While driving in my car today, I heard a great vort and story from Rabbi Eli Mansour (available on www.learntorah.com) which I just had to share. I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. As always, any inconsistencies are my fault and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.
After the plagues in Egypt, Hashem comes to the Jews and tells them I am G-d who took you out of Egypt. Hashem does not tell them, I am G-d who created the world, since they had not seen creation. Instead Hashem tells them, I am G-d who took you out of Egypt - something that they could relate to.
R' Mansour told a story about a prince in a town in Europe called Michelstadt who interacted with a Jewish boy more than 300 years ago.
The prince had heard that there was a brilliant Jewish eight year old boy. The prince decided that he wanted to test the boy to see if he truly was as intelligent as he had heard.
In order to test the boy, the prince invited him to come to the castle to see the prince at 4 PM. Before the boy was to arrive, the prince told his assistants that the prince was going to seclude himself in one of the rooms of the castle and that no one should tell the boy which room the prince was in. The prince then went up into one of the rooms and opened the blinds slightly so that he could see the courtyard.
At 4 PM, the boy arrived at the castle. He stood in the courtyard and looked around for a few minutes. Five minutes later the boy knocked on the correct door. The prince was amazed, he asked - how did you find me?
The boy answered that when he arrived, he saw that there was no one in the courtyard, so he figured that the prince must have been testing him. The boy explained that he then looked up and saw that all the rooms had blinds which were closed, except for the room that he thought that the prince was in.
The prince then asked - what would have happened if the blinds were closed? The boy responded - I would have knocked on the doors until you answered.
The prince asked - but what if no one answered? The boy responded that he would have asked people in the lobby. The prince fired back - what if you got different answers? The boy responded - I would have gone with the majority.
The prince had the answer he was looking for - but you are Jewish and most of the world is not, if you go with the majority why do you remain Jewish?
The boy smiled and answered - once I saw you in this room, I would not need to ask people where you were and go with the majority of the answers, because I already knew where you were.
The boy concluded - Hashem revealed himself to the Jews as having taken them out of Egypt and performing many miracles for them. Once we knew who He was, why would we trust the majority against something that was a sure thing?
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Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Va'era
The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand this evening. I have attempted to reproduce the 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 its discussion of the plague of dever (animal sickness) the Torah relates what appears on the surface to be a strange sequence of events. Moshe tells Pharaoh in Shemos 9:3 that if he does not let the Jews leave Egypt, Hashem will strike the Egyptians' animals with a severe epidemic. In the following pasuk, Moshe tells Pharaoh that Hashem will differentiate between the Egpytian animals and the Jews' animals as not a single animal owned by a Jew will die. In Shemos 9:6, the Torah relates that all the Egyptian livestock died, but not one animal owned by a Jew died. The following pasuk states that Pharaoh sent out people to look at whether the Jews' animals had died and that they confirmed this fact, yet Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not allow the Jews to leave.
R' Frand pointed out that it is difficult to understand the logic behind Pharaoh's actions. Pharaoh heard the prophesy that the Egyptian animals would be killed but not a single animal owned by a Jew would be killed. Pharaoh then confirmed that the prophesy came true, so why would he then harden his heart?
R' Frand answered that Pharaoh's action demonstrated that he was truly a rasha - an evil man. Pharaoh looked and saw that he had no meat to eat, but the Jews did have animals which survived the plague. In Pharaoh's mind, the plague was only a minor inconvenience - he could still get meat to eat, but would need to buy it from a Jew. Therefore, he did not need to change his ways.
R' Frand then gave two examples of similar conduct. In Parshas Toldos, the Torah discusses how Esav traded the bechorah (first born right) for a bowl of soup. In so doing, the Torah relates that the bechorah was sold "cayom" - as this day. The Seforno writes that a man who only lives for today can sell his future for a bowl of soup. This is an indicia of being a rasha as Esav is willing to give up his future, as long as he can eat today.
