Thursday, August 30, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Ki Seitzei

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 begins with the mitzva of Eishes Yifas Toar, a non-Jewish woman who a soldier may bring back from battle with him and marry after she has gone through a thirty day waiting period.

In commenting on why this mitzva exists, Rashi explains that the Torah allows this mitzva to combat the Yetzer Hara. However, Rabbi Frand brought down a more interesting view of the mitzva as explained by the Shela HaKadosh.

The Shelah quoted a pasuk from Nach which says that Mayim Genuvim Yimtiku - stolen waters will be sweetened. The concept of sweet water is difficult to comprehend since water does not have a taste. Indeed, a person may be very thirsty for water and it will quench his thirst, but the water still will not have flavor. However, the water which does not belong to the person which he steals, will taste sweet to him because it is forbidden.

R' Frand digressed to illustrate this point by making reference to the "no carb diet." He said that normally, a person will have no strong desire to eat a plain baked potato. French Fries or potatoes with sauce or dressing may be appealing, but a person does not have a strong desire to eat a plain potato. However, to a person on a "no carb" diet, a plain baked potato may be very attractive. Of course, once the person goes off the diet, the potato goes back to being plain and uninviting.

R' Frand then returned to explain that according to the Shelah, the Torah allows a variation on the item so that it will no longer be as desirable to the person.

R' Frand brought a proof to this concept from a gemara in Chullin which recounts a conversation between R' Nachman and his wife, Yalta. Yalta said to her husband, every time that the Torah has made something forbidden, there is a corresponding rule which allows a similar item. For example, on numerous occasions, the Torah forbids the consumption of blood. However, the Torah allows the consumption of liver which is essentially blood filled. Another example she mentioned was chelev - forbidden fats of a kosher beheimah. Although chelev of a cow is forbidden, the Torah allows chelev of a chaya such as a deer. Still another example mentioned is the concept of meat and milk. While the two cannot be consumed together, a person may consume a cow's udder.

R' Frand then returned to the Shelah's concept of Eishes Yifas Toar. If a person knows that in some form he is permitted to do something, he will not have a longing for the forbidden aspect. By permitting the Eishes Yifas Toar to the soldier, he will not be consumed by desire for a battlefield bride. In so doing, the Torah did not combat the Yetzer Hara, it gave the person a way to circumvent it entirely.

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Berachos 27

Today's daf continues the discussion of the proper times to say various prayers including Shacharis, Mincha, Maariv and Mussaf. Towards the bottom of 27b, the gemara gets into a discussion about whether Maariv is obligatory or optional. As part of this discussion, the gemara digresses to talk about how R' Gamliel was removed from his position as Nasi due to his tormenting of R' Yehoshua.

The gemara begins by telling a story about a student (who we later learn on 28a is R' Shimon Ben Yochai) who asked R' Gamliel whether Maariv was obligatory. When R' Gamliel said that it was obligatory, the student said - but R' Yehoshua said that it is optional! This caused R' Gamliel much consternation and he demanded that R' Yehoshua address whether he took a position contrary to R' Gamliel. After he admitted that he did take this position, R' Gamliel required that he stand in the Beis Medrash while R' Gamliel continued to teach. This caused those assembled much consternation and they reviewed all the times that R' Gamliel had unfairly treated R' Yehoshua before finally concluding that R' Gamliel must be removed from his position as Nasi.

The gemara then discusses the method used to choose a new Nasi and the eventual selection of R' Elazar Ben Azarya. After they asked him to be the Nasi he told them that he must discuss it first with the members of his household (meaning his wife). The gemara reveals that when he broached the subject with his wife, she had numerous concerns including R' Elazar Ben Azarya's age. One of the concerns his wife raised was that due to his tender years, he did not have gray in his beard and he would not be a respected lecturer. The gemara states that the same evening he grew 18 rows of gray in his beard. The next reference is to the famous line from the haggada about R' Elazar Ben Azarya saying that he was like 70 years old, because in fact he was not advanced in age.

Although I have learned this gemara many times before, the story triggered a memory of a story from Yaffa Eliach's Chassidic Tales of the Holocaust. In the book, there is a story about a baker who told a story about when his sister was captured by the gestapo. The man went to beg for her to be released and the German soldier said - only if you grow hair on the palm of your hand. The man opened his hand and it was covered with thick black hair. The German soldier called him all sorts of names but released the girl to him and the two ran from the gestapo. The baker explained to the person telling the story that when the baker was younger his hand was injured in an industrial accident and they grafted skin from another part of his body. The baker concludes, they say that hair should not grow as a result of the surgery, but my hand did not go to medical school...

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Monday's Musings on Sports - Dez Bryant, Seinfeld and the Rain

Over the last twenty four hours, the sports news world has been set on fire by various NFL stories. Although there are many drew my attention, the story which most piqued my interest involved Dallas' troubled but talented WR, Dez Bryant.

Last month, a story broke that Bryant had been arrested for hitting his biological mother. Its hard to comprehend how this happened and why a grown man would strike his mother. Eventually, the story died down and it has been reported that Ma' Bryant indicated that she would not be cooperating with authorities or pressing charges against her son.

