Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Beshalach

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

In Shemos 13:19, the Torah notes that Moshe took Yosef's body with him when the Jews left Egypt. The Medrash states - look at the righteousness of Moshe! The Jews took the gold and silver with them when they left Egypt, but Moshe took the body of Yosef.

R' Frand quoted R' Yaakov Kaminetsky who asked what is Moshe's chassidus by taking the body? R' Kaminetsky further comments that the Jews had a hard time taking the money from Egypt and Hashem needed to use the term "daber na" (in Shemos 11:2) when telling Moshe to ask the Jews to request money from the Egyptians. The reason the Jews needed to be convinced was that they were afraid that they would be stealing from the Egyptians. They needed to be convinced that this was not true, since this was their payment for all their years of servitude. Additionally, this was money which only came to the Egyptians due to the efforts of Yosef. Therefore the money was legitimately theirs.

Although there was an imprimatur for taking the money, Moshe decided that he wanted to perform an act that was purely spiritual with no physical benefit.

But R' Yaakov gives a deeper explanation for this act. He quoted a well known medrash that recites that when the Jews came to Yam Suf, the angels came before Hashem and said - why should the Jews be saved? Both these (the Jews) and them (the Egyptians) were idol worshippers. The Medrash answers that the reason that Hashem saved the Jews was because of Yosef. But why Yosef?

The answer given by Shimon HaTzadik in the Medrash is that Yosef gave up his life, rather than sin with the wife of Potiphar. Yosef knew that if he fled from the house he would be chased down and imprisoned. He knew that he would be eventually caught and thrown in a dungeon, perhaps forever. But Yosef did not care about this, and on principle, turned her down and fled.

This was the reason that Hashem was able to answer the angels. Hashem said to them - there is a difference between the Jews and the Egyptians. The Jews are willing to give up their lives on principle - my principle, and they get it from Yosef.

Moshe may not have known that the angels would challenge Hashem when the Jews got to the Yam Suf. But his choice of taking Yosef's body gave Hashem the ammunition to set aside the angels' challenge.

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Belated Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams Alpine Spring.

[Ed note - due to a severe winter cold and an (over) abundance of caution over the OTC interaction warnings, I was unable to try this beer until Monday evening, thus necessitating a belated Sunday Night Suds posting].

I saw this beer at Beer Heaven (more formally known as Shangy's of Emmaus) while vacationing with my family in the Allentown/Harrisburg area. Since the Pennsylvania beer laws require beer stores to sell beer in 24 packs, I did not think that I would get a chance to try the Alpine Spring, as I was not going to purchase a case of the this as yet unknown beer. Luckily, the staff at Shangy's recommended a Wegman's in the vicinity where you can mix your own six packs.

The Samuel Adams website indicates that Alpine Spring is a Kellerbier which is a style that I admit to being completely unfamiliar with. Of course the gurus at BA have seen this style, which they define as:

A rather old, rare, and unique German beer style, Kellerbiers are unfiltered and unpasteurized lagers that date back to at least the Middle Ages. The beer is matured, unbunged (beer is exposed), in deep vaults. The final product is a smooth, naturally cloudy beer that's rich in vitamins (from the yeast). Hop bitterness can be high and alcohol will vary.

Now that I know that Kellerbiers are rich in vitamins, I wonder if maybe I should be imbibing this instead of OTC cold medicine. Although I don't know how well that would go over with my employers...

The Alpine Spring poured a cloudy deep orange and was unlike any lager that I have ever tasted. There was a fruitiness which was slightly reminiscent of Blue Moon (although that happens to be an ale). I have to remind myself that it is unflavored, because the citrus and spice notes from the yeast keep making think that something HAD to be added to bring out this kind of flavor.

Samuel Adams Winter Lager is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. Unlike most Samuel Adams brews, this bottle has the Star-K certification mark on the label. It is not on the current Star-K LOC (http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf), but I have emailed them in the hope that this and some other new Samuel Adams brews will be added soon.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Alpine Spring, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/76571.

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 Bo

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.