R' Frand gave one more example from the plague of frogs. At the end of the Torah's discussion of this plague, the Torah writes at Shemos 8:11 that Pharaoh saw that there was "harvacha" - there had been a relief. The Klei Yakar writes that Pharaoh did not use similar language when any other plagues ceased. The reason for this is that every other plague had a definite ending - the hail stopped, the water was no longer bloody, etc. However, when the frogs stopped multiplying they did not simply leave. Instead, the frogs died and remained in heaping piles which created a terrible stench. When Pharaoh saw this he surveyed the land and saw that there were areas of Egypt which were not near water and therefore were unaffected by the frogs which came from the rivers. Since Pharaoh had somewhere that he could go to escape from the stench of the rotting frogs, he felt that there was a relief. This was just another indication of his being evil - as long as there was a solution for him, he did not need to change his ways.
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!
In its discussion of the plague of dever (animal sickness) the Torah relates what appears on the surface to be a strange sequence of events. Moshe tells Pharaoh in Shemos 9:3 that if he does not let the Jews leave Egypt, Hashem will strike the Egyptians' animals with a severe epidemic. In the following pasuk, Moshe tells Pharaoh that Hashem will differentiate between the Egpytian animals and the Jews' animals as not a single animal owned by a Jew will die. In Shemos 9:6, the Torah relates that all the Egyptian livestock died, but not one animal owned by a Jew died. The following pasuk states that Pharaoh sent out people to look at whether the Jews' animals had died and that they confirmed this fact, yet Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not allow the Jews to leave.
R' Frand pointed out that it is difficult to understand the logic behind Pharaoh's actions. Pharaoh heard the prophesy that the Egyptian animals would be killed but not a single animal owned by a Jew would be killed. Pharaoh then confirmed that the prophesy came true, so why would he then harden his heart?
R' Frand answered that Pharaoh's action demonstrated that he was truly a rasha - an evil man. Pharaoh looked and saw that he had no meat to eat, but the Jews did have animals which survived the plague. In Pharaoh's mind, the plague was only a minor inconvenience - he could still get meat to eat, but would need to buy it from a Jew. Therefore, he did not need to change his ways.
R' Frand then gave two examples of similar conduct. In Parshas Toldos, the Torah discusses how Esav traded the bechorah (first born right) for a bowl of soup. In so doing, the Torah relates that the bechorah was sold "cayom" - as this day. The Seforno writes that a man who only lives for today can sell his future for a bowl of soup. This is an indicia of being a rasha as Esav is willing to give up his future, as long as he can eat today.
R' Frand gave one more example from the plague of frogs. At the end of the Torah's discussion of this plague, the Torah writes at Shemos 8:11 that Pharaoh saw that there was "harvacha" - there had been a relief. The Klei Yakar writes that Pharaoh did not use similar language when any other plagues ceased. The reason for this is that every other plague had a definite ending - the hail stopped, the water was no longer bloody, etc. However, when the frogs stopped multiplying they did not simply leave. Instead, the frogs died and remained in heaping piles which created a terrible stench. When Pharaoh saw this he surveyed the land and saw that there were areas of Egypt which were not near water and therefore were unaffected by the frogs which came from the rivers. Since Pharaoh had somewhere that he could go to escape from the stench of the rotting frogs, he felt that there was a relief. This was just another indication of his being evil - as long as there was a solution for him, he did not need to change his ways.
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, December 27, 2010
Monday Musings on Sports - Taking a Stand Against Racism - Minor League Hockey and Moshe Rabeinu
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.
Although I am more than just a casual hockey fan, I don't really follow the Canadian minor leagues. Other than very occasionally looking at the Hockey News to see how a Ranger prospect is doing, the junior leagues are a collection of teams which I know little about, other than they come from cities with funny names like Kamloops or Mississauga. But below the junior leagues are the midget leagues (based on age, not size) which serve as feeder leagues for Canadian juniors which serve as feeder leagues for the NHL (think HS football which supplies players to College).
