Monday's Musings on Sports - All Star/All Pro Edition

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 (he has recently resurfaced on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles), I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

When I was growing up, I always looked forward to the All Star games. Whether it was the midsummer classic, the Pro Bowl in Hawaii or the various versions of the NHL game, it always seemed cool to watch the best of the best play together for once. Of course, this was before the days of Olympic Dream Teams when players every two years join together to represent their countries.

Two stories from this past weekend's games stood out and I would like to briefly discuss them in this post. Towards the end of the Pro Bowl, there was one play which really made me chuckle. The game was already decided as the NFC had a three score lead. The AFC was attempting a final drive down the field with about two minutes to play. Matt Cassell lined up to throw a pass and many of the players stood around idly. There was no pass blocking and no one rushing the quarterback. Cassell threw the ball to Dwayne Bowe who ran a few yards before lateraling the ball to another player. Just before the second player was about to be tackled he lateraled the ball to Alex Mack, an offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns who was only playing in the Pro Bowl because Nick Mangold had been injured in the AFC Championship game. Mack caught the ball and rumbled forty yards into the end zone. Only one NFC player tried to tackle Mack and it seemed like most of the players just wanted to see him score. It kind of reminded me of the scene in the Replacements when John Madden talked about how he loves to see a fat guy score. (Fumiko Scores! Fumiko Scores!).

The second story involved the NHL All Star game. Unlike its many previous incarnations, this year's NHL all star game had a schoolyard format. Two players were selected as captains and they were allowed to "choose up" their teams from the remaining players who had been selected for the All Star game. As part of the fun, the player who was chosen last would be given a new car and the right to choose a charity which would receive a $20,000 donation. The player who earned this dubious distinction was Phil Kessel, but he was a good sport and looked at the bright side.

The two stories made me think of a vort that I heard about last week's parsha. Although Mishpatim has many mitzvos which involve diverse aspects of life, the first mitzva in the parsha deals with the rules of eved ivri - Jewish slaves. As discussed in the parsha, a Jew can become a slave if he steals and is unable to repay the victim. This slave should be freed after seven years and he must be given gifts when he leaves servitude. Furthermore, during his time of enslavement, the master must support the slave's wife and family. The vort that I heard from R' Mansour asked - why is this mitzva mentioned first in Parshas Mishpatim. R' Mansour answered (I don't recall in who's name) that the Torah mentions this mitzva first to show that the man who was enslaved as a punishment was treated well because the purpose of the sentence was rehabilitation. As such, the slave is sent free with gifts and with family intact, to demonstrate that the sentence has worked to reform the thief.

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!

Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Blue Moon's newest seasonal brew - the Spring Blonde Wheat Ale.

After three years of offering the lime infused Rising Moon Spring Ale as its spring seasonal brew, the Blue Moon Brewing Co has retired its well regarded spring beer. In its place, Blue Moon has provided the Spring Blonde Wheat Ale, a beer which claims that it is a Wheat Ale, but lacks any of the characteristics of this style of beer.

The Sping Blonde Wheat Ale poured a deep yellow color, but unlike the wheat beers that I am familiar with, the brew was completely translucent. Although the bottle indicated that the beer was brewed with lemon and orange peel, the lemon was dominant, so dominant that it masked any wheat beer flavor.

Bottom line - the Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale both tasted and looked like it was designed by Blue Moon's corporate parent - MillerCoors. If you are looking for a macrobrew that is easy to drink with a little fruity flavor - this is for you. But if you are seeking an American Wheat Beer to go with a meal, look elsewhere.

Blue Moon Spring Blonde Wheat Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. For the experts take on Spring Blonde Wheat Ale, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/65085.

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).

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 - Social Media Decidedly Unsocial to Cutler

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 (he has recently resurfaced on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles), I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Yesterday afternoon, I turned on the Bears game and was surprised by what I saw. The enigmatic Jay Cutler was out as Quarterback for the Chicago Bears and with less than a minute left in the Third Quarter, the Bears had inserted little used Caleb Hanie (no, not Asher Hanie) at Quarterback. As I had not been following the game, I was very surprised since the use of the third quarterback (aka emergency quarterback) so early in the game meant that Jay Cutler would not be returning and that 2nd string QB Todd Collins had been ineffective.

