Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Wild Hop Pils

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Wild Hop Pils.

As mentioned in last week's SNS, this year's Saranac Beers of Summer mix box contains two new beers, the Session Ale (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/07/sunday-night-suds-saranac-session-ale.html) and the Wild Hop IPA (to be reviewed iyh in a future SNS). Additionally, the mix box contains old standards Kolsch (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-night-suds-saranac-kolsch-ale.html), Rye IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2010/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-rye-ipa.html), White IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/04/sunday-night-suds-saranac-white-ipa.html) and the #1 star of the Saranac line up, Saranac Pale Ale (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-pale-ale.html).

The Saranac people have labeled this brew as a Pilsner, but it is unlike any Pilsner that I have ever tried. The beer has a wonderful amount of floral hops and the grapefruit/citrus smacks you in the face at the very first sip. The alcohol content of the beer is also on the high end for a Pilsner (5.2% abv). Although the beer pours a golden blonde which would give the impression that it is on the lighter end, you can't judge this beer by its color. This is a solid brew which would go well with fried chicken and all the fixings (as they used to say).

Saranac Wild Hop Pils is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced in Saranac's Utica plant. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Wild Hop Pils, please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/93135.

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 - Parshas Eikev

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim for the few weeks, I have been 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 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.

The Parsha contains a pasuk which states - "lest you eat and be satiated and then build nice homes and live there." (Devarim 8:12). The Torah uses the term homes in plural form and says that they will be nice. The pasuk also states that the person will also have a lot of livestock and gold and silver. This is the epitome of success. However the Torah also warns about the possibility that the person will become conceited and say in his heart - I did this based on my strength and ability which brought me to this level of success.

R' Mansour noted that the Torah is not saying that a person should not work. Instead, the Torah is warning about thinking that the success can be attributed to his own actions without the assistance of Hashem.

The Targum explains on the pasuk that Hashem gives you the ability to be successful (Devarim 8:18) that Hashem gives the person the idea which is used to be successful. R' Dessler explains that the thought is like a light bulb, but it only lights because it is connected to the power source -Hashem. After all, why did this person have the idea and not someone else? Because Hashem wanted him to go forward with this plan.

R' Mansour also quoted the Meshech Chachmah who links this concept to Birkas Hamazon - the grace after meals. It is usually thought that the benching is said because a person should thank Hashem after having the food. However, the Meshech Chachmah writes that a person benches because after he eats he may feel satiated and high on himself. The next thought would be, I am feeling great and I alone am responsible for this. Thus the pasuk "lest you eat and be satiated" which is linked to the pasuk about benching - "v'achalta, v'savata u'beirachta" - you should eat and be satiated and then immediately - bench.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, 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!

Monday's Musings on Sports - 42 and 15

During last week's All Star Game at Citifield, there was an event which occurred in the 8th inning which demonstrated that there still is some class in the game of baseball. After the American League had been retired during the top of the 8th inning, Yankee closer Mariano Rivera came out to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning. As Rivera has announced his intention to retire at the close of the season, it was understood that this would be his final appearance in All Star game. And what an appearance it was...

As has been widely reported, when Rivera left the dugout he was not joined by any of his teammates on the American League All Star Team.Although it is not clear whether the decision was spontaneous or pre-planned, no other member of the AL team took the field when Rivera stood on the mound. Instead, it was just Rivera standing in what has been called the loneliest spot on the field. As Rivera looked around, the fans at the All Star game gave him a standing ovation. The video of that night shows that he was choked up emotionally as the soon to be Hall of Fame pitcher was showered with adulation by nearly fifty thousand fans and dozens of his peers. But while this was no doubt a stunning tribute, it was dwarfed (in my mind) by a similar act by fans who have long despised Rivera and the New York Yankees.

While driving home from Camp M this morning, I heard a piece on the Mike & Mike in the Morning program (98.7FM or for me while in the mountains, Sirius/XM 84). Greeny was talking about how he had gotten back from visiting his kids in some sleepaway camp in Maine and was out at a diner with his wife and some friends. As they were having dinner, Greeny was watching the Yankee-Red Sox game on a TV which had no sound. As such, he was unable to hear the commentators, but he did not miss the fact that the Boston Red Sox faithful at Fenway were giving Rivera a standing ovation when he game out to finish off a Yankee win over the Red Sox. Greeny related on his program today that when he observed this on TV he asked his friends whether he was crazy or if this event really was happening. I don't know how his friends responded to him about being crazy, but the event certainly did happen.