Anxious to avoid more negative publicity, the Dallas Cowboys started a "double secret" probation process to protect their investment. The terms of the probation included: (1) A midnight curfew. If he's going to miss curfew, team officials must know in advance; (2) No drinking alcohol; (3) He can only attend nightclubs if they are approved by the team and he has a security team with him; (4)He must attend counseling sessions twice a week; (5) A rotating three-man security team will leave one man with Bryant at all times and (6)Members of the security team will drive Bryant to practices, games and team functions. [Terms of the probation are courtesy of Yahoo NFL Blog Shutdown Corner which has markedly improved since the departure of Mr. Chase].

Mike Greenberg commented on the lengths that the Cowboys went to and compared it to a line that he attributed to Jerry Seinfeld which never made it into the TV show but is true just the same. Seinfeld observed that there is no reason that the authorities should have to enforce the helmet laws. If a person is not smart enough to wear a helmet and protect against head injuries, then he deserves what happens to him. Greenberg drew a parallel to Bryant and his status in the NFL. Since Dez is in his second year in the league, he is in the middle of a NFL mandated rookie contract which severely restricts his earning power. But if he has a couple of good years, his next contract could easily exceed $100 million. All Bryant has to do is not get into trouble and stay healthy and perform to his potential and its all there for him. Yet he needs a six point probation period to protect him from himself.

The story reminded me of a story that I heard on a Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation CD for Tisha B'Av which was told by R' Ephraim Shapiro. He mentioned that his parents were walking in Jerusalem when a sudden rainstorm hit. They were walking in narrow streets and looking for shelter when an old lady beckoned them from an entryway. They thought she needed help, but instead she invited them in from the rain. When they entered her sparsely furnished 2nd floor apartment, they saw that rain was coming in through a hole in the roof. The water was coming down on to the woman's shabbos table and she had wrapped her challos in plastic so they would not get wet. They could not help from asking her - don't you want to get the landlord to fix this hole? She responded - its gishmei beracha - blessed rain.

The story stayed with me over the last month and seems to echo at various points when I hear or see things. This woman had virtually nothing and her meager possessions were getting rained upon. However to her, the water just Hashem's blessing and nothing to be upset about.

If this woman could be happy with her lot and could maximize her enjoyment of life, why can't a professional athlete stay out of trouble to maximize his earning potential during his brief playing career?

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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sunday Night Suds - Blue Moon Caramel Apple Spiced Ale


This week's Sunday Night Suds returns with a look at Blue Moon's newest limited release, the Caramel Apple Spiced Ale.

Earlier this year, the Blue Moon division of Coors began 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 (which I really should have given away), three of the wonderful Honey Moon Summer Ale and three of the limited edition Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale.

Much like the other mix boxes, the fall edition of the Brewmasters Sampler includes three standard Blue Moon, three Pale Moon, three of the usual fall offering - Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale and three of the new limited edition - the Caramel Apple Spice Ale.

I got my first sample of the Caramel Apple Spiced Ale well before the harvest season. A quiet tzaddik who was visiting Camp M for the last shabbos brought me a bottle from the Autumn Sampler Box that he bought for himself. I was excited to see the Caramel Apple Spiced Ale as Mrs KB will tell you that I am a sucker for anything apple such as Apple Pie, Cinnamon Apple (Dunkin) Donuts, Apple Cider and even Smirnoff Twisted Green Apple. When R' Andrew S. brought the bottle to our Friday Night Oneg, I could not wait to open it and quickly poured it into four plastic cups so that we could all sample some.

The first taste of the brew was cinnamon and nutmeg. The spice was apparent when I brought the cup to my face and stayed with me throughout the first sips. I never really got a strong flavor of apple as the beer really was a nice soft ale with some hops, but mostly spice. Since I only consumed about four ounces of the brew and it was in a plastic cup, I can't say that I got enough of the beer to actually appreciate all the complex flavors, but I would want to sample more of it if there was a way that I did not have to purchase a box containing the awful Pale Moon.

Blue Moon Caramel Apple Spiced Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. For the experts take on the Caramel Apple Spiced Ale, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/83191 .

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, August 23, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Shoftim

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 contains the mitzva of Eglah Arufah. Simply stated, Eglah Arufah is triggered by the finding of a dead body between two cities. The elders then measure the distance between the body and the cities and the city which is closest must take a calf which has never worked and kill it by breaking its neck in a valley where the land had never been toiled. While doing so, the elders of the city state that they had not intentionally neglected this person and had not purposely failed to safely escort him out of their city.

R' Frand mentioned the mitzva of Eglah Arufah as a jumping off point to discuss a gemara in Yoma 23a which told a story about two kohanim who were running to do a kibud in the Beis Hamikdash. The kohain who was falling behind in the race took a knife and stabbed the other kohain in the heart. Immediately thereafter, R' Tzadok stood up and cried out - the Torah states that if a body is found outside a city the elders of the city must go out and perform Eglah Arufah [the link to this parsha in the vort]. Who is responsible for the Eglah Arufah here, the elders of the city or the Beis Hamikdash? The people who were assembled all began to cry until the father of the stabbed kohain stood up and said - he should be a kappara for the Jews. But the father then added thereafter - he is not dead yet, so the knife is not tamei. The gemara concludes the story by stating that this teaches that they considered the taharah of the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash more seriously than murder.

