Thursday, February 28, 2019

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayakhel

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

In Shemos 35:29, the Torah states at the beginning of the pasuk - "Kol Ish V'Isha Asher Nadav Libam..." -- every man and woman whose heart motivated them... At the end of the same pasuk, the Torah concludes "Havi'u Bnei Yisrael Nedava L'Hashem" --the Children of Israel brought a Nedava to Hashem.

The obvious question is - why does the Torah need to state that this was an act of Nedava at both the beginning and the end of the Pasuk? R' Frand answered by quoting R' Elya Baruch Finkel who stated that sometimes a person begins to act on behalf of a charitable cause solely out of the goodness of their heart. But later, that same person becomes so fully involved with the cause that the cause becomes "theirs"... and not in a good way. The person comes to view the cause as his personal mission and anyone else who tries to become involved is rejected.

In contrast, the Jews who were involved with this aspect of the Mishkan began in a selfless manner and continued and completed the task as a Nedava and without any person hubris or possessiveness.

R' Frand said a second vort related to the beginning of the parsha. In Shemos 35:3, the Torah identifies the one explicit melacha of Shabbos - stating "Lo Siva'aru Eish" - you shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on Shabbos.

R' Frand quoted the Zohar which states that the Eish referred to in the pasuk is not necessarily fire - but anger. But since anger is prohibited all week long, why would the Torah specify that it is prohibited on Shabbos?

R' Frand answered by quoting R' Bentzion Kook who writes that Shabbos is testimony that Hashem created the world (this is the reason that most are makpid to say the Vayechulu on Friday Night with another person). When a person gets angry, he implicitly rejects Hashem's decisions and "feels" that what he desires is more "correct."

R' Frand quoted the gemara in Shabbos which states that anyone who gets angry it as if he worshiped idols. Why? Because when a person gets angry he says that he knows better than Hashem what should occur. R' Frand gave the example of a person who gets upset that there are traffic delays and he will not get where he wants to be when he wants to be there. This anger is the personification of thinking that his plan is better than His plan.

While a person should not get angry all week long, when he gets angry on Shabbos, it is antithetical to the concept of Shabbos and this is why the Torah mentions it explicitly.

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Sunday, February 24, 2019

Sunday Night Suds - Tog Brewery's HeChalutz Pale Ale


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Tog Brewery's HeChalutz Pale Ale.

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the KB family spent some time in Israel in late January visiting our daughter Yael who is studying there for the year. One of our family's favorite places to visit in Jerusalem is the Shuk Machane Yehuda. When I make that stop I usually visit a couple of stores in the Shuk and/or Agrippas Street where you can mix sixers (for 69 NIS) or four packs (for 45-49 NIS). It gives me an opportunity to sample the exploding craft brewery revolution in Israel where it seems that every town has at least two or three craft breweries.

The subject of this week's SNS is the Tog Brewery's HeChalutz Pale Ale. Tog is based in Be'erSheva and they brew their beer at the Beer Bazaar Brewery in Kiryat Gat. The brewery is actually the resul of the merger of two breweries – Gilad Ne-Eman's HeChalutz and Tomer Ronen's HaDag HaLavan.

I picked this beer up at the Beer Bazaar in Machane Yehuda and successfully transported it back to the US where it sat in my refrigerator until I shared it with our Shabbos company this week. When I poured it at the Shabbos table the lizard on the bottle was the subject of much curiosity. An article on the wonderful Israeli Craft Beer site (http://israelbrewsandviews.blogspot.com/2017/12/four-breweries-and-their-new-brews.html) has a quote from Ne-Eman that their mascot is "a blue desert lizard" which is on every bottle.

One of those partaking remarked that although the bottle stated that it was a Pale Ale, the beer was not "pale." I explained to him that the term "pale" does not reflect a lack of color (I think he may have been expecting a macro-lager pale gold colored beer). Surprisingly, he was able to detect the citrus, but it was rather prominent.

The beer is 5.5% abv and is certified kosher by R' Shlomo Ben Chamu of Kiryat Gat.

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, February 21, 2019

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Ki Sissa

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

Rabbi Frand began the vort by noting that although Aharon's role in the Egel was prominent, the Torah at the end of the story mentions in Shemos 32:35 that Hashem sent a plague because the people made the Egel that Aharon made. R' Frand asked - why is it that Aharon is mentioned at the end of the story. Clearly he is not being "kicked when he is down" so why the additional reference? 

