Monday, March 29, 2010

Pre Pesach Wishes

Although I was not planning on posting to the blog until after Pesach, I cannot help myself from sharing the following satirical news story which I saw on the Free Republic blog (original link here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2479096/posts)(Thank you Rabbi M for tipping me off to this "article").

Passover Hagaddah conclusion “Next Year in Jerusalem” deemed “unhelpful” by Obama administration March 23, 2010 By The Associated Press Shana Habbab (AP White House Correspondent) (AP) — An unidentified Israeli official has confirmed that private discussions between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu included a strong request from the President that the upcoming Passover holiday not include the familiar refrain of “next year in Jerusalem”, citing the passage as being provocative and unhelpful for future peace talks. The Administration suggested replacing it with “next year in peace” or “next year in Israel”, but leaving the final wording up to both the Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu is said to have balked at the request, indicating that the refrain dates back well before the UN Partition of 1947. The Prime Minister reportedly attempted to diffuse the situation by noting that the declaration lacks any political significance, adding that most people living outside of Israel just “say the words without having a real desire to live anywhere in Jerusalem.” He further explained that, “at most, they would like to come for the Passover holiday, but only staying at one of the hotels located in western part of the city.”

Sheer brilliance. May we be zocheh to next year in Jerusalem, with or without the blessing of the President who once stated "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone" but who makes a special exception to this rule for Israel.

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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Tzav and Some Matza Crumbs

Traditionally, R' Frand does not give the last Thursday night shiur before Pesach. As such, I have attempted to reproduce a thought said over by R' Frand in his parsha shiur a few years ago. Same ground rules as always apply. Any perceived inconsistencies are the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

This week's parsha continues the discussion of the various sacrifices that are brought. One of the sacrifices mentioned is the mincha (meal offering). In Vayikra 6:7, the Torah begins a discussion of the mincha and specifies details of the process. In the middle of the discussion, the Torah states that the mincha offering is kodesh kodashim (most holy) like the chatas (sin offering) and asham (guilt offering).

The Klei Yakar asks - why does the Torah only compare the mincha offering to the chatas and asham, when there are many other holy sacrifices. The Klei Yakar then answers his own question, stating that the chatas and asham come as atonement offerings and are elevated to most holy status. By example, a person who is righteous is considered holy. However, a person who becomes a baal teshuva - i.e. he returns to the fold and repents for his sins, is considered most holy. Indeed the Talmud teaches us that baal teshuva reaches a level that righteous people cannot hope to attain as all of his sins are converted to righteous acts (Mitzvot).

I was reminded of a story that R' Frand told at the Siyum Daf Yomi in 2005. There was a boy who went away to yeshiva to learn. When he returned, he used to sit at the dining room table learning Talmud. Meanwhile, his father would sit in the living room and watch the fights on television.

One night, the father asked the son if he could learn Talmud with him. The son agreed and over the course of the next few months they were able to learn one page of Talmud together. When they completed the page, the father indicated that he wanted to make a party to celebrate his accomplishment. The son was skeptical as such parties are usually reserved for finishing a volume of Talmud, not a page. Nonetheless, the son went and asked R' Moshe Feinstein ztl. R' Moshe answered him that his father should make a party and furthermore R' Moshe said that he wanted to speak at the party.

Not long after the party, the father died. When R' Moshe heard, he said that he wanted to speak at the man's funeral. In the eulogy that R' Moshe gave at the funeral, he made an allusion to the concept that certain people can achieve eternal heavenly reward by a single act. [Usually this concept is applicable to people who are killed for being Jewish or who take other singular great actions]. R' Moshe explained that this father had achieved eternal heavenly reward through the act of learning one single page of Talmud.

We can see from the Torah's discussion of the mincha offering and the story involving the yeshiva boy's father who chose to learn Talmud late in life that the actions of those who return can entitle them to incredible rewards, merely because they chose to act.

Finally, for those looking for crumbs for the seder, I offer some Haggada vorts of my own. I learned these in the Haggadah Otzar Midrashim and have attempted to reproduce them to the best of my ability.

The question is asked yearly - why do we wash our hands for urchatz without a brocha while making a brocha when we wash for rachtza later on? R' Moshe Feinstein explains that the seder is a night of song and praise to Hashem for taking the Jews out of Egypt. Much as one washes his hands without a brocha before praying, on this night we wash our hands without a brocha before starting the praise of Hashem at the seder.

