Erev Yom Kippur Recap of the R' Frand Teshuva Derasha

The following is a summary of some of the thoughts said by Rabbi Frand in his teshuva derasha which was recorded last Thursday Night, but played tonight in the NY area. Same rules as usual apply. I have attempted to summarize many of the thoughts to the best of my abilities. Any inconsistencies are the results of my transcription and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

R Frand began by mentioning tht he had been asked during the year, what does it mean that so many gedolim had passed away this year. R' Frand noted many famous names and I don't want to leave some out, so I have not listed them here.

R' Frand said that while it could be said that based on the actuarial tables, it is known that people of advanced age will pass away and the same could be said of the gedolim, but this is only part of the picture. In the times of the nevi'im, when things went wrong, people would go to a prophet and ask what they were doing wrong and how they could improve. Unfortunately, due to the state of our generation, we do not have prophets who we can go to for questions, but we have the words of the prophets. R' Frand quoted Yeshaya who stated that these things occur because people are performing mitzvos out of rote, by habit. This angers Hashem who says that He will smite the nation and the nation of their wise men will perish.

R' Frand quoted the Medrash Eicha which writes that tzadikim die because we perform mitzvos out of rote. He further said that if this was true in the days of Yeshaya, it is more true today. Because while we have people who are learning daf yomi and going to minyan and there are more people learning Torah than in any prior generation, we do our mitzvos in ho hum fashion and much of what we do is "old hat."

R' Frand also quoted R' Moshe Weinberger who said that if in a marriage there is a division of jobs and tasks and everything is performed and accomplished, but they don't love each other, its not much of a marriage. This can be said about Judaism. If everything is done based on a schedule and a need to accomplish tasks automatically, it is a religion without heart.

R' Frand said that this is the reason that some Jewish children leave the fold because they see their parents do mitzvos without feeling, passion and devotion. So they wonder, why should they continue?

R' Frand quoted the Alter M'Kelem who said that teaching Torah to our children can make things second nature and this is both a good thing and a bad thing. The child will get up in the morning and wash hands and put on tzizis and it will be automatic. But it is a negative when it is done without feeling, automatically.

R' Frand further developed the Alter's thought that we may have learned things on an elementary basis when we were little, but we have not made any attempt to develop a deeper understanding. We may have viewed the leaving of Egypt as "Pharaoh in Pajamas in the middle of the night" but as a grown up, a person needs to understand more about what happened and why.

R' Frand repeated a story that he had heard about a man who went to see an Orthodox doctor and when asked to remove his shirt, revealed tzizis which barely dropped below his arm pits. The doctor asked what is this? The man replied, these are the tzizis my mother gave me. R' Frand made the point that what was good for us as five year olds is not the same level as what we need at 55.

R' Frand next quoted an article that he had read by a person who lived on the Upper West Side. Every Friday night he was asked by the Rabbi to bring some new ba'alei teshuva home from shul on Friday Night. But the man was not  thrilled with this as he longed to get home from shul quickly, eat dinner quickly and then curl up in the fetal position and sleep until he had to get up for shacharis. The man further explained - the reason that I am uncomfortable with the baalei teshuva who come to my home and want to sing every zemer in the bentscher is that they are energetic and their every davening means something to them.

R' Frand also quoted R' Shimson Pincus who quoted a Rashi on a pasuk in Yishaya that says - listen those who are distant and know those who are close the wonders of Hashem. Rashi says, who are the distant ones? The people who have always been observant. Meanwhile the close ones are the ones who recently became frum.

R' Frand said that this is the reason that there is a proliferation of Carlbach minyanim. It is hard to understand why people want to daven at a Friday night minyan that takes two hours. Aren't they hungry? The reason why they go is because they need to feel motivated by their davening. [R' Frand specifically said that he was not knocking R' Carlbach and that somewhere he had an autographed album which R'Shlomo signed for R' Frand when he was in the sixth grade].

R' Frand also said that this is the reason that people leave their families and fly halfway around the world to Uman to daven at the grave of R' Nachman of Breslov on Rosh Hashana. These people will live in spartan or near primitive conditions so that they can feel alive on Rosh Hashana.