With this introduction in place, I turn to a story which I recently heard about on one of those Sunday morning guest hosted sports radio programs. In mid-November, the NAPA Auto Parts Team was playing the Austin Trophies team in the Peterborough Minor Hockey Association Midget League. Two players were sent to the penalty box, and while they were there, the boys heckled one another. At the end of the period, the boys left the penalty box. During the break, the NAPA player told coach Greg Walsh that the Austin player had called him the N-word.
When the third period started, the Austin Trophies player who had done the name calling, came out to start the period. Walsh pulled his team off the ice and refused to continue the game.
As has been reported, the player who did the name calling was suspended three games. However, Coach Walsh was suspended indefinitely after the incident, as it is against the rules of Hockey Canada to refuse to field a team. In mid-December the league held a hearing as to the punishment for Coach Walsh and decided that he should be suspended for the rest of the season.
(To see news report on the incident and its aftermath, click here andhere ).
Coach Walsh knew that there would be a severe punishment, but had decided after a similar incident a few years earlier that he would not tolerate use of the N-word against one of his players and that the team would stand up against racism.
The story made me think about the story from the parsha which we read last shabbos. Moshe has been raised in the palace of Pharaoh, during a time that the Egyptians had enslaved the Jews and were using them to build their cities and storage facilities. One day, Moshe was walking and saw an Egyptian beating a Jewish slave. Moshe could have easily walked away from the incident as no one knew anything about his heritage. However, Moshe felt internally that it was unjust to allow this to occur and he intervened and killed the Egyptian.
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!
Although I am more than just a casual hockey fan, I don't really follow the Canadian minor leagues. Other than very occasionally looking at the Hockey News to see how a Ranger prospect is doing, the junior leagues are a collection of teams which I know little about, other than they come from cities with funny names like Kamloops or Mississauga. But below the junior leagues are the midget leagues (based on age, not size) which serve as feeder leagues for Canadian juniors which serve as feeder leagues for the NHL (think HS football which supplies players to College).
With this introduction in place, I turn to a story which I recently heard about on one of those Sunday morning guest hosted sports radio programs. In mid-November, the NAPA Auto Parts Team was playing the Austin Trophies team in the Peterborough Minor Hockey Association Midget League. Two players were sent to the penalty box, and while they were there, the boys heckled one another. At the end of the period, the boys left the penalty box. During the break, the NAPA player told coach Greg Walsh that the Austin player had called him the N-word.
When the third period started, the Austin Trophies player who had done the name calling, came out to start the period. Walsh pulled his team off the ice and refused to continue the game.
As has been reported, the player who did the name calling was suspended three games. However, Coach Walsh was suspended indefinitely after the incident, as it is against the rules of Hockey Canada to refuse to field a team. In mid-December the league held a hearing as to the punishment for Coach Walsh and decided that he should be suspended for the rest of the season.
(To see news report on the incident and its aftermath, click here andhere ).
Coach Walsh knew that there would be a severe punishment, but had decided after a similar incident a few years earlier that he would not tolerate use of the N-word against one of his players and that the team would stand up against racism.
The story made me think about the story from the parsha which we read last shabbos. Moshe has been raised in the palace of Pharaoh, during a time that the Egyptians had enslaved the Jews and were using them to build their cities and storage facilities. One day, Moshe was walking and saw an Egyptian beating a Jewish slave. Moshe could have easily walked away from the incident as no one knew anything about his heritage. However, Moshe felt internally that it was unjust to allow this to occur and he intervened and killed the Egyptian.
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, December 26, 2010
Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Bohemian Pilsner
This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at the last of the beers from the Saranac 12 Beers of Winter Box - Saranac Bohemian Pilsner.
I love when breweries use the term Bohemian to describe their beer. Whenever I pull one of these out, I catch Mrs Kosher Beers singing a little bit of Queen. Our kids used sit around looking quizzically at her, at least until I showed my oldest the Mike Myers version of Bohemian Rhapsody on YouTube. The rest of them are still confused...
