Monday's Musings on Sports - Rex Survives Black Monday- Right Place, Right Time?

As the Jets season drew to a close, there was rampant speculation about whether Rex Ryan would keep his job as Head Coach of the New York Jets. In truth, the controversy did not apply solely to Rex, as many coaches whose teams did not make the playoffs were faced with the spectre of being fired on "Black Monday."

In what lately has become a trend, the Monday after the end of the regular NFL season has become a day when coaches and occasionally GMs are terminated by dissatisfied owners. This year, one team (the Cleveland Browns) did not even wait until Monday as they released first year Head Coach Rob Chudzinksi on Sunday evening. As today wore on, four other teams terminated their head coaches - the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. And the day is not over yet...

Any time that a team has a losing season and particularly when the team has multiple losing seasons in a row, the head coach's job is in jeopardy. In Rex's case, the Jets had winning seasons and advanced to the AFC Championship game in each of his first two years. Then in 2011, Mark Sanchez drove the team into the ground in his final three games, throwing for a combined 5 TDs and 500 yds, but also losing two fumbles and throwing seven INTs.

The following year, Sanchez was a turnover machine, throwing for 13 TDs, but also giving the ball to the other team twenty six teams (18 INTs and 8 fumbles). Granted, he had less talent around him, but his epic failures and the creation of a new word in the lexicon after he collided with Brandon Moore's posterior, doomed the team.

This year, the Jets had the least collective offensive talent of Rex's career. However, with a stout defense and a new Offensive Coordinator, the Jets were 5-4 and looking at a possible playoff spot after nine games. But the Jets played poorly in getting blown out in their first three games after the bye week and rookie starting QB Geno Smith was benched in the second half of two of the games.

But a funny thing happened after Geno was removed in the team's first game against the Miami Dolphins- Geno's play started to improve. Although the Jets did not make the playoffs, Geno started making better decisions with the football and severely curtailed his turnovers. During this stretch, the Jets went 3-1 and their one loss was by ten points to the #2 seed in the NFC - the Carolina Panthers.

When NY Jets owner Woody Johnson announced in the Jets locker room after yesterday's win in Miami that Rex would be returning, the players cheered loudly. This was not a forced reaction -- the players really do like playing for him and would run through a wall if he asked them to. Now, a coach should not be retained solely because his players like him, no more then a CEO should be kept on at a company which is hemorrhaging money simply because  the staff adores him. But I wonder to myself, was Rex kept on because of the job he did with an admittedly poor talent base, or because the Jets braintrust knew that there was no one better on the market who could fill his position?

I can't imagine that the Jets will ever publicly answer my question, but the query can be asked in many forms. Take for example the King of Nineveh in the Book of Jonah. When Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh, he tells the King that Hashem has decreed that the city will be destroyed if they do not repent. While most rulers would dismiss this as the rantings of a lunatic, the King of Nineveh took Jonah seriously, and he and the people of Nineveh repented. Why did the King of Nineveh listen to Jonah and change his ways and those of his whole land? 

The answer lies in the Medrash which teaches that the King of Nineveh had a previously job - he was Pharaoh who fled Egypt after the Egyptian army was drowned at Yam Suf. When faced with the real possibility/probability of swift and real punishment, the King listened to Jonah and the land was saved. 

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Sunday Night Suds - Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter.

Leinenkugel first introduced this take on a porter last winter, but I did not see it in the NY area until I found it at Beverage Barn in Garden City Park earlier this month. This is another of the new Leinenkugel varieties that has an OU on the label.

The Snowdrift Vanilla Porter is a lighter version of the style. The beer poured a dark brown with a small amount of tan foam. I did not taste much in the way of malt and there was almost no hop bite. There was some coffee/chocolate notes, but they were masked by the vanilla which was infused into the brew.

Although the Snowdrift Vanilla Porter is on the high end of the alcohol scale for a Leine (6.0% abv), the beer does not have a heavy alcohol taste. The beer is actually quite drinkable and would be a good accompaniment to a dessert course, or to be consumed on its own. However, this is not the kind of beer you would drink with a heavy main course.

Leinenkugel Snowdrift Vanilla Porter is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, and as mentioned above, it has an OU on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Leinenkugel Snowdrift Vanilla Porter, please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/86776. 