R' Frand next quoted a pasuk from Amos which states "Behold days are coming Hashem says and I will send a famine throughout the land. It will not be a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but to listen to the words of Hashem. The simple meaning of the words is that people will not be hungry for bread and water, but will be deprived and want to hear the words of Hashem. However, R' Frand quoted R' Moshe Volley (sp?) a student of the Ramchal who explains that the use of bread and water are actually meant as Torah that Torah is sustenance and compare to water. He wrote that there will be Torah learned in more places than ever before, but people will want to hear about Hashem. This is the thirst.

R' Frand offered three suggestions for how to address this problem.

The first solution was to pick a mitzva, just one mitzva and make it your passion. R' Frand quoted from a letter that he got from a man in California who moved there because he wanted to improve his ping pong game. The man got himself a coach and videotapes his performances and takes special care of his racket. The man asked himself one day, why can't I bring the same passion to my davening and learning. The man decided to keep a binder of divrei Torah and to write down after Shabbos any divrei Torah heard over Shabbos. He picked up daf yomi and installed it on his Ipod and home computers. He comes to shul on time. The man concluded, I enjoy the game on Tuesday nights and I brought this to my Torah life as well.

R' Frand suggested - find your passion, whatever you most like and apply that to one mitzva. If you are passionate about watching football and can watch nine hours of it on Sunday, apply that passion to one miztva.

R' Frand quoted from a student of his who went to Costa Rica to do kiruv work and met a man who said to him - you are an eight. What do you mean, the student asked? The man replied, you are a size eight tzizis. This was the man's goal and passion in life, to pay for tzizis for every Jew that he sees.

R' Frand second suggestion came from a gemara in Avodah Zarah which talks about people who were terrible people, but were able to acquire olam haba in one moment. One such person was R' Chanina Ben Tradyon who was killed by burning for teaching Torah. But in killing him, the executioner added wet woollen balls to make the death  slower. But as he was dying, the executioner saw R' Chanina and said to him, if I remove the wool will I get olam haba? R' Chanin said yes. So the executioner removed the wool and jumped in the flames as well. A bas kol came from heaven and said - the executioner has earned olam haba in one instant. But in relation to this story, the gemara says that R' Yehuda HaNasi cried.

R' Frand  asked - why did he cry? Was he jealous? R' Frand quoted R' Chaim Shmulevitz who stated that R' Yehuda saw what could be accomplished in one moment and he regretted how many moments he had wasted.

R' Frand said that the message is that when the moments happen, don't waste them and do your action promptly. R' Frand made reference to fast in the Megillas Esther when Esther became aware that there was going to be a decree against the Jews in Adar. Although it was only Nisan and eleven months earlier, Mordechai said fast now. And as a result, the Jews did not eat matza on Pesach. R' Frand remarked, if they had asked him when to fast, he would have said - do it after Pesach so that you could keep both mitzvos. But Mordechai knew - they had to act now, as soon as they knew of the trouble.

R' Frand said that he was approached by an infomercial director who said to him, do you know why they say you must call in the next 20 minutes? Because they know that if they don't get you to call when you are watching the infomercial, you will never do it.

R' Frand also quoted a pasuk from Ki Tseitzei which says a person should listen to Hashem's chukim,mitzvos and mishpatim and Hashem's voice. The Ramban asks, why does the voice need to mentioned? Isn't this category covered by everything else? The answer is that even if we are doing the mitzvos, we need to know that Hashem is speaking to us. R Frand suggested that people keep a notebook of how they see G-d in their lives. That people should ask their children to prepare something to say at the Shabbos table about how they saw Hashem through something extraordinary that happened this week. This will bring Hashem back into our lives and will make Him real to us, because we see that He is part of our lives.

R' Frand's third suggestion was that a person should befriend and become close with ba'alei teshuva. By so doing, a person is forced to reexamine Judaism on an adult level so that it can be explained to an adult. And if you don't understand it, look it up as it will help you with a deeper level of understanding and action.