While the gesture by his teammates and the fans at Citifield was very classy, the ovation by the fans at Fenway was much more meaningful to me. Indeed, the difference between the two events is quite clear. When Mo received the standing ovation at Citified, he was being greeted by a crowd comprised of fans from many teams, and was playing in a game which did not count in the standings. However, the game at Fenway was a regular season game and the loss meant a lot for the Red Sox who were trying to hold onto to First Place in the AL East.

The special place and time of the Red Sox fans' tribute to Mo made me think of today's special date (from a historical perspective). The Gemara in Ta'anis recites that the day of Tu B'Av was a tremendous holiday as the young women would borrow clothes and go out to the fields to dance and find their intended. The concept itself seems foreign and perhaps antithetical to tznius (modesty). However, the day was successful and so many couples found their mates that the dance became a national custom and the day became a celebration and holiday which only rivaled Yom Kippur.

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Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Session Ale

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

Not to be confused with the Saranac's 2012 Session IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/05/sunday-night-suds-saranac-session-ipa.html), this year the good folks at the Matt Brewing Company of Utica, New York (just an hour up the road from Camp M) have introduced a Session Ale.

The Session Ale comes exclusively in the Beers of Summer mix box which contains two of the Session Ale, two of the new Wild Hop IPA (to be reviewed iyh in a future SNS), an old standards Kolsch (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-night-suds-saranac-kolsch-ale.html), Rye IPA (reviewed here  kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2010/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-rye-ipa.html), White IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/04/sunday-night-suds-saranac-white-ipa.html) and the #1 star of the Saranac line up, Saranac Pale Ale (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-pale-ale.html).

While last year's Session IPA was a very light version of an IPA or a Pale Ale with a little more kick (depending on your perspective), this beer just seems to a very light version of an ale. The beer has very little hops and just a hint of citrus. The alcohol content is on the lighter side (4.5% abv) and it almost seems like a light beer. I had mine tonight with some charred steaks and the flavor of the meat completely overwhelmed this brew. Yes, I know that Session beers are meant to be consumed in quantity, but this beer was quite non descript and I needed to focus on it so that I could even write anything about it before I finished it.

Saranac Session Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced in Saranac's Utica plant. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Session Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/93166.

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 - Parshas Va'eschanan

After taking most of the week off from blogging due to various work and religious obligations, Kosher Beers returns with Thursday's Parsha Tidbits on Parshas Va'eschanan.

As mentioned in last week's post, since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim for the next month, 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, which (in my mind) is linked to a vort said by Rabbi Frand a number of years ago. 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 maggidei shiur.

In Devarim (3:26) Moshe tells the Jews that Hashem had told Moishe that Moshe had enough and that Moshe should not ask anymore. In so doing, the Torah uses the words "Rav Lach."

The gemara in Sotah 13b states that this an example of Hashem treating a person middah k'neged middah - giving to a person with the same trait that the person himself acted. Moshe told Korach in Bamidbar (16:7) when Korach sought to be Kohain Gadol, "Rav Lachem Bnei Levi" - you have enough, sons on Levi. Hashem then tells Moshe now, you have enough, you don't need to go into the land of Israel.

R' Mansour then asked - but Korach was arguing and looked to take what belongs to Aharon and Moshe? What was wrong with what Moshe said to Korach that this was practically thrown back in his face?

R' Mansour answered that tzadikkim are held to a higher standard of speech and activity. Moshe told Korach, "be happy being a Levi." But while Korach was challenging Moshe, he was also looking to talk to Hashem like a Kohain and to serve Hashem like a Kohain. Korach was seeking spiritual growth, even though it may not have been for purely noble purposes. By using this language to respond to Moshe, Hashem was saying to Moshe - you should have acknowledged that it was positive that Korach wanted to elevate himself, but it could not be done.

Moshe somewhat similarly sought to challenge a decision. Moshe did not want to come to Israel to eat its fruit. Moshe wanted to be able to keep the myriad of mitzvos which could only be done in Israel. So Hashem reminded him - you have enough - you should not have put Korach off by telling him that he had enough spirituality. You were right that Korach could not attain the position, but your language of enough when Korach wanted to grow in yahadus was not correct.

R' Mansour closed this portion of the vort by quoting to a Rebbi of his (Rabbi Davis) who told him don't be a pickle. What does that mean? A pickle is a cucumber which is soaked in spices so that it does not change. A person in Judaism should not try to stay the same, there must be a constant movement upward. Because life is like a down elevator, if we don't keep trying to move up in spirituality, we will fall back.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, 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!

Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Cinder Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds takes a seasonal turn and looks at Samuel Adams' Cinder Bock.

The Boston Beer company bills this beer as a Rauch Bock, a style of beer which they invented by attempting to pair a Rauchbier with a Bock. 

While bocks are very common, the Rauchbier is a little out of the ordinary, so I have gone to the experts at the BA for the definition of Rauchbier, which they explain is

[A]n old German beer style, its origins go back to the 1500's and to the district of Franconia and the town of Bamberg. It's typically of dark colour and has similarities of the Oktoberfestbier. Green malts are literally dried over an open fire of beech wood, imparting a unique smokiness ("rauch" is German for smoke), the usage of which produces beers of an acquired taste. Imagine a smokiness so robust, so assertive, that it tastes of spiced, smoked meat.

I bought this beer almost a year ago, but due to its high alcohol content (9.4% abv) I had little fear of leaving this beer around to cellar for a year.

I shared this beer this past Friday Night with Mrs KB and two friends. We agreed that the beer had a lot of smoke up front, but there were a lot of complex flavors after you got past the smoke. There was some coffee grounds type flavor and the alcohol taste was also prominent. But there was also some richness, an almost creamy flavor which even tiled towards cocoa.

The Samuel Adams Cinder Bock Rauch Bock 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 the LOC for Samuel Adams which certifies this beer as kosher click here - http://www.star-k.org/loc/LetterOfCertification_PEFQZ4N3.pdf 

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link -http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/77231. 

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's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Devarim

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim for the next month, I have been 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 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 1:10 Moshe tells the Jews - Hashem your G-d has multiplied you and today you are like the stars in heaven in abundance (using the word in Hebrew, LaRov). R' Mansour asked, the Jews are less than one half of one percent of the world's population, so what does Moshe mean about being numerous like the stars in heaven? Rabbi Mansour answered --look at a star from afar, it looks very small. However the star in its true size is larger than the planet earth. So too the Jews, they may look small from a distance, but see what they have accomplished and how well represented and renown they are in the prestigious fields, and you will see up close they are much larger than they appear.

Rabbi Mansour then quoted a vort from the Ben Ish Chai on the use of the word LaRov. The word itself is spelled chaser - without a cholam between the reish and vet. As such, the word can read LaRav. The significance of this relates to a machlokes between Rav and Shmuel, but requires an introduction.

When a person is sleeping, his soul goes up to shamayim and admits the sins the body did during the day. There is a punishment and a penalty which comes from doing sins. The punishment comes from doing the sin against Hashem. The penalty is for damaging the soul, a piece of Hashem which does not belong to the person and to which he commits me'ilah by sinning.

When the soul goes up to testify, it is not the only entity that wishes to speak about the sin, as the act of sinning has created an angel which too desires to attest to the act. However, the soul and the angel have different rules of procedure. The angel wants to appear at the heavenly bet din to testify, but cannot do so at night because the bet din does not sit in judgment at night. However, the soul can testify at night and manages to get its testimony in first.

The soul's ability to testify first is highly significant. The gemara brings a machlokes about a person who admits an act which is punishable by a fine before the witnesses come. Rav teaches that a person who admits an act which is punishable by a fine and then witnesses come, the person is exempt from paying the fine. Shmuel disputes this as he says that the person's testimony before the witnesses appear does not exempt him from payment of the fine.

Boruch Hashem, the halacha is like Rav and our soul's testimony exempts us from the penalty which accompanies the punishment. The Ben Ish Chai explains that Bilaam when he blessed the Jews in Bamidbar 24:23 states Oy Mi Yichyeh Mi Sumo Kel. However it can be read as MiShmuel, by which Bilaam states - who could live if Shmuel is right and the soul's advanced confession is incapable of deflecting the penalty.

The Ben Ish Chai also supports this with a sentence from Tehillim in which it states "v'salachta l'avonee ki rav who" which can be explained as Hashem will forgive our sins because the halacha is like Rav.

This is what the meaning of the pasuk that Hashem makes up great that our neshama can testify at night and that way tomorrow during the day we will succeed, because the halacha is like Rav.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - Oh Say Can You Puig ... And R' Gamliel

As the major league baseball season makes its way to the All Star Game, there has been added intrigue because of the recent performance of Yasiel Puig.

