Special Hoshana Rabbah / Pre-Shemini Atzeres Post - Of Dew and Rain

During the summer I took along a companion on my four hour drive up to Camp M. to visit my family. Every week I would download multiple shiurim on the parshah given by Rabbi Eli Mansour which were made available on the http://www.learntorah.com website.

One of the best shiurim which I heard from R' Eli was on Parshas Shoftim and was entitled "Dew and Rain." I have attempted to reproduce a number of thoughts from the shiur to the best of my ability. As always, any inconsistencies are my fault and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.

Rabbi Mansour quoted a pasuk from Shir Hashirim where it is written "Kol Dodi Dofek" - my beloved one is knocking on the door. The pasuk ends with the statement - please open the door for me because my head is filled with dew ("nimla tal"). R' Mansour commented that the pasuk seems not to make sense - if the person is waiting outside to come in, his head could be filled with rain if it is raining, but why dew? Also, who is the one who is knocking?

The literal translation of Shir Hashirim would imply a man talking to his wife, but Shlomo HaMelech has better things to do than tell us love stories. We know this from a gemara which writes that all the books of the Tanach are kodesh (holy), but Shir HaShirim is kodesh kadashim. Thus the story is Hashem knocking on the door of each Jew's heart and He is asking to come in. He is saying - knock knock, open up for Me.

The gemara writes that Hashem asks each every Jew - open up your heart like the opening of the eye of the needle, and if you make that opening I will take you back.

Rabbi Mansour explained that there are many many mitzvos and Hashem is not saying accept on yourself to do all of the things you have not been doing properly. He is saying, make a small change like the eye of the needle. These could be things like benching from a siddur. Or accepting on one's self not to speak lashon hara for a specific hour (9-10 AM) every day. If one does something small, it will grow and a mitzva will lead to the other.

Rabbi Mansour explained how this defeats the yestzer hara. The yetzer hara says to the person - you can't do all the mitzvos, so why are you even trying. Are you a hypocrite? However, by chosing one mitzva we can defeat the yetzer hara and feel good about our path back to Hashem.

Why does the gemara use the example of the hole or eye of the needle? Why not the hole when you stick your finger in the sand? R' Mansour answered that it is a small hole, but it lasts. Once the hole is made in the needle, it will stay forever. Hashem is saying, choose one small mitzva and keep it.

R' Mansour then gave another explanation for the use of the needle analogy. He observed that people make resolutions and promise change around Rosh Hashanah. Then as we get further away from the yamim noraim, we forget our resoultions and ease back into our old ways. By mentioning the opening of the needle Hashem says - much like a garment which has developed a hole, we have separated from Hashem. As such he tells us give Me an opening like the eye of the needle and I will use the needle to sew us back together.

R' Mansour then returned to the pasuk from Shir Hashirim and he used a medrash to explain it. At the end of time, Hashem will say to the Jews - come to me and drink a cup of consolation. The Jews will respond - initially, you got so mad at us that you threw us out and sent us into exile, now you want a cup of consolation. Hashem responds by saying here is an example - a man kicks his wife out and later wants to appease her. She says to him, you got mad and now you want to appease me? He responds, do you think that from the day that I kicked you out, I was still in the house? I left too! Hashem tells the Jews - from the day that I kicked you out of the Beis Hamikdash, I left my Beis Hamikdash shel ma'alah. And here's my proof - my head is filled with dew, because I have been sleeping outside in the streets like you.

R' Mansour then started talking about the mitzva of hosting guests, a great mitzva. R' Mansour said - imagine that you get a call that the Chief Rabbi of Israel wants to stay at your house. You would paint the house for him! But then imagine that its not the Chief Rabbi - its David Hamelech, or Adam HaRishon. You would really want to host these people as guests. But what if it is Hashem who is knocking and asking to stay by you? Can you imagine the z'chus, the blessing you receive from Hashem if you host him? Hashem is knocking on the door like a guest and is asking to come in. Are we going to answer - sorry I am busy shopping or watching TV?

If we don't answer, Hashem asks - why have I come and there is no one there? Open the door and let Me in as my head is filled with Dew.

R' Mansour then gave an introduction to the concept of dew. He quoted the Zohar that all the bounty that comes from Heaven initiates on the from Earth. If we want the water supply to be blessed, we make a bracha on the water and drink it. Not only does that allow us to drink the water, it creates a shock in shamayim that allows Hashem to bless the water. Hashem says, they appreciate my water so I will bless it. If a person does something good on Earth, the good deed travels up to Heaven like a pinball and hits the target and the bracha comes down. If a person wants a bracha they need to do something to get it. If you don't put a quarter in the pinball machine and hit the flippers, the score will not register. If a person wants a bracha they must do good deeds on Earth to merit it.