R' Frand also said that in so doing a person can see how the other half lives. People that don't have a Shabbos who see Shabbos for the first time can show how much you can appreciate it. R' Frand quoted a letter from a Rutgers student who first had a Shabbos and wrote how much he appreciated it because he could unplug from his email and phone for one day.

R' Frand closed with a story from a woman who was involved with a kiruv organization in Russia called Operation Open Curtain. The children attend a camp and at the end they can continue on in school or even go to Touro College free of charge. The woman said that during the summer program, the campers were allowed to meet with R' Shmuel Kaminetsky who gave each child a beracha. One child asked R' Kaminetsky - what should I do when camp is over? I have been enjoying eating kosher food and keeping shabbos and make brachos and I try to emulate my counselor, but when camp is over, I will return to my parents home and I will not be able to do any of these things. How do I keep the mitzvos. The response she received was, just daven once a day. It does not matter when or what you say, just make sure you connect to Hashem every day.

At the end of the summer, a few campers asked if they could take siddurim home like the tzaddik told them. She gave them the siddurim they asked for. The counselor said, they had such smiles and warmth and I wish I could be as excited as they were when thet got their siddurim.

Weeks later, the woman went to the Kotel and saw people davening. The woman thought to herself, they don't know about my campers and they dont know what they have. They dont appreciate and neither do we.

In U'va L'Tziyon we say Baruch Hu Eleokeinu - a Tefillah where we thank Hashem or creating us for his glory and have us mitzvos and Torah and separated us from those who don't understand.

This was R' Frand's mesage. We should try to hold our Torah and mitzvos tighter and closer to ourselves. To make our Teshuva about recognizing the value of our observance and how lucky we are to have Torah and mitzvos.

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Sunday Night Suds - Lakefront Klisch Pilsner

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

So looking at this picture, I am sure that you must be wondering to yourself, what is a Klisch? It really sounds to me like a new product from Ikea, but it is not a Grunka, it's a style of beer which a small town Milwaukee based brewery assigned to a delicious Pilsner. [The Lakefront website reveals that the beer was actually named after the brewery's founders].

The Klisch Pilsner pours a golden orange, considerably richer than you would normally see with a Pilsner. There was a small amount of foam, not as much as you would see in a macrolager, but a decent amount of suds on the rim nonetheless.

 

There is a little bit of hops in the front of the sip of the brew, which was a pleasant surprise. But the hops quickly faded into the background and the malts began to dominate each successive sip.I know, not surprising and essentially what is to be expected with a Pilsner, but it was nice to have the hops around for a short visit.

 

This brew would go well with many lighter dishes and would be the perfect accompaniment of pizza, salads or sweet chicken entrees.

 

Lakefront Brewery Klisch Pilsner is under the kosher supervision of the Star-K (there is even a Star-K on the label). For the experts' take on the Klisch, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/2221.

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 Pre Rosh Hashana Tidbits

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on Rosh Hashana 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 quoted a mishna in Rosh Hashana which states that if a person is passing by a shul or if a person lives next to a shul and hears the sound of shofar and has in mind to fulfill his obligation in tekiyas shofar, he can get credit for hearing shofar. Rabbi Frand asked the question - why does the mishna give two different examples - someone who is walking by or someone who lives next to a shul? Isn't the second case superfluous?

Rabbi Frand added another question on this scenario. The gemara brings a proof from the mishna that mitzvos require intent (kavana) and therefore a person must have intent to fulfill the obligation of shofar. The gemara then qualifies the statement and merely states that the person must be aware a shofar is blowing, not that he needs intent to fulfill the obligation. The gemara asks - of course he is aware the shofar is blowing! The gemara answers, maybe he thinks its a donkey braying. Rabbi Frand then asked on this point - if a Jew is walking by a shul on Rosh Hashana and hears a shofar, is there truly a possibility that he thinks its a donkey?

Rabbi Frand answered his questions by first making reference to Yosef. We know that Yosef was released from prison and was brought to Pharaoh was Rosh Hashana. Why does the gemara need to teach this? R' Frand answered that the gemara tells us this fact because the gemara wants to teach something specific about Rosh Hashana.