With the snow really starting to pile up outside, I took the Saranac Bohemian Pilsner (the picture may not be clear, but the 2010 label for this brew has a bear walking across what appears to be a frozen, snow covered lake). I am not a big Pilsner fan in general as I find that they are usually too thin for me, even though that is the way that they are supposed to be. Since the experts at BA have termed this a Czech Pilsner, my hopes were a little higher since these have more hop to them and tend to have a little more body then the typical macrobrewed pilsner (German, Belgian or American Macrobrew - they all tend to run a little to light for me).
The first couple of sips that I had of this beer were all I needed to know that this was not a typical watered down pilsner. The beer had a great mix of maltiness and hops and each sip seemed to give up a slightly different flavor note.
Bottom line - unlike some other pilsners, this brew is not like drinking barley water with a little beer aftertaste. It would go well with pizza, or other light fare.
Saranac Bohemian Pilsner 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 Bohemian Pilsner, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/45378.
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!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Shemos
The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand this evening. I have attempted to reproduce the 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 1:15-16, the Torah writes that Pharaoh told Shifrah and Pu'ah that when they are delivering Jewish children that they should kill the male children, but allow the female babies to live. Rashi explains that Shifrah and Pu'ah were actually Yocheved and Miriam. Yocheved was called Shifra because she was skilled in delivering the babies, while Miriam was called Pu'ah because she would "coo" to the babies to calm them down. Based on their love and caring for the babies, the Torah calls them by their nicknames. When the women were told by Pharaoh to kill the babies they did not listen because they feared Hashem and they allowed the children to live. As a result of their actions, Hashem gave them "batim."
R' Frand remarked that it was strange that the Torah introduced the women by their nicknames which indicated that they loved and cared for the children and then said that they did not kill the babies because they feared Hashem. Would it not have been more obvious that they did not kill the babies because they loved and cared for the children as this was part of their nature?
R' Frand answered that we see from here that at the end of the day, there is only one thing that prevents a person from doing something that they should not do - fear of Hashem. When a person's life is on the line, love will not carry the day. The person's actions will be influenced by their core - in this case by their fear of Hashem.
R' Frand brought a proof from Avraham at Akeidas Yitzchak. The Torah writes that when Avraham was about to act against Yitzchak at the Akeidah, Hashem says (Bereishis 22:12) "now I know that you are G-d fearing." Why does Hashem say that He knows that Avraham is G-d fearing? Would it not have been more logical to say, now I know that you follow instructions? Rather we see from this that Avraham showed through his actions that that he feared Hashem.
R' Frand brought another proof from the conversation between Yosef and the wife of Potiphar. In Bereishis 39:10, Yosef says to her - how I can do this act and sin against G-d. By this we see another expression of the motivation not to act as fear of Hashem.
R' Frand then quoted Shemos 1:20-21 which discussed the reward for Yocheved and Miriam for their actions. The Torah writes that they were given "batim" which Rashi explains were the house of Kehunah and the house of Malchus. However, Rashi does more than this as he indicates that the Torah interjects between saying that Hashem rewarded the women in 1:20 and the discussion of the reward in 1:21 the fact that the Jews increased in number and became very strong.
R' Frand then quoted R' Mordechai Kaminetzky who tells a story about a woman who had a premature child. The child was in the NICU where there was care around the clock for the baby for two months. When the baby left the NICU, the parents wanted to buy something for the doctors and nurses to show their gratitude. The parents went to R' Elya Svei and asked what they should do. He responded that on the child's birthday they should bring the child back and show them that the child has grown up. Do this for the doctors and nurses not only on the child's first birthday, but on multiple birthday's thereafter to show that the doctors and nurses' efforts were not in vain and were greatly appreciated. R' Svei tied this into the above pasuk about how the Torah interjects between the statement about a reward to Yocheved and Miriam and before the identification of the reward, the fact that the Jews multiplied greatly. R' Svei takes issue with Rashi - the reward was seeing that the Jews had multiplied so greatly. There were personal presents in the following pasuk, but seeing what they had accomplished was a great reward to them as well.