Until six weeks ago, most baseball fans had no idea who Yasiel Puig was. Born in Cuba, Puig was able to escape in 2012 and he established residency in Mexico in order to become eligible to play professional baseball. After seeing him perform in one batting practice, the Dodgers signed Puig to a seven year, $42 million contract and assigned him to the minor leagues. While in the minors, Puig played in 40 games and put up solid, but not spectacular numbers, hitting .354 with 5 HRs and 15 RBIs on 23 games in 2012 and .313 with 8 HRs and 37 RBIs in 40 games for AA Chattanooga.

On June 2nd, the Dodgers brought Puig up to the major league club and thus began the most sensational story involving a Dodger rookie since Fernandomania. 

To say that Puig's performance with the Dodgers over the last six weeks has been fantastic or stellar would be an understatement. The offensive numbers Puig has put up, along with his solid defensive play have simply been unparalleled. Of course, it has only been six weeks, but there has never been a rookie (to my memory) who has come up to the major leagues and consistently put up these numbers. Indeed, after Puig his his fourth home run in five games (a grand slam, of course), the immortal Vin Scully chose not to comment and remained silent for what seemed like two minutes, before simply stating "I have learned over the years that there comes a rare and precious moment where there is absolutely nothing better than silence, nothing better than to be absolutely speechless to sum up the situation. And that was the moment. Oh mackerel." (To view the video of the call along with another famous Scully home run call click here http://mlb.si.com/2013/06/07/watch-yasiel-puig-hits-a-grand-slam-and-vin-scully-cant-believe-it).

The problem with Puig's otherworldly performance is...does it make him All-Star worthy?

Normally, players make baseball's All-Star team in one of two ways. Either the players are voted onto the team by the fans (one player per position in each league) or they are added to the roster by the All Star manager. Since Puig came up to the big leagues in June, he was not on the All Star ballot. Thus it was left to NL All Star Team manager Bruce Bochy to determine whether Puig had earned a spot. However, these spots are usually reserved for players who have demonstrated over the course of the first half of the season that they are All Star worthy. There is no All Star team for April performance. The team is selected based on  the players' numbers over the first three months of the season.

The flip side to the above argument is that since the fans select the players who start the game and the manager is not required to pick the reserves with the best numbers, the All Star game is really a popularity contest and there is no more popular player now than Puig.

So what did Bochy do? He did not add Puig to the roster which was announced over the weekend. Instead, Puig was selected as one of the five players who the fans can vote on for the final spot on the roster. Will he make it? We will know by Thursday night.

The controversy over whether a player should be added to the All Star Game roster based on consistency over the course of the season or popularity at the time of selection made me think of Rabban Gamliel in the times of the gemara. R' Gamliel believed that only the most worthy students should be allowed into the study hall. As such, he was very selective and only the few were allowed in. When R' Gamliel was removed from his position (for this and many other reasons) he was replaced by R' Elazar Ben Azarya who was young in age, but very wise. And soon after the study halls were flooded with students. But was R' Gamliel wrong in being so selective? The answer is not very clear.

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Sunday Night Suds - Gordon Biersch Czech Style Pilsner + Bonus Nine Days Havdalah Guide

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Gordon Biersch's Czech Style Pilsner Lager. Additionally, because this is the last Sunday before the Nine Days, I have republished the Nine Days Havdalah Guide, updated for 2013.

The Gordon Biersch company is a California based brewery which makes some very good beers, both in their own name as well as private label for other companies such as Kirkland. Every Gordon Biersch product that I am aware of has a Va'ad of Detroit kashrus symbol on the label on the back of the bottle, but I would recommend checking the bottle or the latest version of my kosher beers list to confirm before purchasing.

The Czech Style Pilsner is a rather light beer and can be consumed with a wide variety of dishes, including fruit pie as I found out tonight. The beer packs a lot of malt and is very light on hops, which is to be expected in a Pilsner. It also does not need to be consumed ice cold as the flavor profile is not strong, even when served at 50-60 degrees.

As mentioned above, the Gordon Biersch Czech Style Pilsner is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and has their certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link -http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1551/4878. 

Bonus section - Nine Days Havdalah Guide.

In years past, I would receive numerous email and cell phone messages prior to Shabbos Chazon (the Saturday within the summer nine days mourning period) with questions as to what would be a good choice to make havdalah on. As the Shabbos of the Nine Days actually falls towards the end of the period, I have presented the annual Nine Days Havdalah guide in this post to allow people to get an early look at alternatives to wine.

By way of introduction, on Saturday nights after the evening prayer is said, Jews have a special set of blessings that are said by which we separate between the holy shabbos and the rest of the week. There is a custom to say this prayer on a cup of wine, however this custom needs modification when the Saturday falls during the nine days of mourning.