Rabbi Frand digressed to talk about prisons. He said the prisons in biblical times were not like Camp Feds or even maximum security prisons. In biblical times, they dug a hole in the ground and threw people into it. There was no ventilation or even sanitation. Yosef was in prison with the dregs of society after being accused of being intimate with Potiphar's wife. Yosef is then taken out of the pit and is brought to Pharaoh and is asked to give advice, in the presence of all of the royal advisors. Did he not have shock? Wasn't there any post traumatic stress? No, there was no residual problem and Yosef was able to give proper advice, even though he was in harsh prison the day before.

The message of Yosef is that people can feel imprisoned by their troubles or their desires and walk around weighed down, but this can be left behind in an instant. This is also learned from Koheles which describes leaving prison and going to be the king. This is why we need to know that Yosef left prison on Rosh Hashana, because we can leave prison on Rosh Hashana as well.

Rabbi Frand next quoted the Tollner Rebbi who explains that a person who is walking by a shul is a regular guy, but as for the guy who lives next to the shul we need to ask - why is he not in shul? The answer is that the neighbor does not want to be in shul even though he lives next door. This raises the possibility to him that the sound of the shofar could be a donkey. However, if he hears the shofar and realizes that it is the shofar, he can be raised up and released from his own prison.

R' Frand noted that there are many many more Jews in some communities than seats in the reform, conservative or traditional shuls in the area. Many Jews will not go to shul on the Yomin Noraim because they don't know that it is Rosh Hashana and they do not recognize the sound of the shofar. But the message of Rosh Hashana is that everything can be turned around for these people if they pay attention and realize that it is the shofar calling them to teshuva.

R' Frand closed by saying that even for those who are Orthodox and do go to shul and learn Torah, there is still a message to be learned from Yosef. We may find ourselves locked in by our yezter hara or our desires. But we can be released on Rosh Hashana if we recognize the shofar and commit to teshuva.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - Modell the Villain or Hero?

Last Thursday, Art Modell who could be easily characterized as one of the more polarizing figures in NFL history, passed away of natural causes at the age of 87. For those who do not remember him, Modell's claim to fame or ticket to infamy was his 1996 decision to move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore where they were renamed the Baltimore Ravens as homage to Edgar Allan Poe.

Prior to moving the team to Baltimore, the Browns enjoyed a loyal fan following in Cleveland where they drew better attendance numbers than their performance on the field could ever justify. The old Municipal Stadium where they played (also owned by Modell) was a nightmare for all visiting teams as the Browns' fans were rabid in their support for their beloved Browns and their abject hatred for the visitors.

The move from Cleveland to Baltimore was reportedly motivated by the City of Cleveland's move to build Jacobs Field (aka the Jake by the Lake) for the Cleveland Indians which deprived Modell of much needed income from the rent paid by the Browns' baseball cousins. Although this was hardly the first time that a football team had moved (the Colts moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis a decade earlier with moving trucks which left in the middle of the night), this move was devastating to the City of Cleveland. Even though a new franchise was granted to Cleveland a few years later, the current incarnation of the Cleveland Browns has not healed the wounds caused by the 1996 departure for Baltimore.

As much as Modell's decision was reviled in Cleveland, it was welcomed by the City of Baltimore. I can recall debates as Mrs KB's aunt and uncle's home in Baltimore between her cousin D who lived in Baltimore and his brother E who lived in Cleveland about the merits of the move. But more than just the City of Baltimore was touched by Modell. I heard a story today on the radio (I don't recall which program it ran on) about how when Ray Lewis was charged with murder in Atlanta, Modell got on the phone with Hank Aaron to try to find Lewis the best lawyer (Lewis was eventually convicted on only an obstruction of justice charge). There have been quite a few stories which ran after Modell's death which mentioned that Lewis cried after Modell passed. However, back in Cleveland, the current Browns ownership did not have observances of his passing out of fear that people would use the moment to show that they still had not forgiven Modell.