R' Frand offered an initial interpretation of this gemara as teaching that the father did a great thing, because he was more concerned about the purity of the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash than the impending death of his child.

R' Frand next told a story to illustrate a point. He quoted R' Ruderman ztl who said that the Alter of Slobodka had a child of his pass away on Sukkos. [R' Frand was unsure whether it was on yom tov or chol hamoed]. Since aveilos is not observed on yom tov, the Alter was seen singing and dancing on Simchas Torah as if nothing had ever happened. However, as soon as yom tov ended and he had made havdalah, the Alter fainted from the loss of his son. R' Ruderman explained that this demonstrated how much control the Alter had over his emotions that he could keep the pain and grief in check during a time that it was asur to grieve, but as soon as that period ended, he showed true loss.

R' Frand then returned to discuss the gemara. On Yoma 23b, the gemara asks - was the people's attitude toward murder less stringent and their valuation of taharah of keilim remained the same? Or was the attitude towards murder the same and the valuation of taharah of keilim became more stringent?

R' Frand then asked - why does the gemara even ask this question? Why do we care how things had changed?

R' Frand answered the question by quoting R' Chaim Shmulevitz who says that the gemara is teaching that a person must think when he takes an outwardly noble act, am I doing this for the right reason? Am I taking this action because I want to do the right thing, or am I being controlled by ulterior motives?

R' Frand closed with a note on the first pasuk of the parsha which states that there should be Judges and Officers on all your gates. He offered a take on this pasuk that a person should be like one of these officials and make sure that every act that he takes within his own gates is for the right reason.

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Re'eh

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim until Elul, I have been substituting vorts from other Rabbanim each week, rather than leaving the blog without a vort for shabbos. This week, I am again attempting to repeat a vort heard from R' Eli Mansour as recorded on http://www.learntorah.com . Same rules as usual apply - I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to the maggid shiur.

Parshas Re'eh begins with Moshe telling the Jews "Re'eh" - See that today I am giving before you today a blessing and a curse. In so doing, Moshe mixes the singular and plural forms as the direction see is said in the singular and the you is stated in the plural form. Of course this prompts the question - why mix the singular and plural forms in the same sentence?

Rabbi Mansour answered by making reference to the sociological concept of peer pressure. When a person is with a group, it is difficult to buck the trend and separate from the masses. By using the term Re'eh in the singular form, the Torah is telling us that while we think that we are acting individually, the impact of the action is on the masses. A person may feel that he is acting on his own and is not being watched or observed, but his actions are always seen.

By way of example, a woman may go out dressed tziniusly, not for show but just because that is the way she is. Without realizing it, the woman can have a positive impact on another who looks at her and admires her sense of tzinius.

Rabbi Mansour told a story about how he was once on a plane and he was learning from his gemara. When the plane landed, a person came over and said, "Rabbi you have given me tremendous mussar. I saw you sitting there learning from your sefer the entire flight while I was doing other things." Rabbi Mansour then told the audience that he had been learning and looking into the sefer the entire time because he was afraid, but the observer was obviously unaware of this. Instead, the man was moved by the fact that he saw the Rabbi learning the entire time.

Rabbi Mansour's story reminded me of another airline story involving my aishes chayil. One Pesach we flew back from Chicago on Chol Hamo'ed. This is no easy task as the kids can't eat any of the airline food and we must pack enough matza and Pesach snacks to satisfy our kids for the four hour door to door trip. After we landed at Islip, a man came over and approached my wife and told her that his mother would have been proud to see how Sarah kept giving the kids Pesach food during the flight. Obviously, we did not pack the food to try to be mikarev others, but there was certainly a positive influence on others, even though it was purely unintentional.

Unfortunately, there can be a similar unintended negative influence if one does something wrong which is observed by others.

Rabbi Mansour then broadened the vort by making reference to the concept of yarhteit. On the anniversary of a person's death, their family does things to commemorate the individual's passing, be it learning Torah, getting an aliyah or in some circles, fasting. The reason why these customs are observed on the anniversary is because the soul of the departed is being judged again on the day of death. The question of course is - since the person is long dead and was judged for his earthly actions years before, what is the purpose of the new judgment?

Rabbi Mansour answered by making reference to the ripple effect. When a person throws a stone into a pond, the rock impacts on the water and sinks to the bottom, but the waves from where the stone hit the surface begin to branch out into all directions. Similarly, when a man does an act in this world he is immediately credited (or debited) for the act. However, the act itself can impact far beyond the moment that the person did the deed. A person's children might have learned the value of certain mitzvos from the way the deceased lived his life. Or the person might have been mikarev another and that person is now frum and continuing to do mitzvos which also count towards the credit of the deceased.

The opposite can be true if the person did negative things which are observed and mimicked well beyond his lifetime and he will continue to be judged to the negative year after year as a result of his negative teaching.