In addition to the rain which comes when we merit it and is caused by our actions, Hashem also gives us moisture because He loves us, even if we don't merit it. R' Mansour gave an example of a person who wanted to support his child so he gave him an allowance. The only proviso was that the son had to come every Sunday to get the allowance. The pattern continued for a period until the son stopped coming. After three weeks, the father came to the son's house, looking to see where he is and why he has not come for so long. The father sees the son in the house and says where were you - I was worried.

In the same vein, Hashem wants us to do teshuva, but sometimes we don't come. So Hashem makes an event on the Earth to inspire us to return - an open miracle or a natural disaster which should motivate us. In the month of Elul, Hashem knocks on the door and calls out to us and ask us to let him in.

I will iyh finish this post after yom tov in a separate post.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday's Musings on Sports - Braylon and the Telshe Yeshiva Boys

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 more than a 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.

Over the last two weeks, the Jets and football fans at large have been "treated" to the best and worst of Braylon Edwards. During the Jets game on Sunday September 19, 2010, the Jets were victimized by Braylon's emotions which could have potentially undone the good that he accomplished. After Braylon caught a ball for a touchdown, he was doing an "in your face" type of activity to a player on the New England Patriots and was flagged for "taunting." Variations on this penalty have been existence for the last fifteen years or so in the NFL, but the bottom line is that a player cannot be engaged in "excessive celebration."

As a result of Braylon's actions, the Jets were forced to kick off from 15 yards behind the usual spot, but they did not suffer any serious damage since the Patriots were unable to capitalize on this gift as they did not score on the possession and the Jets ultimately won the game.

The day after the game, Braylon again caused potential damage to the team, his image and the public at large, based on his simple inability to think before he acted. As was reported in the newspapers, on Monday evening Braylon visited a charity event which was hosted by a teammate. After he left the event, Braylon got drunk and was arrested by a New York City Police Officer after he blew a .16 (double New York's legal limit) on the Breathalyzer.

After Braylon was released from lockup, the Jets decided to "punish" him by benching him for the First Quarter of Sunday's game against the Dolphins. They then allowed him to play the final three quarters and he factored heavily in the outcome as he caught a touchdown as well as a very important third down pass.

While I can't truly fault the Jets (the NFL determines the suspension for criminal activity and they have not done so yet) for their slap on Braylon's wrist, I have to admit to wondering whether there is any line that Braylon can cross which would permanently "undo" the good he does between the lines on the field. When he taunted the other team he could have potentially cost his own team the game. When he drove drunk he could have potentially cost an innocent person his life.

The question reminded me of a story that Rabbi Kelemer told in his Shabbat Shuva Derasha this year. Rabbi Kelemer mentioned that one year when he was in the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, a local reform Rabbi drove onto the campus in order to partake in the Simchas Torah celebration. Although the Rabbi parked in a remote area, some of the boys in the yeshiva saw him and let the air out of his tires.

Rabbi Kelemer said that the following week the Rosh Yeshiva gave a derasha on Shabbos wherein he ripped into the boys for their actions. As told over by Rabbi Kelemer, the Rosh Yeshiva noted that this Rabbi had visited the yeshiva because he felt compelled by something in his neshoma to dance and celebrate upon completion of the Torah. Rather than allow this Rabbi to join in their celebration and possibly influence him l'tov, the boys created a chillul Hashem which "undid" their Yom Kippur and its teshuva.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://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 - New Belgium Hoptober Golden Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds comes as a special delivery from the Windy City and looks at New Belgium's Hoptober Golden Ale (on sale this week at Binny's).

Regular readers of this blog are aware of my fondness for New Belgium beers (see reviews of the New Belgium 1554 Black Ale -- here, Two Degrees Below Ale -- here, Sunshine Wheat -- here and of course, Fat Tire -- here. So as a reward for driving to Chicago for Sukkos, I took the opportunity to load up on New Belgium and bring some back to my home in New York.

Although the name Hoptober conjures up images of an Oktoberfest type of beer, it is definitively not that type of brew. Indeed, the experts at Beer Advocate consider the New Belgium Hoptober Golden Ale to be an American Blonde Ale which is defined as:

More or less a creation from the craft-brewery movement, and also reminiscent of the German style Kölsch. Pale straw to deep gold for color. Usually an all malt brew, well attenuated with a lightly malty palate. Most have a subdued fruitiness. Hop character is of the noble variety, or similar, leaving a light to medium bitterness. A balanced beer, light bodied and sometimes lager like.