As noted by the Orthodox Union on their website:

Meat and wine are prohibited during the Nine Days, except on Shabbat. Meat and wine are associated both with joy AND with Temple service. Both reasons combine to explain this prohibition.Even though havdala is officially after Shabbat, one is permitted to drink wine. It is preferable to give the wine to a child who is old enough to understand brachot but not yet old enough to understand the concept of "mourning for Jerusalem". Alternately, some authorities recommend the use of a substitute beverage for havdala such as fruit juice, beer, etc. Other authorities insist on wine as usual.

Should your local Rabbi direct you to utilize non-wine in your havdalah, there are multiple options to use to fulfill the havdalah requirement. Indeed, my father in law will use diet soda (or as he says "diet pop"). I recall as a child seeing my father on one occasion use hard alcohol for havdalah (and then burn the decorative plate my sibling made when he tried to put out the candle).

To me, the simplest answer to the havdalah dilemma (and one that is widely recommended by rabbinic authorities) is to use beer, which in the time of the talmud was called chamra d'medina - the wine of the masses. This brings us to the reason I get more summer phone calls and email around this time every year - which beer would I recommend?

The number one problem with the question is that most people who ask me about it don't generally drink beer. It then becomes difficult to make a recommendation of a beer that they can use for havdalah that won't have them making faces in their attempt to drink the halachic minimum level for the blessing. A second problem is that since the havdalah cup is imbibed on its own (i.e. without the benefit of food) people who might be inclined to have a beer with a meal will still have problems finishing their cup when the beer is consumed on its own.

The easiest solution is not to have beer, but instead to make havdalah on what is commonly called alcopop. These are malt beverage drinks with some similarities to beer and a beer-like 5% alcohol content by volume, but do not have the beer taste. Some examples are the Boston Beer Company (aka Sam Adams) Twisted Teas or the Smirnoff Twisted V/Twisted Ice line. Please be aware that not every flavor of Smirnoff is certified Kosher. Indeed, the last time I looked at the CRC list, only the following flavors were certified kosher: Green Apple, Mango,Raspberry Burst and Wild Grape (I am unaware of whether there is actual grape in this beverage). For the complete list of those Smirnoff products and other alcopops approved by the CRC, please click here http://www.crcweb.org/kosher/consumer/liquorList.pdf.

Another alternative had been hard apple cider, but as of the present date there are no kosher hard apple ciders. Frequent readers of this blog may recall that for a time the Angry Orchard Hard Apple Cider was certified kosher by the Star-K, but they ceased their supervision of the product almost six months ago.

However, there are a number of fruit flavored beers which bridge the gap between alcopop and true beer. These include the recently certified Redd's Apple Ale (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/02/sunday-night-suds-redds-apple-ale.html), Blue Moon Blackberry Tart Ale (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/05/sunday-night-suds-blue-moon-blackberry.html), Samuel Adams Blueberry Hill Lager (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/04/sunday-night-suds-samuel-adams.html) and Saranac Blueberry Blonde Ale (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/04/sunday-night-suds-saranac-blueberry.html).

If you do like beer, or would like to drink something that is more manly than alcopop, the next step up would be an American wheat beer or some of the better Summer Ales. Many of these beers have been reviewed on the pages of this blog and you can search through prior Sunday Night Suds reviews to find one that might appeal to you.If you are a beer aficionado, you obviously won't need this post to tell you which ale or lager you should crack open for havdalah.

Again, I would stress that you consult your halachic authority before selecting a havdalah alternative. My Rav advises me that beer would be the first choice, followed by malt beverages. I did not ask about how the non alcohol options fit into the list.

May the world have a tikkun from our three weeks/nine days observances and may tisha b'av soon be transformed to the holiday that the gemara tells it will be in the times of moshiach bimheira biyamenu.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshios Matos-Masei

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 Parshas Matos, the people of Reuven and Gad tell Moshe that they wish to live on the other side of the Jordan River. In Bamidbar 32:16-17, the people approach Moshe and tell him that they want to build enclosures for their sheep and cities for their children, but they will first fight in the battle to conquer the land of Israel. In Bamidbar 32:20, Moshe says that that if they keep their end of the deal, they can do this. However, in Bamidbar 32:23, Moshe again says that this is acceptable, but they need to keep their promise. Two pesukim later in Bamidbar 32:25, they come back to Moshe again and say that they will do what Moshe has required of them. But yet again Bamidbar 32:29-30, Moshe again says that they will only be entitled to the land they requested if they keep their end of the bargain.