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.
In Shemos 1:15-16, the Torah writes that Pharaoh told Shifrah and Pu'ah that when they are delivering Jewish children that they should kill the male children, but allow the female babies to live. Rashi explains that Shifrah and Pu'ah were actually Yocheved and Miriam. Yocheved was called Shifra because she was skilled in delivering the babies, while Miriam was called Pu'ah because she would "coo" to the babies to calm them down. Based on their love and caring for the babies, the Torah calls them by their nicknames. When the women were told by Pharaoh to kill the babies they did not listen because they feared Hashem and they allowed the children to live. As a result of their actions, Hashem gave them "batim."
R' Frand remarked that it was strange that the Torah introduced the women by their nicknames which indicated that they loved and cared for the children and then said that they did not kill the babies because they feared Hashem. Would it not have been more obvious that they did not kill the babies because they loved and cared for the children as this was part of their nature?
R' Frand answered that we see from here that at the end of the day, there is only one thing that prevents a person from doing something that they should not do - fear of Hashem. When a person's life is on the line, love will not carry the day. The person's actions will be influenced by their core - in this case by their fear of Hashem.
R' Frand brought a proof from Avraham at Akeidas Yitzchak. The Torah writes that when Avraham was about to act against Yitzchak at the Akeidah, Hashem says (Bereishis 22:12) "now I know that you are G-d fearing." Why does Hashem say that He knows that Avraham is G-d fearing? Would it not have been more logical to say, now I know that you follow instructions? Rather we see from this that Avraham showed through his actions that that he feared Hashem.
R' Frand brought another proof from the conversation between Yosef and the wife of Potiphar. In Bereishis 39:10, Yosef says to her - how I can do this act and sin against G-d. By this we see another expression of the motivation not to act as fear of Hashem.
R' Frand then quoted Shemos 1:20-21 which discussed the reward for Yocheved and Miriam for their actions. The Torah writes that they were given "batim" which Rashi explains were the house of Kehunah and the house of Malchus. However, Rashi does more than this as he indicates that the Torah interjects between saying that Hashem rewarded the women in 1:20 and the discussion of the reward in 1:21 the fact that the Jews increased in number and became very strong.
R' Frand then quoted R' Mordechai Kaminetzky who tells a story about a woman who had a premature child. The child was in the NICU where there was care around the clock for the baby for two months. When the baby left the NICU, the parents wanted to buy something for the doctors and nurses to show their gratitude. The parents went to R' Elya Svei and asked what they should do. He responded that on the child's birthday they should bring the child back and show them that the child has grown up. Do this for the doctors and nurses not only on the child's first birthday, but on multiple birthday's thereafter to show that the doctors and nurses' efforts were not in vain and were greatly appreciated. R' Svei tied this into the above pasuk about how the Torah interjects between the statement about a reward to Yocheved and Miriam and before the identification of the reward, the fact that the Jews multiplied greatly. R' Svei takes issue with Rashi - the reward was seeing that the Jews had multiplied so greatly. There were personal presents in the following pasuk, but seeing what they had accomplished was a great reward to them as well.
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, December 19, 2010
Sunday Night Suds - Saranac India Copper Ale
This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at another new Saranac brew - India Copper Ale.
Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been sampling the new brews in Saranac's 2010 Twelve Beers of Winter Box (see reviews of Lake Effect Lager here and Vanilla Stout here).
The Saranac India Copper Ale poured a rich amber color with great lacing - my tulip glass was coated with foam, almost like the windows on your home when its below zero outside. My first sip of the brew revealed good carbonation, which is typical of most Saranac brews. I also was immediately hit with a strong hop flavor, not overwhelming, but definitely pronounced. The beer evoked memories of Redhook's Longhammer Ale, although with a little less bite.
The India Copper Ale was a perfect pairing with roasted meat and would do well consumed with char grilled steaks in a quality steakhouse.
Saranac India Copper Ale 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 India Copper Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/62579.
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!
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