Rabbi Mansour also made reference to Miriam and Yocheved who acted as midwives and saved the Jewish children. The Torah writes in Shemos 1:20 that Hashem rewarded the midwives and the Jewish people increased and became very strong. Rabbi Mansour asked - how is this a reward for Yocheved and Miriam? They did not receive any tangible benefit from the increased population! Rabbi Mansour answered that the reward was that every mitzva that the children did was also partially credited to Yocheved and Miriam. These children who were supposed to be killed were saved through Yocheved and Miriam and as a result, each act that the children and their children and their children's children did will all be applied to Yocheved and Miriam's account.

Another proof (albeit relating to the negative impact) can be seen from Sefer Bereishis. After Kayin kills Hevel, Hashem says to Kayin at Bereishis 4:10 - "all the bloods of your brother are calling out to me." Why does the Torah use the plural form of bloods? To show that Kayin did not only kill Hevel, he also cut off all future generations which would have come from him. This is a negative act with a long ranging effect.

A final example can be seen in relation to donated seforim and siddurim. Why do people donate seforim in memory of others? While part of the reason may be so that the deceased is not forgotten, this is hardly the main reason. The person who has passed away does not care whether he is remembered. But the learning or davening which is done from these donated seforim will continue to be a reward for the deceased.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Berachos 13

Today's daf was chock full of interesting topics, both aggadic and halachic. While there are many things I would love to write about, I will just focus on an interesting question posed in relation to the Shema.

The gemara notes that one who lengthens the Daled in the word "Echad" in the first sentence of Kriyas Shema will be zoche to long life. The gemara then relates a story where R' Yirmiah saw that R' Chiya Bar Abba was excessively prolonging the Echad. He remarked to him, you just need to say it long enough to have in mind to accept Hashem as ruler above, below and to the four corners of the world.

The Sefer Shearim Hamitzuyanim B'Halacha asks whether the order of directions makes a difference, or whether a person could still fulfill his obligation if he has in mind the four directions before above and below. He notes that we learn in Gemara Sukkah 37b that a person who waves the lulav and esrog must wave first to the four corners of the earth and then above and below. He also cites the mitzva of tenufa (waiving) which the Torah teaches in Parshas Tezaveh should be forwards and backwards before up and down.

In answering his question, he poses that the order should not make a difference. He first notes that the Ches in Echad comes before the Daled and that the Ches is a reminder of the seven heavens and the earth, while the Daled is a signal to the four corners of the earth. However he discounts that the order should make a difference because the law of tenufah is biblical in nature and as such must be strictly adhered to. He also explains that the Arizal wrote that when waving the lulav, one should wave South, North, East and then up and down before finally waving West. Therefore he concludes that the order of intention when saying the Shema should not matter.

If you have thoughts on this topic, feel free to post them. All comments will be reviewed to make certain that the views are not heretical, but anonymous and/or out of the box comments are fine.

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Monday, August 13, 2012

Monday's Musings on Sports - Hanging Chad Out to Dry

Over the weekend, the circus which is Chad Johnson (nee Ocho Cinco) exploded in a very negative way. And the media airwaves were abuzz with chatter, all speculating as to whether the talented but troubled WR will get another chance.

Johnson was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the Second Round if the 2001 NFL Draft. After a pedestrian rookie season, Johnson exploded on the scene and average more than 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns over his next six seasons.

Besides his performance on the field, Johnson became well known for his antics off the field. In October 2006, Johnson, whose jersey number was 85, announced that he would prefer to be called "Ocho Cinco" which is eight five in Spanish. It was always quite funny to me that "Eighty-five" was actually "ochenta y cinco" but he got it wrong.

I remember seeing a televised warm-ups for a 2006 game when the back of his jersey read "Ocho Cinco" instead of "C. Johnson". According to ESPN, Johnson was fined $5,000 for the violation of NFL rules, despite the fact that he did not wear the "Ocho Cinco" name tag during the game.

Johnson legally changed his name to Ochocinco in August 29, 2008. He played with "Ochocinco" on the back of his jersey since the 2009 preseason but then last year asked to have it changed back to Johnson again.

Prior to last season, Johnson left the Bengals and signed with the New England Patriots. By all accounts it was a lost season for Johnson as he caught the fewest passes for the least yards of his career. It was no shock that Johnson was released by the Patriots in June 2012, but many felt that his lack of production was based on his lack of understanding of the Patriots' offensive playbook.

Most recently, Johnson signed with the Miami Dolphins and was in their training camp and participated in one preseason game in which he dropped the only ball thrown to him. Within forty eight hours of the game, Johnson was arrested on assault charges related to an alleged incident involving his wife of 41 days. Shortly thereafter, Johnson was released by the Dolphins and this is where the media speculation began.

Some pundits have taken the position that assuming Johnson is not incarcerated during the 2012 season, a team will take a chance on signing him to a contract. Other opinions have suggested that he will be on an "emergency list", meaning that if a team suffers a series of losses at WR, they would ask him to come in and work out with the team.