The differing views on Modell made me think about the role that certain people have played historically and the reward that they received. Korach decided to challenge Moshe & Aharon for the leadership of the Jewish people, in part because he saw through prophecy that he would have many great leaders and prophets who would descend from him. Korach thought to himself, if I will merit to have these people come from me, it must be because I am a great man and I should be the true leader of the Jews. Little did Korach realized that he was rewarded with these great descendants because through his actions, Moshe and Aharon became recognized as the true leaders of the Jews. Now, I would not call Art Modell a Korach, but his decison to act has caused many ripples both in Baltimore and Cleveland where the differing perspectives see him as hero or villain.

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Sunday Night Suds - Lakefront Wheat Monkey Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Lakefront Brewery's Wheat Monkey Ale.

I picked this beer up earlier this summer in an eight pack mixed box of Lakefront Brewery beers. I had seen the box for sale at DeCicco's in Brewster, but purchased it at Sam the Beer Man in Binghamton.

The first thing that strikes you about the beer is the graphic on the bottle. At least this was the first thing that caught Mrs KB's attention. Luckily, Tali did not see the bottle because my seven year old is crazy for monkey items and she probably would have begged to try the brew. Of course, had I given in and allowed her to try the beer, she probably would not have liked it, because...

The Wheat Monkey Ale tastes like a light version of a hefeweizen. It has a pale yellow complexion which is only slightly richer than a pilsner and an aroma which screams phenols, but a taste which really does not match the smell. The flavor of the brew is light hefeweizen with no hops at all, despite the fact that the Lakefront Brewery people call it an ale.

I would not recommend this beer to anyone looking for a true hefeweizen as this would be a let down to someone expecting a brew which is true to the style. If you are looking to advance from an American Wheat beer to a hefeweizen, I guess that you could call this a baby step, but not much more.

Lakefront Brewery Wheat Monkey Ale is under the kosher supervision of the Star-K(there is even a Star-K on the label). For the experts' take on the Wheat Monkey Ale, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/50649.

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 Ki Savo

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 Devarim 28:1-14, Moshe tells the Jews about all the blessings which will come to them if they follow Hashem's commandments. In so doing, Moshe tells the Jews that the brachos will come upon you "vehisigucha" which is translated by Art Scroll as "overtake you." R' Frand asked - what is the purpose of the word "vehisigucha"? Isn't it enough to say that the brachos will come upon you?

R' Frand offered three explanations of the extra word. He first quoted the Sforno who writes cryptically that the berachos will come upon you, in spite of the fact that you don't try to acquire them (using the verb l'hasig). The Imrei Baruch offers an explanation of the Sforno by quoting Rabbeinu Bechaya who learns a pasuk in Mishlei which states "the horse is ready for the day of war and for Hashem the Tishua." This teaches that if someone is going to war they need to prepare and not just say Hashem will do it. However, once the preparations are done, the person must know that the salvation will come from Hashem --meaning that Hashem will do his miracle to assist you, but it will appear in a natural way. Similarly, if a person is ill, you must prepare the medicine for him. But after you have done all the natural assistance, Hashem will do His task because ultimately it comes from Him. Hashem does not perform open miracles and requires that a person act first, but recognize that the positive end result is from Him. This is a possible meaning of the Sforno - you must do your tasks and then Hashem will give you the berachos, not directly because of your acts, but because that is the way Hashem requires you to work before He gets involved.

The second explanation quoted by R' Frand was from the Sefer Degel Machane Ephraim which was written by a grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov. The sefer quotes a pasuk from Tehillim 23 which states that Tov and Chesed will chase after me. Why does someone run away from Tov and Chesed? The Sefer Degel Machane Ephraim explains that sometimes a person pursues a possible angle, but the correct answer is another way. Dovid Hamelech is saying in this mizmor that if I am not smart enough to run after the right course and I am running away from what is good for me, let it run after me and overtake me because I don't understand that this is Tov and Chesed.

R' Frand quoted a story about R' Levi Yitzchak M'berditschev who saw someone running and asked - why are you running. He was answered - because I have a great business opportunity there. R' Levi Yitzchak said - but maybe you will have a better business opportunity here? This is the meaning of the bracha of being overtaken by the good.

