Monday Musings on Sports - A-Roid, Manny and the Abudraham

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Monday post was usually devoted to sports with highlights and analysis of the Max Kellerman show which formerly aired on 1050 ESPN Radio. As Max has resigned from 1050 and has not yet resurfaced on the NY area radio waves, I have decided to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Anyone with the slightest interest in baseball, perhaps even anyone with a pulse, has heard that Manny Ramirez has been suspended from baseball for fifty games in relation to his use of a banned substance. Ramirez's stated excuse was that "his doctor" had purportedly prescribed the medication and that neither he nor his doctor were aware that it was a banned substance.

While Manny's excuse smacks of "the dog ate my homework", baseball's current climate has made it that much less believable because of Alex Rodriguez's recent admission of steroid use and Jose Canseco's book where he "named names" of those who were using steroids.

The problem for baseball players today is that there really are no players left who are above suspicion. Now that a handful of prominent players have been exposed as steroid users, the average fan is skeptical of his former heroes and the players' acts of prowess will be forever tainted by the actions of the few.

In sharp contrast to the deceptive acts of the few which poisoned the views of the masses, I wanted to mention a story regarding the honest acts of an individual and how he influence others for good. I heard a story in a Rabbi Frand shiur a number of years ago about the Abudraham and how he earned his name. I had always assumed that the Abudraham was the last name of this Rishon. I was incorrect.

The Abudraham, besides being a talmudic scholar and writing perushim, also was a meat merchant. In those times, meat was sold by weight which in his location was measured in drahms. When a person came to buy meat in the Abudraham's shop, the Abudraham would weight out meat into single draham portions. As such, when a person would ask for three drahams of meat, the Abudraham would not use a three draham weight on the scale, but would instead weight out three individual draham portions.

One day, a non-Jewish man came into the shop and ordered seven drahams of meat. The Abudraham utilized his one draham weight and portioned out seven individual drahams and gave them to the customer. Not long after the man left the shop he heard someone running after him and asking him to stop. It was the Abudraham holding another package of meat. The Abudraham explained that he was concerned that when he was weighing each draham of meat that he might have had some which were lighter than one draham. The customer indicated to the contrary as he had watched the Abudraham and saw that each of the seven individual drahams were slightly heavier than one draham in weight. Still, the Abudraham would not leave the man with just the one package he had taken from the shop.

The customer was so impressed with the Abudraham and his honesty that the man decided to convert to Judaism. Thus the Abudraham earned his name Abu Draham (father of the draham).

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Sunday Night Suds - Shiner Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at another beer from Shiner, the little brewery in Texas with a big following.

Regular readers of this column may recall that I first got into Shiner beers this past fall when the Va'ad of Detroit faxed me a list of the beers under their supervision and I discovered that Shiner was approved by the Detroit Va'ad. I then set out on a quest to find Shiner and was able to locate the Shiner Hefeweizen (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/11/sunday-night-suds-shiner-hefeweizen.html ) and Shiner Blonde (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/12/sunday-night-suds-shiner-blonde.html).

On my most recent trip to Chicago I made my usual post Pesach pilgrimage to Binny's (approved by the CRC to buy from after Pesach) and loaded up on beers not generally found in NY. In so doing I picked up four new (to me) kinds of Shiner which will be reviewed on an occasional basis in upcoming SNS columns.

I had noticed that the Bock style of beer usually bears a goat on the label or cap, but never knew why until I read this on Beer Advocate:

The origins of Bock beer are quite uncharted. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some believe the name Bock came from the shortening of Einbeck thus "beck" to "bock." Others believe it is more of a pagan or old world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter. As for the beer itself in modern day, it is a bottom fermenting lager that generally takes extra months of lagering (cold storage) to smooth out such a strong brew. Bock beer in general is stronger than your typical lager, more of a robust malt character with a dark amber to brown hue. Hop bitterness can be assertive enough to balance though must not get in the way of the malt flavor, most are only lightly hopped.

Although Bock's are supposed to be heavier and higher in alcohol than normal beers, I found that the Shiner Bock was rich on flavor but not very heavy on bitterness. I then checked the Shiner website and found that the Bock has a 4.4% abv which also falls on the light end.