As the afternoon wore on, I learned that Cutler had injured his knee and that my beloved Jets would not be in the Superbowl. (I know that the latter has nothing to do with this post, but I just needed to mention it). What was shocking to me were the media stories wherein present and former NFL players had "tweeted" that Cutler was a wimp for taking himself out of the game and that these players would have played with a knee injury.

Today, the Bears released the results of an MRI which was taken on Cutler's knee after the game. The test revealed that Cutler had a sprained MCL - an injury which usually sidelines players for 3-6 weeks.

I am not a Bears fan (although I am married to one) but even I am aware of the pounding that Cutler took this year. Cutler was sacked 52 times this year (12 more than the next QB on the list) and sustained a concussion in a game where the Bears gave up 10 sack to the NY Giants. Still, he only missed one game (the one which followed the Giants game) and even played the entire game in Week 17 when the Bears had already clinched the 2nd seed (he got sacked six times in that game).

I don't know how many of the players who buried Cutler yesterday have "tweeted" an apology, but the rush to judge Cutler and bury him by twitter was decidedly "unsocial." Indeed, it seems that the sound byte generation has been supplanted by the "tweet" an even smaller piece of information which is easy to transmit and often times results in the "tweeter" regretting the statement made. How many stories came out this year where athletes were either disciplined or exposed as morons based on their tweets?

Its a shame that twitter does not have the same protections that people do from speaking loshon hara. Chazal teach that the power of speech is so important that Hashem gives us two protections against its misuse - our lips and our teeth. If only there were protections against athletes and the misuse of their tweets...

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 - Leienkugel 1888 Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds drowns Jets fans' sorrows in Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock.

After watching the Jets play bridesmaid for the third time in my life, I went down to my dining room to drink the green bottle of Leienkugel 1888 Bock that I had put in my fridge to chill. When I pulled it out, I also saw Thursday night's szechuan wontons and said to myself - how about trying this as a combination? Well, it was more than just a good pairing, it was practically perfect. (Even Mrs Kosher Beers agreed, and its tough to impress that palate).

Since its been almost two years since I last reviewed a bock, I thought it prudent to reprint the Beer Advocate explanation of the beer style:

The origins of Bock beer are quite uncharted. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some believe the name Bock came from the shortening of Einbeck thus "beck" to "bock." Others believe it is more of a pagan or old world influence that the beer was only to be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter.

As for the beer itself in modern day, it is a bottom fermenting lager that generally takes extra months of lagering (cold storage) to smooth out such a strong brew. Bock beer in general is stronger than your typical lager, more of a robust malt character with a dark amber to brown hue. Hop bitterness can be assertive enough to balance though must not get in the way of the malt flavor, most are only lightly hopped.

The Leinenkugel 1888 bock had a stronger flavor than a typical lager and the dark color as per the definition above. The alcohol level was not on the high end (slightly more than 5.0% abv) but the alcohol taste was a little more pronounced then I expected.

As I mentioned above, the 1888 bock blended very well with Wing Wan's (our local kosher Chinese restaurant) spicy szechuan wontons. Try it with your spicy dishes and let me know what you think...

Leinenkugel 1888 Bock is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, although the product currently in the marketplace does not yet have an OU on the label. If you would like a copy of the LOC please contact me via email.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Leinenkugel 1888 Bock, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/46550.

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).

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 Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Yisro

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 18, Moshe discusses with his father in law Yisro all that Hashem did for the Jews when they were leaving Egypt. At Shemos 18:11, Yisro responds to Moshe - "ata yadati ki gadol Hashem m'kol HaElohim, ki badavar asher zadu aleyhem" - now I know that Hashem is greater than all the other gods, for the Egyptians were punished in the very way that they plotted against them.

Rashi explains that the Egyptians had tried to kill the Jews through drowning, as such, they were punished midda k'neged midda by being drowned themselves.

R' Frand quoted a sefer from R' Freund (sp?) who questioned the use of the word "gadol". It is known that the word gadol when describing Hashem is an attribute of His midda of chessed. R' Frand asked - shouldn't Yisro have used the word "gibor" -strong, rather than gadol?