Another vort I saw asked the famous question - how is avadim hayeenu an answer to the Ma Nishtana? The Shibalei Haleket answers that avadim hayeenu answers the last question - why on this night do we recline? By saying avadim hayeenu we answer the question - because we were previously slaves and have been redeemed from Egypt on this night - thus we are celebrating our freedom.

One more quick vort involved the fourth son at the seder - the sheayno yodayah l'shol - the one who does not know how to ask. The Be'er Mayim asks - how do we know that he is unable to ask? Maybe he knows all the answers and therefore does not need to ask any questions. The Be'er Mayim answers - if he was truly a chacham he would be asking questions as the ba'al Haggadah wrote - v'afilu kulan chachamim - even if we are all chachamim there is a mitzva on us to tell over the story of yitzias mitrzayim.

I wish all my readers a chag kasher v' sameyach. KosherBeers will return (i'yh) on Thursday April 8, 2010.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Sanhedrin 39

On the very last line of Sanhedrin 38b, R' Yochanan states that R' Meir had three hundred parables about foxes, but we have only retained three of them. On the top of Sanhedrin 39a, the gemara states that the three remaining parables (which are in reality only one) relate to three pesukim - one from Yechezkel, one from Parshas Kedoshim and one from Mishlei. However, the gemara does not state the actual parable(s).

Rashi (d'h Avos) fills in the gap from the daf and tells the following story. A fox tricked a wolf to enter the Jews' camp by telling the wolf that the Jews wanted to cook with him on Friday so that they could eat the Shabbos meal with him. When the wolf entered the camp, the Jews beat him with sticks. The wolf then wanted to kill the fox. The fox told the wolf that he was beaten because the wolf's father once tried to help the Jews cook and then ate all the best cuts of meat. The wolf asked - should I be punished because of my father? The fox replied by citing the first pasuk from Yechezkel which states that the fathers will eat unripe grapes, but the sons will have their teeth blunted.

Rashi states that the fox then told the wolf - come with me and I will show you a place to eat and be satiated. He took the wolf to a well which had a beam across it and a rope hanging down from the beam. Each end of the rope was attached to a bucket which was suspended inside the well. The fox jumped in one bucket and was lowered to the bottom of the well, while the other bucket rose. The wolf then said - why did you go down? The fox replied - there is meat and cheese here and then the fox showed him the moon reflected in the water which looked a cheese wheel. The wolf asked - how shall I get down there? The fox replied - jump into the upper bucket. The wolf complied and he was lowered to the bottom of the well, while the fox was raised out of the well. The wolf then asked - how do I get out of here? The fox replied by quoting the pasuk from Mishlei - A tzaddik will be saved and the rasha will take his place. Besides said the fox - (quoting the pasuk from Kedoshim) one should have righteous weights and righteous scales.

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Monday, March 22, 2010

Monday Musings on Sports - Cinderellas, Sweet Sixteens and What's in a Name?

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. Although Max resigned from 1050 almost one year ago, I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

The past eight days has been the start of the annual tradition known as "March Madness." (For an interesting look at the origins of that trademarked term, click here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/03/wednesdays-weird-but-true-cases-vol-iii.html). Commencing with the growing holiday known as "Selection Sunday" and running through the championship game on the first Monday night in April, much of the country becomes involved with rooting for any combination of: their alma maters; teams from little known schools which have garnered national attention; or teams that they have picked in their brackets to go to the final four.

The tournament itself is not without controversy. On Selection Sunday (the day teams find out whether they have made the NCAA tournament and if so, which seed they received) there are always interviews with coaches who express disappointment over their team's seeding or their relegation to the NIT (aka the Not Invited Tournament).

Following Selection Sunday there is a mad scramble to learn as much as possible about the 65 teams in the Tournament in the three plus days before the first real games are played. Then the real magic starts. Games begin at noon on Thursday and Friday and run until late into the night. Fans at sites around the United States watch two game sets and invariably a lower ranked team from one of the aforementioned small schools will upset a large college from a major conference. The media then anoint these schools "Cinderellas" since they were not expected to advance at the dance. If one of these Cinderellas manages to win a second game it becomes a media darling for having advanced to the sweet sixteen.