Having said that, if you are looking for a flavorful beer which is a step up from lagers, but are not ready to dive into stouts, I would recommend the Shiner Bock. I found that its crisp flavor went excellent with bbq and salads and would surmise that they would do equally well with chicken dishes.

Shiner Bock is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, although the brew does not bear the Va'ad symbol on its label. If you would like me to e-mail you the Va'ad LOC for Shiner Bock, send me an e-mail and I will gladly oblige.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Shiner Bock, please follow this link
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/143/1352 . As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Emor

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand in his shiur 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.

Parshas Emor contains the mitzva of Lechem HaPanim - the "shewbread" (24:5-9) which lay on the shulchan for an entire week before being replaced with twelve identical loaves. Rabbi Frand stated that some chassidim have a tradition to put twelve loaves on the table when making HaMotzi on shabbos to remember the Lechem HaPanim.

The Gemara in Chaggiga teaches that when those who had been oleh regel to Yerushalim were leaving, the Kohanim would pick up the table which had the Lechem HaPanim on it in order to show those leaving the great miracle of the Lechem HaPanim (it never went bad and stayed "freshly baked warm" all week long). The Gemara states that when the Kohanim picked up the table they remarked to those who were leaving - see how dear you are to Hashem.

Rabbi Frand asked the question - why specifically was this miracle chosen to show the Jews who had completed their trip? The Beis Hamikdash had many daily miracles, why was this one demonstrated to the people?

Rabbi Frand quoted the "Pri Tzadik" who states that the 12 loaves were symbolic of the 12 tribes and were an indication that they (the 12 tribes) are all dear to Him like the 12 loaves. Rabbi Frand then quoted a Medrash which teaches that all 12 tribes worshipped Hashem differently. Therefore, traditional shuls have 12 windows to show that the same way that although each tribe had its own way of worshipping Hashem, all the tefillos went up to Him. Although the various sects have different minhagim it is irrelevant, as long as everyone "keeps the shulchan aruch" all the minhagim are considered holy before Hashem just like the 12 loaves of the Lechem HaPanim.

Rabbi Frand then noted that immediately after the mitzva of Lechem HaPanim, the parsha tells the story of the mikallel - the son of a Jewish woman and an Egyptian man and who went out and cursed Hashem's name. Rashi asks why did the man go out? Rashi answers that the man finished learning the Lechem HaPanim and scoffed - saying how does one worship Hashem by giving him cold nine day old bread?

But why is this so significant to the mikallel? Rabbi Frand quoted R' Tzadok HaKohen who explains that the 12 loaves were indicative of the holiness of the 12 tribes before Hashem. This man had "sour grapes" - since he was not the member of a tribe as he descended from an Egyptian father. Thus the mikallel had a problem with the concept of the holiness of the tribes and their connection to the Lechem HaPanim, so he cursed Hashem.

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Wednesday's Weird But True Legal Cases - Vol XLVII

Tonight's Weird (but true) case asks the age old question - can one have a second bite of the Esrog?

In Schwartzman v. Harlap, 08 Cv 4990 (BMC), United States District Court Judge Cogan was faced with a controversy over esrogim. The facts in the unpublished decision indicate that Schwartzman was an Israeli esrog producer who sold esrogim to Harlap to distribute in the United States. Part of the agreement between Schwartman and Harlap was that Harlap would be the "exclusive" distributor of the esrogim.

In September 2006, a dispute arose when Harlap accused Schwartzman of violating the exclusivity provision. The parties submitted the dispute to beis din in Israel before a Rabbi Stern. After Rabbi Stern ruled for Schwartzman, the dispute was submitted to an Israeli court (J Cogan indicates that the record is unclear as to who submitted the dispute to the Israeli court). During the Israeli court proceeding, Harlap argued that Rabbi Stern could not decide the controversy as he was being paid by Schwartzman to be the Rav HaMachsir for the esrogim. Subsequently, the parties agreed to withdraw the Israeli court proceeding and the matter was resubmitted to Rabbi Stern for additional rulings. In the end, Rabbi Stern ruled for Schwartzman and awarded him $66,000 (Harlap had stopped paying when he challenged whether he was still the exclusive distributor).