But other members of the media have speculated that Johnson will not resign with any team, even if he is not convicted during the season. Part of the reason is pragmatic as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has shown a propensity to suspend players, even prior to a criminal conviction. However, a more convincing argument is that a team would not want a 34 year old receiver to occupy a roster spot as a third or fourth receiver when that slot could be given to a younger player who could also play on special teams and could improve with seasoning.

I can't possibly predict what will happen to Johnson, but the speculation as to his future in the NFL which now is dependent on the court case makes me think of Chodesh Elul. We stand less than a week from the beginning of our pre-season as Jews. The month of Elul is a time to prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Tishrei when we will be judged and iy'h awarded another year of life. Elul is about reviewing our past transgressions and making plans to remedy our defects so that we can move forward with the rest of the team. We do not ignore our flaws, but work at trying to minimize their impact so that we can say to Hashem, we are ready to move forward and be a productive member of Klal Yisroel.

We should all be iy'h zoche to a good year.

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Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Dark Depths Baltic IPA



This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams Dark Depths Baltic IPA.

Nearly one year ago, Samuel Adams began rolling out their Single Batch series which included many interestingly named brews. However, not much was known about these beers' relative kashruth until recently as the Star-K did not update their October 2011 LOC for Samuel Adams(which predated the introduction of these brews) until June 2012. However, the June 2012 LOC does indicate that many of these 22 oz "Single Batch" beers are under hashgacha, including the aforementioned Dark Depths, as well as: Norse Legend; Tasman Red; Vixen and Verlorean.

The "Single Batch" styles sell at a premium as compared to the standard Sam Adams brews and I have found that many beer stores will charge different prices for each kind of beer. In fact when my wonderful aishes chayil picked this up for me at the upstate beer authority known as Sam the Beer Man in Binghamton, she remarked that many of the beers had different prices on them. I was later able to confirm this myself when I saw many of the brews at DeCicco's in Brewster.

Actually, I need to digress for a moment as to the oversized bottles and why this became an issue. In early winter 2012, Saranac released its High Peaks Chocolate Orange brew. I looked high and low for this beer, before finding out that Manhattan Beer (the middleman which distributes Saranac products from Delaware County down to Long Island) did not carry this brew. However, Sam the Beer Man did carry it and Mrs KB was nice enough to pick up two bottles of it earlier in the summer on one of her rare days off.

I was quite excited to see the beer when I came up to Camp M, but then I realized that it did not have a kosher certification mark from the Va'ad of Detroit. It also indicated that it was made by Saranac in Boston, Mass and this was also puzzling to me as I thought that Saranac only brewed in Utica.

After a little digging and with some invaluable information provided by the KCOR, I learned that the beer was made in the Harpoon factory in Boston and that while all the ingredients were purportedly obtained from kosher suppliers, the Va'ad of Detroit was unable to certify the High Peaks Chocolate Orange as kosher, due to the lack of knowledge of the production activities at Harpoon and the inability to ascertain whether there could be cross contamination (in the kosher sense, not from a hygienic standpoint). As such, I learned that again, every rule has an exception and not every beer made by Saranac is certified kosher.

Armed with this knowledge and with Mrs KB on her second day off this summer and planning to shop in Binghamton, the exchange was made at Sam's of two oversized Saranacs for two 22oz Sam Adams brews.

So by now I am sure that you are bored to tears and wondering what the Dark Depths Baltic IPA tastes like. The answer is, a cross between an IPA and a stout which really meshes quite well. I shared the Dark Depths with Mrs KB and Rabbi Andrew K and James S on Friday Night at a mini tish that we organized. The hops were prominent, but we were all quite impressed by the richness of the brew and the malt which added complexity to the flavors. Each sip produced evoked different taste profiles which were not influenced in any manner by the brew's 7.6 abv.

This is a beer which belongs at a shabbos table and would go very well with most Friday Night shabbos fare (after the soup or fish that is).

The Samuel Adams Dark Depths Baltic IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. Like many other Samuel Adams brews, this bottle does not have the Star-K certification mark on the label.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Dark Depths, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/77234 .

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




Thursday, August 9, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Eikev

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim on the Parsha until Elul, I would like to substitute a vort from other Rabbanim each week, rather than leaving the blog without a vort for shabbos. This week, I am attempting to repeat a vort heard from R' Eli Mansour as recorded on www.learntorah.com. Same rules as usual apply - I have attempted to reproduce the vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to the maggid shiur.

In Devarim 10:12, Moshe tells the assembled Jews, "V'ata Yisrael, mah Hashem Elokecha shoel mey'imach, ki im lirah es Hashem Elokecha..." Translated into English, the Torah tells us that Moshe says to the Jews, what does Hashem ask of you, only to fear him and to go in his ways... The Torah then begins to list various things a person should do.

R' Mansour noted that the Gemara in Menachos 43 recites a story about a plague which occurred during the time of David Hamelech where every day exactly 100 people died. King David had ruach hakodesh and he was able to figure out a solution to the plague. He established that a person should say 100 berachos a day.