With this kind of definition, it should not be surprising that the beer was sought after and consumed by the Heineken man as well as others in the Chicago family sukkah. The beer went very well with schnitzel and I would strongly recommend it for other types of fried chicken dishes.

Tip - If you are in the Chicagoland area, you can pick up the Hoptober Golden Ale on special at Binny's. While the NB brews usually go for 8.99/6 or 16.99/12, the Hoptober was on sale for 7.99/6 and 13.99/12.

New Belgium Hoptobers under the Kosher Supervision of the Scroll-K of Colorado. Although the beer does not bear the kosher symbol on the label, it can be found on the bottom of the six pack carrier. Additionally, if you would like me to e-mail you the LOC for New Belgium Hoptober. send me an e-mail and I will gladly oblige.

Please note that not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision. Please click on the link on the left side of my home page to see my latest Kosher Beer List.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Hoptober Golden Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/51991 . 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 http://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 Joseph's Brau Black Toad Dark Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Joseph's Brau Black Toad Dark Ale.

First let me clarify that no amphibians were harmed or used in the creation of the beer as it is certified Kosher by the Va'ad of Detroit. [I don't know if its the lawyer in me or just a preemptive strike on the emails I will certainly get, but I figured that I would give the disclaimer up front that the beer does not contain Kermit parts].

The Black Toad Dark Ale is another beer which was recently introduced in Trader Joe's under their Joseph's Brau line of house branded beer. Much like the Stockyard Oatmeal Stout, this beer was previously brewed for another brewery, but now is property of the Joseph's Brau company.

The experts at Beer Advocate deem this beer an English Brown Ale which is defined as "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."

The Black Toad poured a reddish brown with a decent amount of foam (my daughter Penina commented that I had a "beer mustache" when I was drinking it). The beer has a rich malty flavor with a good deal of coffee notes. The beer is not as heavy as a stout and may even be a let down if you are looking for hop bite. Still, the brew is quite tasty and would go well with pot roast or other rich meat dishes.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Black Toad Dark Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2250/5729 .

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).

One final note - I was thinking about saving this beer to review it the Sunday of Parshas Shemos, but since the beer did not have a brewed on date or a use before date, I decided not to chance that the Toad would turn to skunk and I reviewed it this week.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Erev Yom Kippur Thoughts on Teshuva - R Frand Teshuva Derasha Part II

Regular readers of this blog may recall that during the aseres yimei teshuva I try to put up additional posts with summaries of teshuva derashas. This year there will (iyh) be summaries of two derashos posted during the aseres yimei teshuva - the Rabbi Mansour Teshuva Derasha on Wednesday and the Rabbi Frand Teshuva Derasha on Thursday and Friday.

Same rules as always apply to these posts. I have attempted to reproduce portions of the shiurim 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 the magidei shiur.

The night of Yom Kippur is not a mournful night, but its a somber night. R Frand recall walking the Rosh Yehiva of Ner Yisrael home almost forty years ago on a Yom Kippur night. And during the walk, the Rosh Yeshiva said absolutely nothing. The same person who could not walk 4 steps without discussing a Torah thought, he was unable to speak on Yom Kippur night out of fear of the meaning of the night.

R' Frand then told a story about R' Shlomo Zalman who was walking home after shul on Yom Kippur night and he saw a group of men sitting together, singing niggunim. This was amazing to him, but was more amazing was that the Tzchbiner Rav was sitting and singing with them.

Days later, R Shlomo Zalman saw the Rav and asked him why they were singing? The Rav explained that the men were holocaust survivors who had lost everything. They had decided to sit together and sing the niggunim from Galicia. How could he not join them in singing niggunim and trying to uplift their spirits.

R' Frand then told a story he heard from a Rav Rodin from Dallas,Texas. Rav Rodin said that he had a congregant who made aliyah and became a pediatric emergency room physician in Israel. One night when she was in the emergency room, a bride walked in. The woman was fully bedecked for her wedding, gown, train and veil. She asked the bride why are you here? The bride answered that everyone knows that a kallah is like a queen and everyone wants a bracha from the kallah because her tefillos are heard in shamayim on the day of her wedding. The kallah proceeded to give berachos to every child in every bed and crib in the emergency room. This is a bigger ani and the essence of erev Yom Kippur.