R' Frand noted that the end of the ten makkos (the final three) appear in Parshas Bo. R' Frand quoted the sefer Milchamos Yehuda from R' Lubard who observed that the plague of Choshech - darkness, was different from the other plagues in Bo. While the the other plagues came with warnings, there was no warning that the plague of darkness would afflict Egypt. The question is why?

R' Frand answered that the other makkos were a punishment which were meant to break Pharaoh's will. When a person gives a punishment, he gives a warning first - if you do this again then you will get ...

The makkah of Choshech was not actually a punishment according to R' Lubard. Instead, the makkah was a warning from Hashem to Pharaoh - "you are blind, you need to open your eyes and see what is happening." The makkah was a message to Pharaoh - you don't see, but if you open your eyes, you will see. Thus Choshech was a warning and not a punishment.

R' Frand quoted a Medrash on a pasuk in Tehillim which states "He sent darkness and it became dark, but they did not rebel." The Medrash states on this pasuk that Hashem asked the angels - are the Egyptians worthy of the makkah of Choshech and all the angels agreed. What is the pshat in this Medrash? Quoting R' Lubard, R' Frand explained that before all the other plagues there were debates in shamayim as to whether the Egyptians deserved each plague and some angels argued against the plague. But when it came to Choshech there was no argument as it was a warning, not a punishment.

R' Frand then quoted a second Medrash which stated that the plague of Choshech was thick like a dinar (the coin used in the gemara's times). This is hard to comprehend as darkness is the absence of light, it does not have density. R' Frand quoted R' Lubard to explain that money (the dinar) can blind, causing people to do crazy things in order to get money. He mentioned that stories are told of executives in their 60's who resign because they want to spend more time with their family. But where is the family at that age?

This was the message of choshech - just as Pharaoh was blinded by his hatred of the Jews, so too we can be blinded by the pursuit of money.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - The Passing of Paterno

When I was growing up on Long Island there were not many options for college football. Hofstra and St John's had teams, but neither were very good. If you wanted to become a college football fan, you needed to look beyond the NYC metro area. My close friend Lonnie O became an Ohio State fan, for reasons that I cannot remember. When I was looking around, I decided to become a Penn State fan, largely because of the icon which was Joe Paterno.

Since players rarely spend more than two or three (or at most four) years in school, college football fans can't lock their affections onto a particular player. Most college coaches are as transient as their players. They may spend two or three years on a team, but soon the lure of the pros or a larger or more prestigious college program comes calling and the $$ are hard to resist. If a college coach does manage to stay for more than five years, he must produce or face the calls for firing by alumni who return for a game or two each year. These booster/donors root for their alma mater, not the players or coaches. As such, they owe little allegiance to the current coach or AD.

One of the few exceptions to the above was Joe Paterno. For those who did not attend a college with a Division I football program, its hard to understand the persona who was Joe Paterno. Nicknamed "Joe Pa", Paterno was always viewed as fatherly figure who managed to get the best out of his athletes. It never mattered that he dressed like it was still the 70s as the PSU football players also dressed in what could be kindly called "throwback" uniforms and had reputations to match. Traditionally, PSU graduated intelligent ballplayers to the NFL. For a time, Penn State was most well known for its linebackers, but at times they did send offensive players to the pros as well. Again, the constant was the lack of scandal or controversy, which most attributed to Joe Pa being at the helm.

And then came the scandal which hit in November. There is no way to sugar coat it and to his credit, Paterno did not try to make excuses. When he was interviewed last month (the first time that he was allowed to comment) he admitted that he did not know how to handle the accusations which were made against his (then) assistant coach. He passed the report up the pipeline to his athletic director and President and left it for them to act. While I would have liked him to have done more, its not hard to understand how a (then) 75 year old man would not know what to do with allegations of this kind against his assistant.

I do not write this post to comment on, or justify, Paterno's actions ten years ago or earlier this year. I am just struck by what happened after Paterno was ignominiously removed as head coach a few months ago. Although Paterno had a history of health problems, his passing came as a shock. A man who was well enough to stand and coach on the sidelines earlier this year, was diagnosed and succumbed to cancer inside of three months. But was it the cancer, or a broken heart due to the realization of what had transpired, which felled this icon.