Looking past the emotion of a David upsetting a Goliath, the question needs to be asked - is the lower ranked team properly ranked. In certain situations there truly is an upset, such as where a major power which has lost a handful of games is beaten by a school with many losses which just happens to have a hot game. But more often than not, the Cinderella team also has very few losses. For example, this year Cornell was deemed a Cinderella for beating higher ranked Temple and Wisconsin. However, Cornell only had four losses this year (less than Temple and Wisconsin) and two of Cornell's losses were to top 10 teams Syracuse and Kansas which together had five losses. So why was Cornell ranked so lowly by the NCAA Tournament committee? Because they came from the Ivy League and do not have a national presence.

In fairness, there are teams which come from small conferences which while playing other small schools do receive national recognition and higher rankings. Some recent small schools which have achieved high rankings are Butler and Gonzaga. However, these schools have earned their recognition by upsetting higher ranked teams in many consecutive NCAA tournaments.

The question as to whether a team is fairly ranked or even gets into the NCAA Tournament can easily be linked to Torah thought. A number of weeks ago, R' Frand taught a ma'amar which states that a person has three names - the one he is given by his parents, the one that his friends give him and the one that he earns. R' Frand explained that this is not merely an issue of semantics or nicknames. The three stages are indicative of the impact and influence of various groups in one's life. For the first stage of life, a person's actions are largely impacted by one's parents. Thereafter, as an adolescent, the influences are more from the child's friends. During the ultimate stage, the name that the person earns is based on the persons actions as an adult and he is judged based on the person that he has become. Somewhat similarly, while these teams quibble about the height of their rankings or their selection to the Tournament, the issue truly is what name they have earned during their regular season lifetime.

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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sunday Night Suds - Kirkland Signature Amber Ale



This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at another of the Kirkland beers - Kirkland Signature Amber Ale.

The Amber Ale style of beer is an interesting category as it has developed as a general term for ales which are not quite dark. Having said that, the beers in this category have little in common other than the fact that they are deep red in color. As explained by the experts at Beer Advocate, the Amber Ale category is:

Primarily a catch all for any beer less than a Dark Ale in color, ranging from amber (duh) to deep red hues. This style of beer tends to focus on the malts, but hop character can range from low to high. Expect a balanced beer, with toasted malt characters and a light fruitiness in most examples. The range can run from a basic ale, to American brewers who brew faux-Oktoberfest style beers that are actually ales instead of lagers.
Over the last few months, I have sampled (and reviewed) a few of the beers which fall in this vast category including the Fat Tire Amber Ale (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/12/sunday-night-suds-new-belgiums-fat-tire.html ) and Killian's Irish Red (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/10/sunday-night-suds-killians-irish-red.html). However, the Kirkland Signature Amber Ale was completely different than the very good Fat Tire and the quite average Killian's.

The first thing that struck me when I tried the Amber Ale was the balance between the hops and the malt. The beer has a great deal of caramel maltiness, but at the same time there is a bitterness from the hops. In some ways it evokes a little Bass, almost like it was a distant cousin of the great red triangle.

I tried the Amber Ale with a cholent on shabbos and by itself this evening (yes I do drink the same beer on back to back nights on occasion). The Amber Ale stood up well to the cholent which was rice based (instead of barley) this week. While both the cholent and the Amber Ale were quite good, the flavors did not meld the way I would have thought. I believe that the Amber Ale would be excellent with charred meat, but I expect that I will have to wait for after Pesach to give that combination a shot.

Kirkland Signature Amber Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and bears the Va'ad logo on the bottom right corner of the front label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Kirkland Signature Amber Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21516/48556.

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 www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayikra

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.

In the 5th perek of Parshas Vayikra, the Torah writes about a person who is obligated to bring a karban chatas based on committing one of numerous types of sins. If the person has means, the Torah commands that he bring a female sheep or goat as a karban (Vayikra 5:6). If the person cannot afford the animal, he may bring birds. However, the Torah instructs that the person must bring two birds - either doves or pigeons and that one bird serves as chatas while the other becomes an olah (Vayikra 5:7). Finally, the Torah instructs that if the person cannot afford birds, he should bring a flour offering (Vayikra 5:11).

Rabbi Frand then asked, why is that there is an extra korban if one brings birds instead of animals? Rabbi Frand answered by citing to the Ibn Ezra who says in the name of R' Yitzchak that the reason that the extra korban is brought is that the person in category two is no doubt blaming Hashem for his embarassment and inability to afford the sheep or goat and is in effect asking - why has Hashem put him in the position that he can't bring a proper karban. Since the person is questioning G-d, he must bring an additional karban to atone for this sin.

