Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Ki Sissa

The following is a brief summary of some of the 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 32:17-18 there is an interesting conversation between Moshe and Yehoshua in connection with the voices of the Jews. In Shemos 32:17, Yehoshua tells Moshe "the sound of battle is in the camp." In response, Moshe tells Yehoshua in Shemos 32:18, that it is a "sound of distress."

R' Frand quoted the Yerushalmi which recounts that Moshe's response to Yehoshua was a rebuke. Moshe said to Yehoshua - you are going to be the next leader of the Jewish people, don't you know the difference between the sounds from the Jews? 

R' Frand analogized this to a mother who hears her baby crying and knows whether the sound is a cry because of pain, hunger, diaper or other problem. This is what Moshe was telling Yehoshua that he needed to be tuned into.

R' Frand next quoted R' Schwalb who writes that Yehoshua thought that he heard a drunken crying from the Jewish people which he interpreted as the beginning of a rebellion against Moshe and Hashem. Moshe responded to Yehoshua - yes they are drunk, but it is because they are in pain and are drinking to take the edge off of their concerns and troubles. They think that I (Moshe) have died and that they will be without a leader in the desert. So they drink to avoid thinking about how they may be lost.

R' Frand closed the vort by observing that this is the role of a psychologist or psychiatrist. They may hear or observe the same things as other people, but they are able to recognize it for what it is and they can discern the source of the problem.

R' Frand also said a second vort on the breaking of the luchos. R' Frand asked the famous question - since Hashem had already told Moshe in Shemos 32:7-8 that  the Jews had created the Egel, then why did Moshe bring the luchos down before breaking them? He could have left them up on Har Sinai or in the alternative, he could have broken them when he was up on the mountain, once Hashem told him about the Jews' actions!

R' Frand quoted the Ramban on Parshas Eikev, who explains that Moshe destroyed the luchos because he came down and saw the Jews' dancing in front of the Egel. This was too much for Moshe as the Jews had not only sinned, they were rejoicing in their sin.

R' Frand also quoted the Seforno who said that Moshe broke the luchos specifically because (as stated in Shemos 32:19), Moshe saw the Egel and the dancing before it.

R' Frand also quoted the Mishna Berurah (I did not catch the cite) who writes that the Arizal had a simcha in his doing mitzvos and that this simcha is what allowed him to reach that high of a spiritual level. 

R' Frand tied that into the acts of the Jews ---before they danced, the Jews had sinned but could do teshuva for their acts, even though this was avodah zarah. But once Moshe saw that they were dancing and rejoicing, he had no choice but to break the luchos, as they were no longer capable of doing teshuva.

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Sunday Night Suds - Emek Haela Irish Red Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Emek Haela's Irish Red Ale.

This is another one of the beers which I picked up in the Beer Bazaar stand in Machane Yehuda and so far it is the best of the bunch. In fact, it might be the best Israeli beer I have ever tasted.

Emek Haela is one of two breweries which are run by Srigim Breweries (the other is Ronen). A link to the main brewery website can be found here www.srigim-beer.co.il/emekhaela.

The beer poured a rich dark copper which bordered on brown. There was decent carbonation, although it did not rise to the level of some American beers. There was not a specific flavor which stood out for this brew, but there was some hops, a little honey and caramel notes and a pleasant malt character in the background which made this a well balanced beer. I would rank this above any American Irish Red that I have ever tried, although it did remind me somewhat of the (late) Pete's Wicked Ale. 

The Emek Haela is certified kosher, but I left the bottle at the home where we had our Purim sedua and I can't recall who issued the kosher certification. If you have a bottle handy please post the kosher certification in the comments below. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew (yes its on BA), please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34175/128573.

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).

Also, if you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please check the label on the bottle you are purchasing (since the the kosher beers list link does not include beer brewed in Israel).

Lastly, 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!

Purim 5777/2017 Kosher Beers List

As a community service, Kosher Beers publishes a list twice a year of the beers which are known to be certified kosher. The list will be updated periodically until the next edition (Labor Day 2017). For the Purim 5777/2017 edition, I will again be using scribd to upload and maintain list. All newly added beers are in bold.

  Kosher Beers List Purim 2017 by KosherLawNY on Scribd

Thursday's Purim Tidbits

The following is a brief summary of some of the thoughts said over by R' Frand in his shiur this evening. With Purim around the corner, both the halacha and post halacha sections were about Purim. I have attempted to reproduce the post halacha 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 mentioned that although you don't need to cross the ocean to learn Torah, he was very impressed with a vort he read in a journal published in England in connection with what I believe was a kollel dinner. (I am a little fuzzy on the details of the event). The vort was written by R' Aryeh Masher (sp?) on Manchester and discusses the piyut Shoshanas Ya'akov which is said after the Megillah is read.

R' Frand said that the statement "shekol koivecha lo yevoshu" - that all who have faith in You will not be humiliated and will not come out wanting --this he said is the main message of the megillah.

R' Frand remarked that it is not so simple to see how the Jews put their faith in Hashem. One could say that after Haman's decree came out the Jews fasted and went into mourning and that this was a show of faith in Hashem. But R' Masher stated that it is more pronounced in the megillah. He noted that earlier in the megillah, Esther is chosen to be the Queen, although she was not the prettiest. But once this happened, the Jews did not say --OK, we have one in the palace, we will be saved. But the Jews did not rely on this and Mordechai in particular says something to Esther which demonstrates that he is putting his faith in Hashem.

When Mordechai comes to Esther and tells her to go to the king, she is hesitant as even she could not visit the king without permission. When says this to Mordechai, he does not respond with the statememt "you are our only hope --you have to do this and without this we will all be destroyed." But Mordechai did not push the proverbial panic button. Instead, Mordechai tells her "if you don't go, the Jews will be saved from another source." Mordechai in effect is saying, if you don't want to be the one that saves the Jews, there will be another way.