The gemara in Avoda Zara tells a story of Elazar Ben Dordaya who sinned and was mocked by his paramour and told that he could never receive repentance. He asked the hills and mountains, the sun and moon, heaven and earth and the stars and constellations to pray for him, but was turned away by all. He then placed his head between his knees and cried until his soul departed.

I do not mean to equate the Elazar Ben Dordaya story with Joe Paterno, but the realization that one has made a major error with far reaching ramifications and the swift way both departed with broken hearts struck a chord with me. Feel free to comment with your thoughts...

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Va'era

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

In the beginning of this week's parsha, Moshe tells the Jews the four languages of geulah that we know from the Pesach seder. After reciting the language of geulah, the Torah writes at Va'era 6:9 that Moshe told this to the Jews, but they did not listen because of the shortness of breath or spirit and the hard work.

R' Frand noted that this was hard to understand since at the end of Parshas Shemos (4:31), Moshe and Aharon tell the Jews about being redeemed from Egypt and they say Amen and they understand the geulah is coming. What could have happened to cause this sea change in thought?

R' Frand first offered a pragmatic answer that the Jews were forced to work harder and go looking for straw to build their bricks after Moshe first addressed the Jews in Parshas Shemos.

R' Frand then gave a deeper answer which he quoted in the name of the Ralbag. R' Frand stated that the shortness of spirit or breath was not descriptive of the Jews - it was about Moshe himself! Moshe had previously been thinking that he would go down and tell the Jews that they were leaving and that they would leave immediately thereafter. Moshe was depressed that the geulah did not come right after he addressed the Jews. His depression impacted on his manner of addressing the Jews and he lacked his exuberance. As such, the Jews did not listen because his words rang hollow to them.

R' Frand brought a proof from the Noach story. The question is often asked - why is it that Noach was unsuccessful in bringing anyone to do teshuva. The answer is - Noach did what he was told to do, but not out of any great belief that what he was doing was necessary or that the flood would actually happen. Since Noach did not give off an expression of sincerity, he was unable to convince others to repent.

The moral is - if a person is deficient in his faith, he cannot have an impact on other people. Thus because Moshe was not giving his message with the same inner strength, it did not have the same impact on the Jewish people.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - Rooting for or against and R' Zera

Although this post is generally devoted to sports with a link to Torah, I heard a vort in a R' Mansour shiur on Parshas Shemos (downloaded from www.learntorah.com) which actually made me think back to sports from Torah.

The gemara in Megilla 28a contains numerous discussions between illustrious Rabbis and their students, wherein the students asked - why did you merit to have a long life. Each Rabbi responded to the questioner about his own particular middah or middos (attributes) which he felt was the reason that he was zoche to long life.

In answering the question that was posed to him, R' Zera responded that he was zoche to long life, in part due to his not rejoicing at the downfall of his friends.

This concept was foreign to the Rabbi who was giving the shiur. He posited - how can anyone be happy when something bad happens to someone else? He answered that what it must mean is that the person was genuinely happy for others and felt bad when something bad happened to the other person. This is the sign of a "gadol" - one who feels a sense of community responsibility and does not think solely about himself and his needs.

While R' Mansour could not conceptualize being happy when another fails, a sports fan finds this fairly routine. As a Jets fan, I could never root for the Patriots and actively hope they will fail when playing. Although the Mets have been non-competitive for the last two years, I still find myself happy when the Phillies fail. And don't get me started about the NY Islanders, even though they have not had a decent season since before my 13 yr old was born...

Back to the vort, -- R' Mansour tied the vort into the phrase said at the bris that the small child will grow to be a gadol. It is fairly obvious that the child will grow to be big, so why is there a need to say it? He answered that the baby is the ultimate "taker" or selfish being. When a baby wants to eat, it wants to eat. If the baby wants to be picked up - it must be done NOW! A baby does not care that the parent does not feel well, or just got home from work or was up all night. But when the baby grows to be a gadol it becomes aware of the needs of others and abandons its selfish activities.

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