The Chida (in his sefer Pnei Dovid) explains why this does not apply to the flour offering. The Chida writes that the absolutely destitute person who cries out against Hashem is not punished as Hashem says that although he may have complaints that he is so poor, Hashem gives him slack. When a person is in such pain, Hashem does not hold him accountable. There is a proof from Job that when a person is in such pain, Hashem does not hold him accountable.

The sefer Bei Chiya (R' Elisha Horowitz) applies this to a pasuk in Tehillim which states "Al tizkar lanu avonos rishonim, maheir yikadmunu rachamecha ki dalono me'od." The Bei Chiya explains that the first part of the pasuk (avonos rishonim) are the evil thoughts - the complaints against Hashem, we ask Hashem to quickly apply mercy and not hold us responsible because we are poor (dalono me'od).

Rabbi Frand then told a story which was said over by the Gerrer Rebbi (Beis Yisrael) that there once was an incident where R' Kook was speaking publicly and someone got up and started yelling at him in the middle of the speech. R' Kook ignored the man, but it was clearly inappropriate. Months later, right before Pesach, R' Kook had a list of people to give money to as ma'os chitim. When R' Kook's assistant noted that this man's name was on the list, he balked at giving him the money. R' Kook then said, if you don't bring him the money, then I will. R' Kook explained - the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of sinas chinam - hatred for no reason. The only way to make up for this is through ahavas chinam - love for no reason. R' Kook further explained that loving a Jew and helping him without connection to that person is not ahavas chinam - because we are commanded to love all Jews anyway (V'ahavta L'rayacha Kamocha). How does one accomplish ahavas chinam - by being nice to someone who has wronged you and you have a real reason to hate him - thus I am giving him this money.

R' Frand then theorized that this might be the reason why R' Kook waited until Pesach to give the man money. It states that we were redeemed from Egypt in Nissan and in Nissan we will be redeemed again. By giving this money and being mikayaim ahavas chinam, R' Kook added another act to the scale towards being redeemed.

R' Frand linked this to the seder as well. The Ben Ish Chai writes that the ma nishtana includes the question why do we dip twice on Pesach night? The Ben Ish Chai answers that one dip is in recognition of the brothers having dipped Yosef's coat in the blood of the goat (Bereishis 37:31) and the other for the agudas eizov (Shemos 12:22) which was taken and dipped in the blood of the goat in Egypt before being painted on the door posts. If we want to atone for dipping Yosef's coat, we need to become a bundle all tied together to prepare for Pesach. If we want to be redeemed we need to come together and forget our petty difference so that we can cause the Beis Hamikdash to be rebuilt.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Sanhedrin 32

Sanhedrin 32 contained another of those "the daf laughs at you" moments. As you may recall from prior posts, Doniel H. (now Rabbi Doniel H.) and I, when we were learning daf together two cycles ago, came up with the theory that occasionally the daf laughs at you. The daf yomi cycle is a seven and a half year cycle where all of shas is learned, two sides of a page per day. Occasionally, one will come across a daf where the week's parsha is referenced or there is a pshat about an upcoming holiday.

Sanhedrin 32 had an extreme "the daf laughs at you moment" as the gemara gave an example of a loan document which was dated the First of Nissan. And as anyone who went to shul knows, Tuesday March 16th this year is the First of Nissan.

On Sanhedrin 32b there is a discussion of how Jews when they were living under the rule of a government which forbade the practice of religion, would give covert signals that there would be a bris or a wedding. Evoking thoughts of "one if by land, two if by sea" the gemara states that if the sound of the mill was heard loudly in Bornei it was a sign there would be a bris. Rashi explains that the sound was symbolic that medicinal herbs were being ground for the bris.

The gemara also mentions that excessive candles at a seemingly improper time was the sign that there would be a wedding. Tosafos (d'h Or) states that this is the source for the custom to light candles at a bris, although I personally have never seen this custom in practice.

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Monday's Musings on Mideast Manipulations - the Amnesia of VP Biden and Secretary of State Clinton

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Monday post is usually dedicated to my musings on sports stories from the previous weekend. However I feel compelled by the recent events in the Mideast to write about the maniacal manipulations in the Mideast which are being orchestrated in Washington.