R' Frand gave four different answers to the question. The first came from the Ramban who explained that those who worshiped the Egel were the 3,000 people who were immediately killed by Moshe and the Levi'im. Meanwhile, the people who died in the plague were those who built the Egel. Why? Because these people came to Aharon and brought the gold that was used for the Egel. Only because they pushed Aharon with their insistence was there an Egel, thus the Torah is not critiquing Aharon. Instead it explains that the plague came because the people made (or caused the building of) the Egel that Aharon made.

The second answer that R' Frand gave was the answer of the Chassam Sofer. He explains that the mention of Aharon in connection with the plague had to do with the level of the Chillul Hashem created by these people. By pushing Aharon to be involved in the creation of the Egel it was a greater embarrassment, since the Kohain Gadol was being associated with this edifice. 

The third answer that R' Frand gave was in the name of the Ksav Sofer. He explains that they were punished for using Aharon as a "hechsher." By getting Aharon involved with the Egel they gave people cover to say --if Aharon is doing it, it must be OK.  

The fourth answer was said in the name of the Birkei Yosef, as quoted by R' Bukspan of Miami. He said that greater than committing a wrong is the coverup, or the attempted to explain away the action. He specifically referenced Watergate and the coverup being worse than the crime. Here - the people wanted to say - it was not us, or not our fault -it was Aharon. Since they attempted to use Aharon as a scapegoat, the Torah needed to straighten out history by stating that the plague came because the people made (or caused the building of) the Egel that Aharon made.

In connection with discussing Aharon's role, R' Frand also mentioned the Medrash that the people first came to Aharon's nephew Chur and asked him to be invoved. When he turned them down, he was killed. R' Frand asked - why is the Chur story not explicitly mentioned in the parsha? After all, since the story of the Egel was written in detail, why not include this as well?

R' Frand answered by quoting the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh - who explains that Hashem did not explicitly discuss the Chur incident because Hashem wanted to protect the Jews' honor, and not to explicitly write that in their zeal to create and worship the Egel they also committed murder.

But still - if the Egel is discussed why is this worse? R' Frand answered based on the Gemara in Avodah Zarah which states that the reason that the Egel story was written was to remind the Jews that even if many of the Jews stray - there is forgiveness which can be granted. When a person stands of Yom Kippur and wonders how he can be forgiven -Hashem says look at the sordid tale of the Egel and still I forgave them. The singular incident of killing Chur has not similar motivating factor, thus Hashem did not see a reason to explicitly mention it in the Parsha.

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!

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at a classic New Belgium brew which has somehow escaped my glass...until now - the Mighty Arrow Pale Ale. [Yasher Koach to Dovid K for swapping this to me!]

Although the Mighty Arrow was first introduced in 2008, it has not been included in any mix box which made it to the East Coast until now. 

The New Belgium website indicates that the beer draws its name from "Arrow" an Aussie/Border Collie mix which was on the grounds at New Belgium for 12 years. The website indicates that "[w]hen she wasn't patrolling the brewery grounds, she was famous for her office visits: She never met a tummy rub she didn't like. Atta girl, Arrow. "

Yeah, I got nothing. But the beer itself is a delicious Pale Ale which has pine from beginning to end.  There is above average carbonation and decent lacing which stays throughout. At 6.0% abv its not very high on the alcohol scale, but that does not mean that the taste is light. If you like citrus & pine you will enjoy this beer

The New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale under kosher supervision by the Scroll-K/Va'ad of Denver, and their symbol is on the bottom of the six pack holder. However, not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision, so look for the Scroll K on the six pack holder or box when considering purchasing any NBB product.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale, click here https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/40418.

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, February 14, 2019

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Tezaveh

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

In Shemos 28:30, the Torah states that Moshe was instructed to place the Urim and Tumim into the Breastplate of Judgment. R' Frand quoted Rashi (although not on this pasuk) which cites a Medrash which states that - the heart which was happy in seeing the greatness of his brother should wear the Urim and Tumim. R' Frand explained that Aharon did something with his heart and therefore he was zoche to wear this on his heart. This was a middah k'neged middah - which is not only a negative.

R' Frand noted that the middah k'neged middah as it relates to limbs can be found elsewhere. Yosef who did not sin with his mouth - all swore by his name. His neck did not sin, so he wore a special gold collar. Similarly by Izevel - the prophecy would be that she would die and be eaten by the dogs. When she was found dead, the only thing they found were her head, hands and legs. Why? Because she would be misameach chassan and kallah and she used her hands to clap for them and her legs to dance and her head to motion - so they were rewarded.