The question is, how could David create a new halacha? The gemara learns from the pasuk in Devarim that when it says "mah" it means me'ah which means 100. But how is this an answer? What allows them to add a letter? Additionally, were they not making berachos before David? Even Eliezer, eved Avraham made bercachos!

R' Mansour quoted chazal who say that a prayer without intent is like a body without a soul. A person can say something akin to "how are you", but he does not really want to know the answer. Similarly, the berachos in David's time were perfunctory and not intended. David calculated if I put the intent back into the beracha, Hashem will put the souls (more likely keep the souls) in the people. This was not a new decree, just an emphasis that the bearachos should be properly made.

R' Mansour further noted that mah in Hebrew means "what". It is used as a valueless word as Moshe said v'nachnu mah - what are we, we are nothing. David saw that the berachos were mah - valueless. The letter aleph is connected with Hashem and is made of three letters - a vav, a yud and a second yud. This equals 26 which is the name of Hashem. This is what David was saying to the Jews - you must add Hashem to the something because your Berachos were meaningless.

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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Berachos 6

After a hiatus for most of Sidrei Kodshim and Taharos, Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf returns with a few observations on Berachos 6.

On the bottom of Berachos 5b and continuing to the top of Berachos 6a, the quotes a limud of Abba Binyamin who teaches that if two people go together into a shul to pray and one finishes before the other, he should wait for his friend because if he does not, his tefillos will be torn apart in his face. The gemara further explains that one who acts this way causes the Shechina to leave.

Tosafos on the top of 6a (d'h Hamispallel) quotes Rabbenu Tam who explains that the people of that era had synagogues in the distant fields and therefore there was good reason to wait for the other person to finish. This made me think about the deah which states that the Boruch Hashem L'Olam tefilla was added so that people who came late to shul could catch up with the tzibur and then finish davening together and leave together.

Tosafos also recounts that the Ri would lengthen his tefillah so that everyone would leave before him and that if someone came late, he would learn a sefer until that person too would finish his tefilla. Tosafos comments that even at present (in their time) it was good to accept this stringency.

One other quick observation I would like to make is the Rashi which talks about the gemara's use of the verb "malei" or fill. Rashi says that when the gemara uses the verb malei here, it means put a little in the eye. Rashi then explains that whenever the gemara discusses putting something in the eye it always uses the verb malei, since it does not take much to fill up the eye.

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Monday, August 6, 2012

Monday's Musings on Sports, Olympic Events, Aaron Rogers and the Safety (of Ir Miklat)

While driving home from Camp M, I heard a very defensive Mike Greenberg state a controversial position which I actually agreed with. Greenie opined that the Olympics should eliminate the Tennis event and limit the Basketball to 23 and under. And it had nothing to do with the level of competition.

Greenie correctly observed that the Tennis event was being played at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London where the Wimbledon event had been played about a month before. He suggested that if you would ask any of the competitors whether they would prefer a Gold Medal or a Grand Slam victory, they would choose the latter.

Greenberg then made the connection with basketball. He correctly noted that the NBA players were the best players who were participating in the Olympic basketball event. Again he suggested that any NBA player would prefer an NBA title to a Gold Medal and that the players hardly practiced or prepared for the Olympic event because there was frankly no competition.

The issue of the priority of the event and whether the players cared enough about the Olympics reminded me of a vort that I had heard on Shabbos from R' Chaim Poupko. He started his remarks by talking about how he admired Aaron Rodgers, notwithstanding the fact that R' Poupko hails from Chicago and is a long time fan of the Bears.

R' Poupko cited an article which he said ran in the NY Times about a year ago in connection with Aaron Rodgers. He said that the article talked about how when Aaron Rodgers was the backup to Brett Favre, Rodgers would run the scout team offense against the starting defense. For those unfamiliar with this concept, here's a quick primer. The scout team runs the opposing team's plays during practice so that the starting defense can prepare for the formations and plays that it will see in the real game.

The reason that the starting defense hated Rodgers was that he went full tilt in the practice and tried hard to beat the defense. Once he did throw a touchdown, Rodgers would celebrate and do a dance.

R' Poupko stated that he admired Rodgers because Rodgers did all this hard work, despite knowing that he would not be playing in the actual game. He further equated it to Moshe Rabbeinu in last week's parsha. Hashem commands that Arei Miklat (cities of refuge) be created. Although Moshe knew that he would never get into the land of Israel and would never see the Arei Miklta, he still took the effort to teach the laws and delineate how they should be arranged. Because to Moshe, there was no such thing as "just practice."

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Sunday Night Suds - Leinenkugel Creamy Dark Lager



This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark Lager.

The Creamy Dark Lager is a winter beer which the Leinenkugel folks include in their beers of winter box along with the Fireside Nut Brown Lager (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/07/sunday-night-suds-leinenkugel-fireside.html), Classic Amber Lager (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2011/02/sunday-night-suds-leinenkugel-classic.html) the vastly underrated Honey Weiss (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2010/09/sunday-night-suds-leinenkugel-honey.html). As previously noted, the inclusion of three lagers in a Winter Box is quite odd since Winter is the season for heavier darker beers and notwithstanding the color of the beer, it is not a heavy or dark beer.