The issue which has dominated by the press for the last week is Jerusalem. When the Oslo accords were first announced in 1993, there were certain issues that Israel and the Palestinians were able to agree on, while other topics were left for final status negotiations. One of the topics which the negotiators were unable to reach a resolution on was Jerusalem.

As those of the Jewish faith are well aware, the city of Jerusalem has been the focus of our existence for the last three thousand years. Abraham brought Isaac there at Hashem's command, David conquered the City of Jerusalem and his son Shlomo built the Beis Hamikdash there. It was later destroyed, but the Beis Hamikdash was rebuilt and it stood until the year 70 of the Common Era when it was destroyed by the Romans. Still, one wall of the Beis Hamikdash, the wall built by the poor of the Jewish people, has survived to this very day.

Muslims claim the City of Jerusalem as their "third holiest city" despite the fact that it is not mentioned in the Koran. Their link is based on subsequent writings which assert that Mohammad visited there some fourteen hundred years ago.

During the years following the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash, Jewish access to the area was limited and the ability to pray at the wall depended upon the various governments which controlled the area. This changed in 1967 when Israel captured the area from Jordan and subsequently annexed Jerusalem and named it as the capital of Israel.

In the years following the Oslo accords, Congress took numerous steps to force the American government to recognize Israel's decision to name Jerusalem as its capital. One of those steps was the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 which called on the American government to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize the designation of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

One of the sponsors of the 1995 bill was (then) Senator Joe Biden, who last week as Vice President publicly denounced Israel for building housing in the eastern portion of Jerusalem as it was a "provocation" and detrimental to the peace process. However, Mr. Biden had a different view of Jerusalem in 1995 when he made the following speech from the floor of the Senate:

With regard to the last point made by my colleague from Connecticut about the peace process, I have had the view for the past 24 years that the only way there will be peace in the Middle East is for the Arabs to know there is no division between the United States and Israel--none, zero, none.

I argue that is why we are where we are today, because we did not relent under the leadership of this President and others. We made it clear that no wedge would be put between us, thereby leaving no alternative but the pursuit, in an equitable manner, for peace.

Those familiar, and all are on this floor, with the Jewish people know the central meaning that the ancient city of Jerusalem has for Jews everywhere. Time and again, empires have tried to sever the umbilical cord that unites Jews with their capital.

They have destroyed the temple. They have banished the Jews from living in Jerusalem. They have limited the number of Jews allowed to immigrate to that city. And, finally, in this century, they tried simply to eliminate Jews.

They may have succeeded, Mr. President, in destroying physical structures and lives. But they have never succeeded in wholly eliminating Jewish presence in Jerusalem, or in cutting the spiritual bond between Jews and their cherished capital.

After the horrific events of the Holocaust, the Jewish people returned to claim what many rulers have tried to deny them for centuries: The right to peaceful existence in their own country in their own capital.

How many of us can forget that poignant photograph of an unnamed Israeli soldier breaking down in tears and prayer as he reached the Western Wall after his army liberated the eastern half of the city in the Six Day War?

Those tears told a story. A story of a people long denied their rightful place among nations. A people denied access to their most hallowed religious sites. A people who had finally, after long tribulation, come home.

Mr. President, it is unconscionable for us to refuse to recognize the right of the Jewish people to choose their own capital. What gives us the right to second-guess their decision?

For 47 years, we, and much of the rest of the international community, have been living a lie. For 47 years, Israel has had its government offices, its Parliament, and its national monuments in Jerusalem, not in Tel Aviv. And yet, nearly all embassies are located in Tel Aviv. I think this is a denial of fundamental reality.

Mr. President, are we, through the continued sham of maintaining our Embassy in Tel Aviv, to refuse to acknowledge what the Jewish people know in their hearts to be true? Regardless of what others may think, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

And Israel is not just any old country. It is a vital strategic ally.

As the Israelis and Palestinians begin the final status negotiations in May 1996--negotiations, I might add, that were made possible through the leadership of President Clinton--it should be clear to all that the United States stands squarely behind Israel, our close friend and ally.

Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem will send the right signal, not a destructive signal. To do less would be to play into the hands of those who will try their hardest to deny Israel the full attributes of statehood.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

The above text was diectly copied from the Congressional Record for October 24, 1995 and can be found here http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-1995-10-24/html/CREC-1995-10-24-pt1-PgS15522.htm .

