aharon or Moshe could rally the Jews, he stepped forward and led by example at the time that it was needed most.

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Sunday Night Suds - Negra Modelo

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Cerveza Negro Modelo.

Its a week of holidays - from Cinco de Mayo to Lag B'Omer with Pesach Sheni in between. Although we never get to try beer with our matza on Pesach, nothing stops Jews from having beer on Pesach Sheni. In the spirit of the day, I sampled Negra Modelo - a light Dunkel Lager with shmurah matza and found the combination to be surprisingly good.

The Negra Modelo poured a dark brown with some tan foam which lasted longer than I expected. The first sip of the beer was lager with some caramel notes. The second sip was, you guessed it- light lager with more caramel. I won't bore you with more additional description of the remaining sips as the beer was much like a macro lager - light and watery with nothing remarkable other than an undercurrent of caramel.

Although the beer was not strong or heavy in flavor, it went well with thick shmurah matza. Its an odd combination that I would not have tried on purpose, but having tasted these together, they created a nice late night snack. I have strong doubts as to the beers ability to form a decent combo with most dinner fare. The beer would not stand up well to spicy dishes (notwithstanding its Mexican lineage) and lacks the flavor depth for steaks or stews.

Negra Modelo is certified kosher by the OK, as are many other beers produced by Compania Cervcera Del Tropico S.A. de CV. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Negra Modelo, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/75/667 .

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 - Parshios Achrei Mos - Kedoshim

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

Rabbi Frand started the parsha vort by quoting Vayikra 19:3, which states "Ish Imo V'Aviv Tiraoo V'es Shabsosai Tishmoru" which translates as "every man-your mother and father shall you revere and my shabboses you should observe." The gemara in Kiddushin learns from this pasuk that one should listen to one's parents unless they tell him to violate a Torah law like the Shabbos.

R' Frand quoted R' Yaakov Kaminetsky who developed the following thought. According to Darwin, the initial generation from man was spawned from apes. The successive generations are one step further removed from monkeys. Jews on the other hand believe that Hashem created the world and then created Adam. Adam as the first generation created by Hashem was close to perfect. Similarly, the Jews at Sinai were close to perfection when they received the Torah. Each generation further away from Adam and Sinai is further away from divine perfection.

When a Jew keeps shabbos, he attests that Hashem is perfection as embodied by the creation of the world. By linking shabbos to parents, the Torah reminds us that our parents are closer to perfection than we are. By honoring our parents, we indicate that we agree that they are closer to perfection and Hashem's image.

R' Frand closed this vort by quoting a statement attributed to R' Wasserman. He stated that if Darwin had ever seen the Chafetz Chaim, Darwin would have never theorized that man descended from apes. R' Wasserman explained that if Darwin had ever met the Chafetz Chaim. Darwin would know that there is no way that the Chafetz Chaim could have descended from apes. However, since Darwin only saw people like him, he could be mistaken into thinking that man descended from apes.

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