The Leinekugel Creamy Dark poured a rich, dark brown with some similarities to the Fireside Nut Brown Lager. There was some smokiness to the brew, but the flavor seemed somewhat artificially enhanced. I did appreciate that the beer was somewhat thicker than a typical lager and the lesser level of carbonation was appreciated.

I would pair this beer with smoky BBQ such as ribs or the awesome barbecued beef sandwiches that Mrs KB makes (and my son Moshe adores). I could also see having this beer as a nice accompaniment to blackened dishes.

Leinenkugel Creamy Dark Lager is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, but like all the other Leinenkugel brews, it does not have an OU on the label. If you would like a copy of the LOC please contact me via email.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Leinenkugel Creamy Dark Lager, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/2940.

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!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Motzei Shabbos Post on the Siyum

As I mentioned in the Thursday Night Post, I was zoche to make a siyum on Shas this Shabbos. There are many people who I thanked for their help and inspiration. Below are a few snippets from my remarks on Shabbos:

There are four categories of people to whom I owe a tremendous debt, more than I could ever hope to express today. But I will give it a try.

The first set of people are my rebbeim and there is no one who can personify this better than R’ Meir and it is for this reason alone that I am grateful that I can make this siyum here in Camp M. Kollel. Through the years in day school, high school, yeshiva and college, a student is zoche to learn with and from many teachers and rebbeim. There were two rebbeim who impacted me and their presence has continued with me to this very date. The first was my 8th grade rebbe, R’ Moshe Fruchthandler, zt’l, who was the first Rebbe to challenge me to learn gemara. While others had attempted to teach it, I was not very interested and to use the words of my father, read it like a novel. But then came R’ Fruchthandler who pushed and prodded and tested and cajoled and by the middle of 8th grade I no longer cringed when my father would say to me on Shabbos – Neil, lets take out your gemara.

But while R’ Fruchthandler’s impact stayed with me for a time, it was only a foundation in learning and by the end of high school I had begun to lose interest in learning…or perhaps gained interest in other things. Then through hashgacha pratis, I came to Kerem B’ Yavne and was assigned to an incredibly warm Ram who did not speak a word of English but his love of learning and for the Bnei Yeshiva was clearly transmitted. Through my year in Israel I began to again feel a closeness to Torah and a desire to come to shiur and learn on my own. The shiurim with R’ Meir in the classrooms where shtenders would break on a seemingly weekly basis or in his small home across from the Beis Medrash were the highlights of my day. When I returned to YU after spending an additional half year in Israel I was again in R’ Meir’s shiur and his hashpa’ah continued through the end of my college and my years in law school where I would attend his shiurim in Lazer K.’s apartment or later at Ohav Zedek. I would also receive summer booster shots of learning in the M. Kollel where I was zoche to learn for parts of 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.

In the summer of 1994 I started my first foray into Daf Yomi as I began to learn the daf with Doniel H. (now Rabbi Doniel H.). We would go through mesechtos, and try to keep up with the cycle. When we fell behind we would just start the next mesechta with the group and as such I left many unfinished mesechtos behind. This was my first entry into Daf Yomi, but things really began to pick up when I attended the Siyum HaShas in 1997 shortly after I got married and was so inspired that I made a commitment to learn the daily daf, sometimes in a group, but mostly or my own. After completing the cycle in 2005, I was asked by Zevi I. to consider giving the Daf Yomi and in the middle of Mesechta Shabbos I agreed. Although this was supposed to be an every other week experiment, I never actually went to the biweekly system and instead gave daf on a weekly basis. But more than just giving the daf, I got a chance to sit and learn with a core group of guys and to trade thoughts,stories and vorts with many professionals as we journeyed through daf together. I must publicly give Hakaras Hatov to Dov K., R Avi P., R Brian T., R’ Efrom G., Bency S., Mr. M., Yonatan (whose last name does not need to be redacted since we never learned your last name), Aaron M., Jim S., David L. and others who joined our learning for much of the last seven plus years.

It is this second group which transformed my learning experience from being a passive student to an analytical and at times antagonist participant in the Daf Yomi. These people were my friends, chavrusas, sounding board and almost family. Indeed, I can say that the Daf became a currency to quickly add friends in the manner of Knei L’Cha Chaver.

But while my friends who I have been sitting with for the last seven and a half years have been like family, they cannot supplant the real thing and this brings me to the third group of people. My father has been a role model to me with his love of Torah and support for rabbanim and limud hatorah. From taking me to R’ Blech’s Chumash and gemara shiurim from the 4th grade and up, to challenging my divrei Torah at the table and all the while getting up at 4AM every morning to learn, he has been a role model for having feet in both the world of business and the world of Torah.

In sharp contrast to my father, my mother’s depth of Torah knowledge was something I took for granted and did not truly appreciate until I was much older. While my father was the parent who I sat and learned gemara with, thinking back I later realized how much Torah my mother knew, how she was able to correct my leining without looking in a chumash and how she could answer some of my father’s toughest Torah trivia questions at the Shabbos table.