It is apparent that Mr. Biden has forgotten his history lesson which he spoke so passionately about less than fifteen years ago. Evidently, now that Mr Biden is Vice President in the Obama administration, he would like to return to "living a lie" and "continuing the sham" (his words, not mine) of debating the status of Jerusalem.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also added fuel to the fire, yet she (as Senator) was the sponsor of a resolution in June 2006 which:

(1) congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 39th anniversary of the reunification of that historic city;
(2) strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 39 years;
(3) calls upon the President and Secretary of State to publicly affirm, as a matter of United States policy, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel;

The above text was found in Thomas (the library of Congress website) at http://www.thomas.gov/ and can also be found on the Congressional Record website at http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=747355150364+4+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve

So what has changed since Joe Biden's history lecture in 1995 and Hillary Clinton's sponsorship of a bill which demanded that the President and Secretary State publicly affirm that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel? Are they suffering from amnesia? Or are their actions a manifestation of their current employer who believes that "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone" except Israel.

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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Sunday Night Suds - Kirkland Signature Pale Ale



After a week's hiatus for packing, moving and all around family celebrations, Kosher Beers returns with a review of Kirkland Signature Pale Ale.

As many of you no doubt know, Kirkland is the house brand for Costco. If you don't live in one of the forty states which have Costco - it is a warehouse club like Sam's or BJs. Costco sells many household goods in large packages and always at a discount over the price of the item in a competing store. I always get a kick out of how postage stamps at Costco are sold in rolls of 100, but the stamps are 1% less than the cost at the post office. Its not like the postal service sells it to Costco at a bulk rate, the store just has a need to prove that there is some discount for shopping at Costco.

As I mentioned above, Kirkland Signature is the Costco house brand. When visiting Costco there is usually a Kirkland brand which is slightly less expensive than the name brand that you came to buy in the first place. For some items there is little difference in quality such as detergent, trash bags, or baby wipes. But can the same be said about beer?

I must disclose before going further with this beer review, that the Kirkland Signature beers are not brewed by Kirkland. I first spotted these brews while on a tour of the Saranac Brewery and warehouse last October. I had heard a rumor that Saranac would be brewing for Costco, but had not seen any Kirkland brand beer in any Costco prior to the tour.

But enough about the store, lets talk about the beer. The Kirkland Signature Pale Ale pours a deep amber with quite a bit of white head which is retained for longer than most Pale Ales. The beer has some malt to it and quite a bit of hops. Having said that, the flavor is a little on the thin side - almost like a paler version of an American Pale Ale.

I would recommend this beer to someone looking to move beyond macro lagers and take a baby step into the world of craft brewers. This beer reminds you of its craft brewery roots, but does not take you too far into the world of true Pale Ales.

Kirkland Signature Pale Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and bears the Va'ad logo on the bottom right corner of the front label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Kirkland Signature Pale Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21516/48555.

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 www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Rye IPA


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac's Rye IPA.

The Rye IPA was one of the seasonal beers which was included in the Saranac 12 Beers of Winter box. As regular readers of this blog are aware, I have already reviewed the other beers from this mix box in prior posts. The question which must be asked is acaharon acharon chaviv (a Jewish expression meaning the last is the most loved) or did I put off reviewing this beer because it was the runt of the litter?

The beer poured a deep yellow (think the Crayola Maize color), much lighter than I would normally expect from an IPA. Typically, IPA's pour a coppery color with some significant head. I can't tell the scientific reason why the color usually comes out that way, its just something that I have observed.

The taste of the beer was also on the lighter side of IPA. There is some spicy hop flavor in the beginning, but the beer does not have the strong bite that I was expecting. The Rye IPA also claims to have a near 6.0% abv which is on the low end for an IPA, but I would have guessed that it would have been lower than that.

The Rye IPA would be a great accompaniment to cholent (as more IPA's are) as the hop flavor always goes well with the barley, potato flavor of the stew. Give me a shabbos afternoon with a cholent and an IPA and I will come to mincha refreshed and ready.

So is it acharon, acharon chaviv or the bottom of the barrel? If you like IPA's but don't want to drown in hops, this would be a good choice for you. If not, see if you can find someone else to give it to.

Saranac Rye IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced by Saranac. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Rye IPA, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/53201.

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, March 4, 2010

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Ki Sissa

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.