R' Frand then said that everyone has a part of davening that hits them. For him, its the end of the avodah on Yom Kippur which talks about what happened when the kohain gadol left the kodesh kadashim. This is based on a Yerushalmi in Yoma which details that the bracha included parnasa and other good things. And at the end, the Kohain Gadol prays that the Anshei Hasharon should not have their houses become their graves? Why, because they lived in an area which was poor and the houses were subject to collapse from mudslides. And the Kohain Gadol who could have been concerned about himself, or larger issues, mentioned them by name.

R Frand then told a story about R' Herman Newberger, the former executive director of Ner Israel. R' Frand then retold the well known story about how he was stabbed by a crazy person while R' Frand was in Beis Medrash at Ner Israel. After the man was arrested and R' Frand was checked out and was found to be fine, R' Frand went to R' Newberger and asked him to go the arraignment to ensure that the man would not be released. R' Newberger ran to Court for the arraignment. When R' Newberger returned, R' Frand asked what happened? R' Newberger said that there should be rachmanos for his parents, the people who had to live with this deranged man. This was because R' Newberger had a big ani.

R' Frand then talked about another way that we can get Hashem to change his attitude to us. R' Frand quoted from the Haftorah on YK morning, where it says - cry out and Hashem will say "hineni". R Frand said that there are 14 times in Tanach where the calling and hineni are used. Thirteen times are subordinates answering Hineni to the superior, such as Moshe, Avraham and Shmuel. The one exception is this Haftorah where the navi writes, we can call out and Hashem will say hineni. How do we get this closeness? The gemara says - hamikarev es kirovav - just be nice to your relatives.

The Maharal explains by quoting a pasuk in Devarim which states, who is a great nation? The Jews who Hashem is a close relative to. (Ki Mi Goi Gadol...) Hashem says that if you bring your relatives close to you, Hashem will treat you the same way. This is the Medrash the Maharal uses to explain the gemara- be nice to your relatives and Hashem will be close to you.

R Frand asked rhetorically - is this a needed message for a Teshuva Derasha? He answered yes, because there are so many families where siblings don't attend each others' weddings, where parents don't talk to children. Maybe the reason that our tefillos are not answered is because we don't treat our families well enough. Go to each others events, even family barbecues.

R' Frand closed by stating that he has presented two approaches to improve ourselves and our mindset - reach out beyond our four amos and help others - reaching up by reaching out, or as R' Chaim Volozhin states - this is what man is all about, don't live for yourself, live for others. The second key is to make shalom with those who should be the closest to you. By doing these, Hashem will come close and say Hinieni to us.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://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 Thoughts on Teshuva - The R' Frand Derasha - Part I

Regular readers of this blog may recall that during the aseres yimei teshuva I try to put up additional posts with summaries of teshuva derashas. This year there will (iyh) be summaries of two derashos posted during the aseres yimei teshuva - the Rabbi Mansour Teshuva Derasha on Wednesday and the Rabbi Frand Teshuva Derasha on Thursday and Friday.

Same rules as always apply to these posts. I have attempted to reproduce portions of the shiurim 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 the magidei shiur.

R' Frand started with a story about the Ponevitz yeshiva. As with many yeshivos, space was at a premium during the yomim noraim. One year, one of the administrators thought of a way to make space for the boys - section off part of the ezras nashim (women's section) and let the boys use it. R' Shach zt'l said absolutely not. He asked -- who are the women who come on the yomim noraim? Not women with young children. These were women who were widows or women who may have been childless or older women who never married. R' Shach said that the prayers of the boys on the high holidays ascended to the heavens on the backs of the prayers of these women.

R' Frand then linked this story to the Haftorah for the shabbos before Tisha B'Av wherein Isaih prophesied that Hashem will not listen to the Jews' prayers and turn away from them -- truly chilling words.

R' Frand said that this is a plague which we still suffer from today as it often seems like our prayers are not heard. R' Frand then dedicated to the shiur to how we can get out prayers listened to.

The prophecy of Isaiah offers ten steps which can be taken to bring us back to having our prayers listened to. These include cleansing one's self, stopping doing evil and more. Rashi (quoting a pesikta) explains that ten steps are connected to the ten days of repentance. The ninth step is Rivu Almana - help the widow. This is the avodah of erev Yom Kippur. If we follow the steps, Hashem will once again answer our tefillos.