The obvious question is why does Moshe need to repeat his condition and require their verbal approval over and over again?

R' Mansour answered the question by quoting R' Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld who explains that the language of the conversation is the key to why it repeats over and over again. When the Bnei Gad and Reuven came to Moshe in Bamidbar 32:17, they said "we will come and we will fight." This language was not acceptable to Moshe and he need to instruct them that it all comes from Hashem. Moshe then responds to them in Bamidbar 32:20, 21 and 22 that all of these things are with the help of Hashem. Moshe peppers the sentences with five references to Hashem as assisting in the battle, although he never actually says "you must realize that it is all from Hashem."

The Bnei Gad and Reuven respond to Moshe in Bamdibar 32:25-26, we will do what you command and we will go to battle before Hashem, as you have commanded. This is the basis of our ability to succeed in battle, we recognize that it all comes from Hashem.

R' Mansour also gave a different explanation of the episode. The first time that they approach Moshe, they say that they want to build pens for their animals and cities for their children. Moshe rebukes them by putting the priorities in order - build first for your children and then take care of your animals.

R' Mansour gave a third explanation of the story in the name of R' Aharon Kotler. He explains that Moshe's problem was that by living on the other side of the Jordan, they exempted themselves from the laws of the land of Israel. They put their animals first because they will have more food for the animals because they won't have to give terumah and ma'aser from their grain.

R' Mansour then summed up all three views. The common denominator is that the Bnei Gad and Reuven's problem was that their priorities were off. Whether it was a question of being a soldier, building cities or keeping the laws of the Land of Israel, they had their priorities out of order.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - Marty, Aaron & Moshe, or why Sometimes its Thought That Counts

This past weekend saw a number of interesting gestures by teams. I would like to address two of those gestures in this post.

 

As most of the world is aware, Patriots All-Pro Tight End Aaron Hernandez was arrested last week on charges of Murder in the First Degree. The claims relate to the death of the boyfriend of Hernandez's girlfriend's sister. There has been significant speculation that the murder also may be linked to a previous shooting and that the victim died because he may have had knowledge of that prior shooting.

 

Immediately after Hernandez was arrested, and numerous hours before the nature of the charges was revealed in Court, the New England Patriots released Hernandez. The act of releasing the player was slightly unusual as he has not been convicted of any crime. Still, the Patriots under Bill Belichick have their own peculiar way of doing things and it was not a complete shock.

 

The more interesting story involving the Patriots was their gesture to the fans. Over the weekend it was announced that the Patriots would buy back fans' Hernandez jerseys and allow  them to be exchanged for other Patriots jerseys.

 

The hosts of the morning drive on the NFL Radio channel on Sirius/XM used this as a jumping off point to ask for input as to jerseys people have bought that they wish they could get rid of. There were many prime responses which included major draft busts, "never weres" and players who embarrassed themselves after completing their careers (OJ, Lawrence Taylor, etc...).

 

A different story with a more uplifting message involved the NHL Draft. At the tail end of the Seventh and final round of the draft, the New Jersey Devils traded their 7th Round pick in the 2015 draft to the Los Angeles Kings for the Kings' 7th Round pick in this year's draft. The pick was one of the last in the 2013 draft and it was used to draft a goalie.

 

The fact that the Devils used their pick on a goalie was not a surprise. Earlier that day, the Devils traded their 1st Round Pick to the Vancouver Canucks for goalie Cory Schneider. The more significant element of the selection was that the Devils used the pick to draft their current goalie (and future Hall of Famer) Martin Brodeur's son. And they let Marty announce the pick! The video of the selection can be seen here - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/martin-brodeur-announces-son-selection-nj-devils-classic-023742760.html.

 

Of course my hockey bias makes me believe that the Devils gesture was more sincere than the Patriots, but both acts were done to show appreciation where none would have been required. They also made me think of Moshe and how he showed his appreciation when none would have been required or expected.

 

In discussing the first three plagues in Egypt, the Torah notes that Aaron and not Moshe raised his stick to hit the water for the plagues of blood and frogs and that similarly, Aaron hit the dust to cause the plague of lice. Why did Aaron do this and not Moshe? The Medrash explains that Moshe showed hakaras hatov - appreciation for the good done for him by the earth (in allowing him to bury the Egyptian that he killed) and the water (in not drowning him when he was in the basket).

 

As both the water and the ground are inanimate objects, they do not require one to show them appreciation. Still, Moshe felt it necessary to do so, although no one would have criticized him if he had not done so.

 

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