R' Frand also quoted R' Elya Baruch Finkel who quoted R' Chaim Shmulevitz who explained that the reason that he wore the Urim and Tumim was because the Kohen Gadol had to look into a person's heart and see what he really wanted and thought as part of asking the question to the Urim and Tumim. [R' Frand joked that this is not Google where you search for an answer. He said that there is a term Google Gadol - a person who knows everything by searching Google.] The Kohen Gadol needed to have a pure heart to be able to listen and understand what the person wanted and was thinking when he consulted the Urim and Tumim.

R' Frand said a second vort based on the Gemara in Kiddushin 31a about the story of Dama Ben Nassina and gave credit to his son R' Ya'akov for helping him with the sources. The Gemara recites the story about how the Kohanim needed the precious stones for the Urim and Tumim and Dama's father had them in a safe and the keys were under his father's head. Dama did not wake his father and lost the sale...but was rewarded a year later with a Red Cow and when they came to buy it from him he said that all he wanted was the money that he lost from not being able to sell the stones.

R' Frand then quoted his son who asked a bomb question - since they were living in the times of the Beis HaMikdash, why would they need stones for the Urim and Tumim - they had them for generations.

R' Frand answered by quoting a Gemara in Yoma which stated that the stones contained the names of the tribes of the Jewish people and this way the words could be spelled out with the letters. But what about the letter Tzaddik which is not in any of the names? The Gemara answered that Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov's names were hewn there as well. The Gemara asked again - but there is no Tes? The Gemara answered that the words Shivtei Yeshurun were written as well.

R' Frand next quoted the Rambam in Hilchos Klei HaMikdash who wrote that above the name of Reuven was written Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov and that below Binyamin was written Shivtei Hashem. 

The Kesef Mishna questioned how the Rambam could write this --the Gemara explicitly states that the words Shivtei Yeshurun were written!

R' Frand answered by quoting the Chasam Sofer on the Gemara in Yoma who writes that Shivtei Yeshurun is much less common than Shivtei Yisrael. If the letter Tes was needed, why not write Shivtei Yisrael? He answered that Yeshurun is on a much higher level - since it means that the Jews were straight on their own. In contrast Shivtei Yisrael means that they were straight because Hashem straightened them out. When Aharon was around, the Jews were straight because of who they were - that was why the words were Shivtei Yeshurun. However, when they were not on such a high level, it was Shivtei Yisrael. Furthermore, when they were in Galus there were times that people questioned if the Jewish women were being faithful and the children were really Jewish --to which Hashem had to vouch for them and they were called Shivtei Kah.

R' Frand summed up by quoting the Shevet Sofer (R Shimon Sofer) who answered the question about why they needed the stones. Dama lived in the time of the Second Beis HaMikdash when the Jews were into Sinas Chinam. They were no longer Shivtei Yeshurun as Yeshurun is only in practice when the Jews are yachad. R' Frand said that he did not know if the stones fell out or were removed, but they needed to be replaced because Yeshurn could not be used. So they went to Dama to ask for stones to put in the Tes for Shivtei Yisrael.

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!

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Sunday Night Suds - Negev Brewery IPA


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Negev Brewery's IPA.

Negev Brewery is one of the "older" craft breweries in Israel as it has been producing beer since 2008, right around the time that people realized that Maccabee and Goldstar were, well, not really worth drinking for any reason other than patriotism.

Although they call themselves "Negev" the brewery is based in Kiryat Gat, which is due east of Ashkelon and pretty far north of Beersheva and the Negev Desert. But leaving the facts out of the equation, they do brew a pretty solid IPA, perhaps one of the best non-tap beers I had while in Israel.

The beer had solid carbonation and poured the perfect rich amber color. The first sip was grapefruit and successive sips brought almost tangerine type tang as well as pine. At 5.8% abv the beer was right in the middle of the range and there was no excessive alcohol bite. This was one of those beers that I wished I had taken more than one of when I mixed by six pack at Beer Bazaar.

The beer is certified kosher by R' Shlomo Ben Eliyah of Mateh Asher and there is a kashrus symbol on the back of the bottle.

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, February 7, 2019

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Terumah

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

R' Frand began the vort by noting that the badim (poles) were attached to the Aron, even when the Aron was not being carried (Shemos 25:15). R' Frand quoted the Choftez Chaim who said that just like the badim stayed with the Aron and were never separated from it, so too, people who support the learning of the Torah will be forever connected with the Torah.