R' Frand answered that the punishment by way of midda k'neged midda is a chessed. The reason for this is that when Hashem punishes in this manner, a person can understand what he did wrong and correct his actions. R' Frand indicated that previously, when a person was sick or had something occur to him, the person would go to a Navi who would be able to tell him why he was being punished and what could be done to correct his bad acts. Nowadays, we do not have nevi'im, but if a person is punished midda k'neged midda, he can understand what he is doing wrong and correct it.

R' Frand then said over a thought from a shmuz from R' Chaim Shmulevitz about a woman who was trying to marry off her daughter. The shadchan proposed that she marry a certain boy who was one of the finest in the yeshiva. The only problem was that the boy had a limp. The mother refused to allow her daughter to marry the boy. Soon thereafter, the mother broke her leg. She wondered why this had happened to her. The answer was obvious...

R' Frand also quoted the Ramchal who explains that Hashem does not punish because He is angry with us. A person is punished to send a message to that person. It is up to us to figure out why.

R' Frand then asked the obvious question - how does the midda k'neged midda punishment help the Egyptians who were drowning at yam suf? R' Frand offered two answers. The first answer, which was given by the Ibn Ezra, explains that the punishment was given so that the Egyptians who lived would know that Hashem is G-d. The second answer that R' Frand gave is that those who drowned at yam suf were given an opportunity to understand what they did wrong and repent. Since drowning is not instantaenous, there was time for these people to reflect.

R' Frand then digressed to briefly discuss the anniversary of the Space Shuttle explosion. He said that when the Challenger blew up, people said - at least they died instantly. However, this deprived the deceased from having final thoughts before dying. R' Frand surmised that it would have been better to have a few moments to get one's thoughts in order and do teshuva before the end.

The vort made me think about the p'shat as to the three ways that the Egyptians died at yam suf. The Torah uses three descriptions - some who died by drowning like lead, others who sank like stone and still others like straw. Chazal teach that the most righteous of the Egyptians sank quickly like lead, while the middle of the ground people sank less quickly like stone. Meanwhile, the most evil people were tossed like straw until they finally were killed.

I would like to suggest that perhaps what made the "lead" category of people drop so fast was that they quickly understood what was occurring and that it was punishment for their actions. Having understood this and accepted it, they had completed their teshuva process and died quickly. By contrast, the "stone" category required a little more thought process to recognize why this was happening to them. However, once they too understood the reason for the punishment they too sank.

The "straw" group was unable or unwilling to see that the punishment was related to their actions. As such, they were tossed until they were able to look past their wickedness and accept that they were responsible for their actions. Only then did the straw finally sink below the surface.

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 - Brooklyn Pilsner

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Brooklyn Brewery's Pilsner.

Picked this up at Trader Joe's on Court Street where they let you mix a six pack of singles and don't upcharge you for making the mix pack. In some beer stores, they will not allow you to buy singles or mix a six pack. These are usually stores with lower sales volumes where the proprietor is concerned that if he allows people to buy singles, he may get stuck with a bunch of six packs which are going bad (more than six months old) with two - three bottles in each six pack.

Other stores will allow you to mix a six pack, but they upcharge the bottles. By way of example, taking one bottle out of a six pack should result in being charged 1/6th of the six pack price. When a store upcharges, they charge you 1/5 (or even 1/4) of the six pack price. At Trader Joe's they allow you to buy as many singles as you want (whether or not you actually buy a six pack is irrelvant to them). So I filled a six pack holder with some beers that I wanted to try, along with some of the better TJ beers like the Stockyard Oatmeal Stout and Black Frog Dark Ale.

The Brooklyn Pilsner is a beer that I had tried many years ago when I first found out that Brooklyn was making kosher certified brews. It has been quite a few years since I had a Brooklyn Pilsner and I had forgotten how crisp it was, with a little bit of hops and some bitterness at the end. This is the kind of beer that you can enjoy in all seasons - at the end of a long hot summer day or with a sefer on a long winter Friday night.

Brooklyn Pilsner is under the kosher supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit as are all 12 oz Brooklyn beers which are brewed in the Utica plant.

For the experts' take on the Brooklyn Pilsner please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45/788.

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!