In Shemos 31:13, the Torah states that Shabbos is an Os between Hashem and the Jews so that it is known that Hashem makes them holy.

The Chasam Sofer explains that there is a fundamental difference between Shabbos and Yom Tov. Shabbos comes on its own whether we are ready or not. When Shabbos comes it imbues us with holiness, even if we have not properly prepared for Shabbos. However, Yom Tov requires work and preparation in order for us to be receive its holiness.

Rabbi Frand quoted a famous gemara which states that Hashem told the world that He had a great present in His storehouse and Shabbos is its name. Rabbi Frand noted that a person does not need to prepare to receive a present and the recipient does not need to prove his worthiness in order to receive the gift. This is Shabbos which comes and makes us holy, regardless of our level of preparation.

The Sefer Bei Chiya notes that there is a difference between the mizmorei tehillim which are said on Shabbos and Yom Tov when the Torah is returned to the ark. On Shabbos, we recite Mizmor L'Dovid while on Yom Tov we say L'Dovid Mizmor. The Bei Chiya explains that Mizmor L'Dovid was written by Dovid when he was inspired to write a perek of tehillim - thus the cause for his praise was external. On the other hand, the L'Dovid Mizmor chapter was written by Dovid after he prepared and motivated himself to write.

From this we see another sign of the difference between Shabbos and Yom Tov. On Shabbos, the holiness comes from Hashem without a requirement that we act to receive it, thus we recite a chapter of tehillim which was written by Dovid when he was externally motivated. However on Yom Tov when we must work to receive the kedushah of Yom Tov, we recite the chapter which required Dovid to work at in order to be inspired.

Rabbi Frand also linked this vort to the concept of neshama yiseira - the extra bit of soul which comes on Shabbos. The gemara in Beitza teaches that we utilize besamim (spices) in the havdalah after Shabbos to make up for the loss of the extra neshama which departs when Shabbos ends. Tosafos in Pesachim notes that this is why there is no besamim in the havdalah after Yom Tov. Tosafos then asks - why do we not use besamim in the havdalah which is recited in the kiddush on a Yom Tov which follows Shabbos?

Rabbi Frand answered by quoting the Avnei Neizer who states that there is a neshoma yiseira on Yom Tov and therefore we do not need besamim in the havdalah portion of kiddush. So why do we not use besamim in the havdalah after Yom Tov? Because the neshama yiseira does not depart after Yom Tov and therefore there is no need for the besamim. Unlike the neshama yiseira which comes on Shabbos without work on our part, the extra kedushah on Yom Tov requires that we work to prepare for it. Since we have earned this holiness, it does not depart when Yom Tov ends.

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Sanhedrin 18

Sanhedrin 18 continues a discussion which commences on Sanhedrin 17b about the numbers of residents a city must have in order to merit the installation of a Sanhedrin Kitana (a twenty three Judge unit). The discussion relates to the first Mishna of the mesechta which mentioned the machlokes between the Tanna Kamma and R' Nechemiah about the number of residents required in order to merit a Sanhedrin Kitana. The Tanna Kamma states that there must be at least 120 residents, while R' Nechemiah states that there must be at least 230 residents.

Following the completion of the discussion of the number of residents (the gemara does not resolve the issue and even adds in additional positions) the perek closes with a link to Yisro's suggestion to Moshe to appoint magistrate judges to assist with judging the Jews. During this conversation (found in Shemos 18:21) Yisro tells Moshe to appoint judges over the thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.

The gemara relates that since there were six hundred thousand Jews in the midbar, the "thousands" category had six hundred magistrates, the "hundreds" category had six thousand, the "fifties" category had twelve thousand judges and the "tens" category had sixty thousand - thus there were 78,600 assistant judges to Moshe.

Tosafos (d'h Nimtzu) points out the obvious problem - if we deduct the supervisor judges in the "thousands", "hundreds" and "fifties" categories from the 600,000 Jews in the midbar, then there are only 581,538 Jews in the "tens" category and there should only be 58,153 magistrates to judge them - not 60,000.

Tosafos offers two answers to the question. The first answer given is that the judges were more than sixty years old and thus were not members of the class of 600,000. The second answer Tosafos gives is that initially the 60,000 judges who were in the "tens" category were selected. Afterwards, the best of the "tens" were selected as the "fifties" the best of the "fifties" were chosen as "hundreds" and the best of the hundreds were chosen as the "thousands."

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