The third explanation offered by R' Frand in the name of R' Bunim M'Parshizcha (sp?)was that the bracha will come to you where you are and they will not change you as a result of the berachos you receive. Often we see that a person may have good fortune and it changes them. So the beracha is that the good things will come on you and you will not become jaded.

R' Frand remarked that he liked this vort because the curses in the parsha also use the language of being overtaken. A person can be changed by misfortune and trouble. Thus the beracha to the person is that when good things happen, you should not be changed by them as well.

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Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Berachos 34

Today's daf has so many interesting topics that (to quote R' Effie G.) you can write a Shma Koleinu article about. Among the topics are halachic discourses about when a Chazan should be replaced, whether a Chazan can do Birchas Kohanim and whether he can be the Makri -- the one who calls the words for the Kohanim. More aggadic topics include the meaty topic of how a ba'al teshuva occupies a level that even a tzaddik cannot attain as well as the story of how R' Chanina Ben Dosa davened for R' Yochanan Ben Zakkai's son and R' Yochanan remarked that R' Yochanan could not receive the same answer to his prayers.

The topic that I would like to touch on involves two prayers which took place before R' Eliezer and are discussed on the bottom of Berachos 34a. The first story involved a student Chazzan who added many personal requests to his Shemoneh Esreh. The other students complained to R' Eliezer about this and he responded to them that Moshe prayed for 40 days and 40 nights, so this was not too long a prayer. The gemara then tells a story about another student who was serving as Chazzan and added almost no personal prayers. For some reason, the kehilla was upset about this as well and again complained to R' Eliezer. He responded to them, was there anyone who prayed as short as Moshe who only uttered five words of prayer for the healing of his sister Miriam?

As noted by the Maharsha, the problem with these two stories is that they don't instruct when it is proper to add or shorten the personal requests in Shemoneh Esreh. The sefer Shearim Hamitzuyanim B'Halacha offers the following suggested answer to the problem. He notes that Moshe was shorter when he davened for his sister, because this has a physical world component, since a doctor is given permission to heal the sick. For this reason, the prayer should be shorter and assistance given to the doctor to heal. However, the longer prayer was for the Jews to be forgiven for the golden calf. As this related to a defect in the Neshama, the prayers could be longer as the only thing that can be done is to daven to Hashem for His help and forgiveness.

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Labor Day Kosher Beers List 2012

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 (Purim 2013). For the Labor Day 2011 edition, I will again be using scribd to upload and maintain list. All newly added beers are in bold.

Kosher Beers List Labor Day 2012

Sunday Night Suds - Uinta Golden Spike Hefeweizen

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Uinta's Golden Spike Hefeweizen.

Its been quite a few years since I have had a domestic Hefeweizen that I appreciated. Often the brewmaster get too caught up with trying to bring out the phenols and the beer is overwhelmed with banana bread type flavors.

The Uinta Golden Spike Hefeweizen is not overly pretentious and does not attempt to impress by doing the euro style oversell. Instead, the beer is a mild American Wheat Ale with some wheat flavor but also a little bit of hop bitterness and a natural citrus tending towards lemon aftertaste.

I viewed the Uinta website to try to glean a little more information as to the way they intended the beer to taste this way and why they named it Golden Spike. In connection with the name of the brew, it appears that the Golden Spike name has nothing to do with the beer and how it is made and is instead a celebration of the famed Golden Spike which was used in a ceremony to link the railroad tracks across to the West. I say "appears" because the Uinta website cuts off the explanation for the name of the brew, so I can't be certain that the end of the description did not actually tie the beer to its name.

As for the reason that the Golden Spike taste so mild, the website indicates that this was intentional as they sought to make a medium bodied, American Wheat Ale. Although that does not qualify for Hefeweizen status, it does make the beer smooth and very drinkable.

Uinta Golden Spike Hefeweizen is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union and bears an OU on the label. For the experts' take on the Uinta Golden Spike Hefeweizen please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/5611 .

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).

Visit Kosher Beers tomorrow for the Labor Day update to the Kosher Beers List!

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!