Thereafter, Schwartzman commenced an action seeking to have the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York enforce the award under the Convention for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Unfortunately for Harlap, the Convention only contains limited means for challenging the award and specifically does not allow the US court to decide whether the award was correct.

However, Judge Cogan indicated that although the Convention did not reach the issue of the "non-disclosure" of Rabbi Stern's role with Schwartzman, United States law allows the court to consider whether the arbitrator (in this case Rabbi Stern) was impartial.

In the end, Harlap did not get a second bite of the esrog as Judge Cogan ruled that since the agreement between the parties indicated that there was a possibility that Rabbi Stern might be retained to be the Rav HaMachshir and the parties had resubmitted the dispute to him after Harlap had previously raised the question of Rabbi Stern's partiality in the Israeli court proceeding, the award could not be challenged.

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Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Bava Metzia 10

Bava Metzia 10 contains an interesting discussion on "Pe'ah etiquette" within the context of a discussion as to how one can be koneh objects. Abaye mentions that R' Chisda had learned from a Mishna in Pe'ah that if a person who is picking Pe'ah took some of what he was collecting and then threw it on top of other unpicked vegetation in the Pe'ah area, he has not accomplished anything. Furthermore, if the person threw his cloak on top of the unpicked vegetation in the Pe'ah area or flopped down on it, other any'im can forcibly take it from him.

[I can't stop thinking about the various school functions where you show up in advance of the time it is supposed to start and people have thrown their coats on top of entire rows of seats to "reserve" them in advance. No people are there now, even though its 1/2 an hour before the program is supposed to start. However, the seats are "reserved." How I wish we could apply the Pe'ah disenfranchisement to school programs, but I digress].

Tosafos (d'h Ma'avirin) teaches that the person who removes the "flopper" is not even called a wicked person. Tosafos (citing to Kiddushin 59a) explains that if a poor person is trying to make a business deal and acquire a cake at a good price and then another person swoops in and buys it, the aggressor is called a wicked person, because the other person could look elsewhere and try to find a deal without hurting the poor person. However, where the object is ownerless (such as Pe'ah) a person can't just flop on the object and anyone who takes it is not called a wicked person.

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Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Brown Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at another of the Saranac brews - Saranac Brown Ale.

Regular beer drinkers who venture beyond macrobrews may have observed that traditional breweries lack some imagination with the naming of their beer styles. Many of the styles revolve around color such as White Ale, Irish Red, Black Lager and yes, Brown Ale. As noted by the experts at BA in their description of English Brown Ale (the forerunner of American Brown):

Spawned from the Mild Ale, Brown Ales tend to be maltier and sweeter on the palate, with a fuller body. Color can range from reddish brown to dark brown. Some versions will lean towards fruity esters, while others tend to be drier with nutty characters. All seem to have a low hop aroma and bitterness.

As mentioned above, the traditional brewers stay close to home with their beer classifications. As such, it should not be shocking to note that BA states the following about American Brown Ales:

Spawned from the English Brown Ale, the American version can simply use American ingredients. Many other versions may have additions of coffee or nuts. This style also encompasses "Dark Ales". The bitterness and hop flavor has a wide range and the alcohol is not limited to the average either.

With this in mind, let's take a quick look at Saranac Brown Ale. The beer itself pours dark brown with an inch of white foam. The beer is not nutty, certainly not as nutty as Saranac Nut Brown Ale (more recently reborn as Saranac Season's Best). There is a generous amount of malt in the brew, almost pushing it towards a stout. The beer also has a higher than average alcohol content (6% abv).

I enjoyed my Saranac Brown Ale with shwarma and falafel and the flavors melded together quite nicely. I could easily see having one or more of these with a steak or full flavored meat dish.

Saranac Brown Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit as is every other beer produced at the Matt Brewery plant in Utica, NY. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Brown Ale, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/33399.

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, please accept my appreciation for sending Kosher Beers over the 10,000 hit mark. I'm so glad that my beer musings on sports, talmud, law and torah have amused so many readers. Here's to the next 10,000!

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