I owe both of you so much for the person I am today and your encouragement of my learning. I try to bring a little of the lessons that I learned in your household to my own children by challenging them with Parsha and Torah trivia and encouraging them to grow in Torah. Penina, Yael, Moshe and Tali – I am so proud of you. Every time you tell me a vort or bring home a test decorated with +2 for extra credit, it makes me thankful to Hashem for His Torah and the nachas I get from seeing you learn it. But through the voyage of daf yomi, you have also done without as the last seven + years you have let me leave the house at 945, sometimes only a few minutes after I got home, so that I could go to shul to learn and your mostly unprotesting sacrifice is greatly appreciated. But the greatest sacrifice would be the one made by…

Sarah. You have always been supportive of my learning, regardless of how much help you might have needed with the kids when they were little or how sparingly you saw me at times during the week. During my first daf yomi cycle, especially after I switched jobs in November 2000 you would not let me forget to learn. Although there were years that I routinely came home from work on the wrong side of Midnight at least a few times a week you would kick me out of bed and ask me – did you learn yet. You encouraged me to learn and to tell you stories or cool inyanim and twisted my arm into going to the 2005 Siyum Hashas when I did not feel the need. Boy would it have been a mistake for me to miss that because I picked up another drain on my time with you as I discovered R’ Frand at that siyum and thus another night of keeping me out of the house. Soon I was learning out of the house five nights plus shabbos afternoon every week. Never did you protest, and you were even more supportive of my second cycle through Daf Yomi allowing me time to prepare the daf and together with your father to whom I also owe a debt of gratitude, bankrolling annual purchases of gemaras.

Before actually making the Hadran, Sarah, I need to repeat a vort that a Rav (could be R’ Malkiel Kotler but I am not certain) said at the Siyum Hashas. The actual word siyum is not found anywhere in the hadran which we say at the completion of a mesechta. Instead we say Hadran – we will return. The reason for this is that finishing a mesechta is not the completion of a limud, it is merely the foundation for the next step in our learning. It is an event or a milestone, not an end. In a way it is similar to a wedding. “Others” say that once you get married it is the end of freedom or an era. Even as a single person it seems like the planning is all supposed to culminate with a wedding. But the wedding is actually just the milestone, the event which starts and serves as a foundation. One does not live on a foundation, one builds upon it.

I am so thankful to Hashem for having you to build the foundation of our family and my learning. It is for this reason that I must paraphrase R’ Akiva and say to my children – sheli v’shelachem shela hu” what is mine and what is yours, it is all because of her. Sarah, you have been my aishes chayil, supporting my learning while keeping the house in order. I could never be the man that I am without you and can never properly express my appreciation for all that you do for me.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vaeschanan

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim on the Parsha until Elul, I have continued with my usual summer practice of substituting a vort from other Rabbanim each week, rather than leaving the blog without a vort for shabbos. This week, I am attempting to repeat a vort I heard last night from R' Yisrael Meir Lau at the 12th Siyum HaShas which I was zoche to attend. As I was writing very quickly, I am unsure as to the accuracy of this reproduction and am just attempting to provide the flavor of the vort. As always, any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to the maggid shiur.

The Torah writes in Vaeschanan 4:9 "Rak Hishamer Lecha U'Shmor Nafshecha Me'od Pen Tishcach Es Hadevarim Asher Ra'oo Einecha..." which can be translated as "Only beware for yourself and watch your soul greatly, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen...

R' Lau quoted the Klei Yakar on the pasuk who says that there is an angel of forgetfulness whose names is Shachoach which has a gematria of 328. There is also an angel of remembering called Zachor, which has a gematria of 227.

R' Lau noted that the mathematical difference between the two names is 101. This then tied into a gemara in Chagiga which discusses the value of reviewing one's learning. The gemara there states on 9b that there is no comparison between reviewing a topic one hundred times vs one hundred and one times. R' Lau asked -- why is reviewing only one hundred times not enough? He answered that every time that a person reviews his learning he reduces the power of the angel of forgetfulness and boosts the power of the angel of remembrance.

R' Lau also quoted a gemara in Bava Basra 10b in which R' Yosef states that he had seen the world to come and that there was a saying there "Ashrei Mi Sheba Likan V'Talmudo B'Yado" - praiseworthy is he who comes here with his learning in his hand. Simply understood the expression is that a talmid chacham who comes to the next world with learning is rewarded. However, R Lau noted in the name of the Minchas Yitzchak that the gematria of Likan is 101 - its the learning and not forgetting which assists the talmid chacham in the next world.

R' Lau also tied this concept to the last gemara in Shas wherein the school of Eliyahu teaches that anyone who is "Shoneh Halachos" every day is called a ben olam haba - he earns a place in the world to come. R' Lau noted that the statement is not one who is lomaid - learns. Rather it is shoneh - a person who repeats his learning.

I hope to write more on this after shabbos and relate how I incorporated this vort into the siyum hashas which I iy'h hope to make on Shabbos. If you find yourself in or near the 13780 zip code, why not stop in Shabbos at the Kollel in Camp M and hear for yourself...

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