R' Frand then quoted a different formula for teshuva. The Tanna Dibei Eliyahu teaches that the ten days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur connect to the aseres hadibros. Some are easily connected - Anochi with the first day of Rosh Hashana, a day to recognize and accept Hashem as our G-d.

Using this progression, the avodah on erev Yom Kippur would connect with not bearing false witness against another Jew. But how often do we even testify against Jews that we could fix it this way? And how do these two concepts connect?

R' Frand prefaced by talking about what it means Rivu Almana. It does not only mean that we should listen and help an almana when she comes to the door to ask for money. We need to use our creativity and planning to think of innovative ways to help an almana.

R' Frand then told a story about R' Zelig Epstein zt'l (recorded by R' Mordechai Kaminetzky) who helped an almana. A couple who survived the Holocaust came to the US. Soon after, the husband took his own life. R' Zelig began to help to support the wife emotionally. But then one of her children became ill. R' Zelig helped with the treatment for the child, but the child got sicker and died on Erev Yom Kippur, so close to Yom Kippur that they could not bury before Yom Tov. On the way to shul on Yom Kippur eve, he became concerned that the woman might take her own life. He decided not to go to shul and instead to go to her home. But he also realized that it would take an hour to get there and that it might be too late. So R' Epstein went into Torah Voda'as during Shema of Ma'ariv and asked R' Yaakov Kaminetzsky can he take a bus on Yom Kippur to get to the woman's home and R' Yaakov nodded yes and pointed to the coins in his box that he was going to use for bus fare after Yom Kippur, so that R' Zelig could take them and use the bus to get to the woman. That was Rivu Almana.

R' Frand then quoted Rashi on Chumash that Almana does not only mean a widow. R' Frand said that an almana can be a person out of work for six months, or a person with a child at risk, or with a terrible disease or no child at all. Rivu Almana means step out of our box and think about someone else. For most people out of sight means out of mind, so we must expand our definition of me. He quoted R' Shimon Shkup, the ani is the person, if you are bigger it is your wife, children or neighbors. But if you are a true adam gadol, your ani is all of klal yisrael. An adam gadol is not only knowing shas gemara, it's knowing how to care about all fellow Jews [Ed. note - see R' Mansour shiur from last night for a great story about R' Moshe Feinstein and the elevator, showing how he was an adam gadol].

R' Frand said that we are resistant to helping others because we think that we will be overwhelmed. But the opposite is true -- the more we help others, the more content we will be.

R' Frand then told a story about a friend who was fighting lung cancer for two years, despite never having smoked. The man said that he has watched others fight disease and realized that the only thing that they have is how they handle their problems. The man said that he had a chance to observe R' Nosson Tzvi Finkel try to help others despite advanced Parkinson's disease. R' Finkel was not a man with Parkinson's disease. He was a man who was trying to help others who happened to have Parkinson's. The man told R' Frand that he has learned that by turning his attention to helping others he is less obsessing about himself and he is a happier person. All because the man had expanded his Ani.

R' Frand then quoted the Tolner Rebbi who connected the Lo Saa'neh (false witness) with Rivu Almana. Why is bearing false witness in the Ten Commandments? Because it is a premeditated act! Killing or adultery can be crimes of passion. But bearing false witness requires planning and creativity, all to do someone injustice. So on erev Yom Kippur we have to do teshuva for all the premeditated evil - by doing planned, premeditated good. We need to take the opportunity to think and act to help others who cannot help themselves.

This concept applies even if you can't give the person their ultimate goal. You may not be able to give the childless woman a baby, but just knowing that someone took the time to call is enough to make their day.

The Tolner Rebbi tells over a story about a 15 year old girl in Jerusalem who was upset and did not want to leave her house because of vicious, untrue rumours about the girl. The girl's father wanted to buy her a seat on Rosh Hashana, but she did not want to leave her house. R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach heard about the girl and called her on erev Rosh Hashanah to ask how she was doing. When they got off the phone, the girl asked her father to buy her a seat. The father told R' Shlomo Zalman - you have been michayeh meisim. We may not be R' Shlomo Zalman, but there was no one busier than him, and he still took the time to call this 15 year old girl. We can take the simple step of picking up the phone and calling.

R' Frand digressed to say that someone may have a yatom or almana or alman in their own house, if they are neglecting their family for other pursuits.

We can now understand why R' Shach said not to take space away from the women. Because taking space away would be the antithesis of Rivu Almana, if the yeshiva put these unfortunates down by eliminating the places for them to pray on the high holidays.

I hope iyh to post the second half of this shiur tomorrow before Yom Kippur.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!