R' Frand compared this to the relationship between Yissachar and Zevulun. When a person supports another and allows him to learn Torah, the supporter earns a portion in that Torah learning of the person who is being supported. And when the donor gets to Olah Haba, he will receive a reward for the learning as if he himself had learned that Torah. This is the meaning of the words in Zos HaBeracha (Devarim 33:18) - S'mach Zevulun B'tzesecha - loosely translated as - be happy Zevulun when you go out. When the Zevulun leaves this world as goes out to Olam Haba he should be happy that he is receiving the reward for the learning that he supported, as if he himself had learned it.

R' Frand quoted a story said by R' Ya'akov Galinski which R' Frand also said that he personally knew the family in the story. There was a man who supported the Lakewood Yeshiva when R' Aharon Kotler was Rosh Yeshiva. The man's son began to learn there as well and he continued to support the yeshiva. One day, the man told his son - its time to join the family business, The son wanted to stay in yeshiva and he enlisted R' Aharon to approach his father. When R' Aharon came to the man, he said to R' Aharon - you have been telling me for years that a person who supports another in learning earns a share in that Torah that is being learned. If my son joins me now in business he wont lose out because he will still earn the Olam Haba for the learning. R' Aharon responded to him - yes you are correct, he will still earn the Olam Haba. But you are depriving him of the Olam Hazeh -of the enjoyment of learning Torah in this world.

R' Frand also quoted the Chofetz Chaim on the pasuk Eitz Chayim He L'Machazikim Bah wherein the Chofetz Chaim remarked that it would seem that grammatically the word should be Osah - that it would be a tree of life for those who support it (Osah) rather than for those who hold onto it (Bah).

He answered that there is a difference between supporting and grasping something. He used the visual aid of the shtender - a person can uphold the shtender, as if the shtender or the Torah needs you to keep it up? Or he can lean on it and let it support him - this is the famous Chazal that the Aron Kodesh carried those who carried it.

R' Frand tied this to a story of R' Leizer Gordon who eventually became the Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe. When R' Gordon first got married he and his wife lived in his father in law's house. But soon after he moved in, the father in law experienced financial issues and the mother in law approached the father in law. She said to her husband, it was all well and good when they had money, but now he needs to get a job. He responded to her - but who is supporting whom? Let him keep learning.

When the first job offer came, she said to her husband - he should take the job, but the father in law said - let him keep learning. The job offers kept coming and eventually he got a dream job offer in Rabbanus. R' Gordon took the job and soon after the father in law died. At the funeral, the mother in law yelled from the women's section that she killed him! He had been saying all along - who is supporting whom and he pushed him to get a job and now the father in law is dead.

We may think that we are supporting the lomdei Torah, but they are supporting us.

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Sunday, February 3, 2019

Sunday Night Suds - Hatch IPA

Much like our vacation two years ago, we spent Yeshiva week this year visiting our daughter Yael in Israel. Every time that we go back I marvel at the continuing revolution in kosher craft beer available in Israel. I picked up beer in many locations, including Beer Bazaar in Machane Yehuda. But this week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Hatch Brewery's IPA.

For the Saturday Night that we were in Israel our daughter competed in a seminary singing competition which was (understandably) women only. While the female members of our family (along with friends who made aliyah a few years back) attended the competition, the males went to Hatch in Machane Yehuda for wings, brats, dirty chips and beer.

(Since this is not a food and beer review blog I wont be reviewing the food, but suffice it to say we left full and happy with all of our food choices).

The beer at Hatch is also specially brewed at the restaurant. When looking over the menu I saw quite a few beers  that I wanted to try, but since they are all on draft I could not post a picture of a label, so instead I posted a picture from their instagram page.


The IPA came after the chips and shortly before the wings, so I had a chance to try this both with and without the bar food. The beer poured a rich orange/copper with significant lacing and decent carbonation. The first few sips had very nice hops and some pine. There was a little grapefruit as well and the bitterness was well balanced. If I recall correctly, the beer was 5.5% abv and ran 28 shekel (approximately $8) for 400 ml glass. If lived local I would have considered filling a growler and bringing some back, but they don't do very well in the suitcase (don't worry, I did bring some others back for future SNS columns).

Hatch brewery restaurant (and all of its products) are certified kosher by Jerusalem Rabbinate (Mehadrin) and there is a kosher certificate hanging by the bar. I could not find any reviews of the specific beers on line, but feel free to post comments below (anonymous comments are acceptable).

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.


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