R' Frand said that this is the lesson of "shekol koivecha."

R' Frand said that this applies to our every day life as well. A business opportunity may come your way and you feel that "this is it." This will make your business successful and it must go forward. But if a person has faith in Hashem, he will know that Hashem sets his income from Rosh Hashanah and whatever happens with this opportunity, the money you are supposed to have will come to you.

R' Frand said that R' Masher tied it into the statement in davening - "baruch hagever asher yivtach b'Hashem, v'haya Hashem mivtacho" --blessed is the man who puts his faith in Hashem and Hashem will be his faith. The statement appears redundant. But the Malbim explains that the first part of the statement is the blessing to the person who believes that Hashem will save him, but the second is praise to the belief that the person has that Hashem will find the means to save him and its up to Hashem to determine how it will happen.

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 Night Suds - Malka IPA

This week's Sunday Night Suds takes a holiday spin by looking at Malka Brewery's Hindi IPA.

This is another of the beers which I picked up in the Beer Bazaar in Machane Yehuda in Jerusalem. I chose these beers without knowledge of their provenance and basically just chose IPAs and Pale Ales because those are my favorite styles. The proprietors of Beer Bazaar do offer a beer tasting which I have been told are two oz shots of ten beers for 20 shekel (approximately $5.25). However, since I was on my way out to meet the rest of the family for dinner, I did not have the opportunity to try it.

The name of the beer Hindi IPA is almost a redundancy as Hindi would be slang for someone from India and an IPA is an India Pale Ale. However unless you can read Hebrew, you would not know that the beer was actually called "Hindi".

The beer poured a dark copper and there was some hops which hit my nose when I raised the glass to my face. The carbonation was low and the alcohol backbone was a bit stronger than I expected for a beer with a 6.2% abv. As I consumed successive sips of this brew I did not notice a development of flavor as it was basically some hops together with a bit of breadiness.

The Malka Hindi IPA is certified kosher by Rav Shlomo Ben Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Mateh Asher regional  council and there is a certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew (yes its on BA), please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32374/143829/.

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).

Also, if you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please check the label on the bottle you are purchasing (since the the kosher beers list link does not include beer brewed in Israel).

Lastly, 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 Terumah

The following is a brief summary of some of the 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's first vort began with a quote from the Medrash Rabbah which states that the world was not worthy of creating cedar trees and that they were only created for the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash.

R' Frand quoted the sefer Menachem Zion which interpreted a Gemara in Ta'anis 20 which can explain the Medrash Rabbah. The Gemara says that a person should be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar. The meaning of this Gemara is that a person can't interact with society or be in a relationship if their attitude is --its my way or the highway.

R' Frand said that when applying this to the Medrash Rabbah we see that a person should stand on principle and not compromise when it comes to aspect of religion. Because once a person (or a form of religion) begins to compromise on principles, its a slippery slope and they lose the appearance of their religion.

R' Frand developed this vort by quoting a Rashi which states that Ya'akov saw with Ruach HaKodesh that the Jews would eventually be travelling in the desert and would need the Atzei Sheetim to build the Mishkan. So Ya'akov took the cedar trees to Egypt and commanded his children that when they leave Egypt they should take the trees with them.

R' Frand observed that this did not start with Ya'akov, but actually began with Avraham who planted the trees in Be'er Sheva ("Vayeeta Eishel'). R' Frand quoted R' Avraham Bukspan who explained that Avraham Avinu was an iconoclast and stood separate from the rest of the world when he was the first to separate from idol worship and created the concept of monotheism. Avraham was unflinching and straight like a cedar and would not allow for polytheism. Ya'akov saw this and incorporated it into his thinking and the Jewish DNA.

R' Frand said a second vort in the name of R' Jonathan Sacks who asked why Terumah, Tezaveh, half of Ki Sissa as well as Vaykhel and Pikudei are all in Sefer Shemos? It would have made sense to put them in Sefer Vayikra which is dedicated to the laws of the acts of Kohanim in bringing sacrifices. Why are they in sefer Shemos?

He answered by looking back at the beginning of Sefer Shemos - its all about complaints - Shemos, Va'era, Bo, Beshalach, Yisro - the Jews are complaining about things - some rightfully, but all complaints. How does one make a nation out of a group of people who are constantly complaining?

Hashem says - I will give you a way to make a nation - have them all work together towards building a Mishkan - one will bring money, one will bring skill, one will bring strength - but they will work together towards a common goal. And once people start working together, the complaints fall away.

R' Frand quoted R' Ya'akov Kaminetsky who comments on the flags in Sefer Bamidbar. The Jews were told that they should travel in camps with certain flags. But this happened in the second year of the midbar. Why? Because flags can be a source of dissension. They could not have had the flags in year one, because they would be at each other's throats. But once there was a central force - the Mishkan that drew them together, then they could have some individuality. So first they needed the Mishkan in Sefer Shemos to bring them all together and stop complaining.

R' Frand closed by quoting a thought from R' Nachum Lansky who said that the end of Vayikra, Bamidbar and Devarim end with similar words - a discussion of how things occurred before the Jewish people. But the end of Shemos says that the events occurred before Bnei Yisrael - because they were becoming a nation.

He ended by telling a story about Mr. Goldberg who checked himself into the Cleveland Clinic with heart problems but checked himself out and went to a hospital in Brooklyn. The doctors in Brooklyn asked him - why did you come here? Were the doctors not treating you in Cleveland? No, he replied. Were the nurses inattentive? No, he responded. Was the food poor? No, that was not a problem. 

So why did you come to Brooklyn they asked him - he responded - because I needed something to complain about.

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!