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 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 Va'era

The following is a brief summary of some of the thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

The first pasuk of this week's parsha (Shemos 6:2) states that Hashem came to Moshe and told him that He was Hashem. This comes immediately after the end of Parshas Shemos (5:22-6:1) where Hashem tells Moshe (in response to Moshe's questioning) that now Moshe will see what Hashem will do to Pharaoh. 

The mefarshim ask why is this necessary as it appears on the surface to be redundant. The mainstream answer is that the difference between the two pesukim is that in this week's parsha, Hashem speaks to Moshe sternly by saying it with the middah of din. 

R' Frand then stated that beyond the simple pshat, we can learn from the parsha that there are things in life which occur which are extremely painful and may provoke a reaction or feeling that Hashem has abandoned the person. However, Hashem has not abandoned the person and (however difficult) the person must use his emunah and bitachon to understand that Hashem has a master plan and that everything will work out for the best.

Hashem's message to Moshe in Va'era is that you may think that I am being harsh, but everything comes from the same source and it all comes from the middas harachamim. 

The twin concepts are seen in the Shema which R' Frand remarked that a Jew says almost like a pledge of allegiance. The language of Shema has a middas hadin and a middas harachamim component, but we must know that Hashem is one.

Similarly, the Jews who went through the crucible of Egypt were being given a message that although there are times that one would question, it is all for the good.

R' Frand quoted the Sanzer Rebbi who cited to the gemara in Berachos where we learn from Rebbi that one should cover the eyes when saying Shema. Why do we do this? The Sanzer Rebbi explained that the lesson is that Hashem is both middas harachamim and din and they all come from the same source. We can't see now that it is all for the good, so we cover our eyes. When going through troubles, we can't see that it is all for the best. Thus we cover our eyes to demonstrate our acceptance that it is all for the best.

R' Frand quoted the introduction to the Sefer Kol Aryeh which discusses how Ya'akov was afraid to go down to Egypt because he foresaw the slavery of Egypt. Hashem had to convince Ya'akov to go down to Egypt and that in the end, it will be the salvation of the Jews. The Torah explains in Bereishis 46:4, that Hashem convinced Ya'akov by making reference to Yosef covering Ya'akov's eyes. The symbolism was - just as the story of Yosef seemed like a terrible thing, in the end it all worked out for the best. So too you, Ya'akov, although you see that there will be travails in Egypt, "Yosef" will cover your eyes and when the Jews leave Egypt they will be better off because of the experience.

R' Frand next said a different vort where he noted that the four languages of geula are in the parsha (Shemos 6:6-7) - v'hotseisei, v'hitsalti, v'ga'alti, v'lacachti. The Rashbam in Pesachim teaches that the four cups at the Seder corresponds to these four languages of geula.

R' Asher Weiss notes that a person can eat and drink between the first and second and between the second and third cups, but no one can drink between cups three and four. Why? Because the first three languages of geula are all about freedom from enslavement, things that everyone approves of. But the fourth language requires the Jews to submit to Hashem being their king. The message of eating/drinking between any of the first three cups is that there is no problem with drinking or otherwise separating between the cups because they are all the same. But once the freedom has been completed, there cannot be any separation between the freedom and accepting Hashem. Why? Because there cannot be freedom on its own as that would be anarchy. The freedom of Egypt must include an acceptance of the will of Hashem.

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Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Decoction Concoction Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac's Decoction Concoction Lager (DCL).

The DCL is the last new beer I have tried from Saranac's 2013-2014 Beers of Winter Box. The mix box also includes Saranac's flagship Pale Ale (reviewed here - kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-pale-ale.html); two relatively new beers, the 4059 Porter (reviewed here -kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/11/sunday-night-suds-saranac-4059-porter.html) and the Belgian Pale Ale (reviewed here - kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/12/belated-sunday-night-suds-saranac.html) and three new beers - the DCL, the Moonshadow Black IPA (reviewed here - kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/11/sunday-night-suds-saranac-moonshadow.html) and Rudy's Spiced Christmas Ale (reviewed here - http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/12/sunday-night-suds-saranac-rudys-spiced.html);.

I was confused by the title of this tasty, but oddly named brew. I went to the Saranac website for some insight on the choice of name and learned very little. The website stated that the beer is dry hopped and that its flavor comes from "boiling mash being added back into the brew." This of course is what happens when a beer undergoes the the process of decoction (which is defined by the www.homebrewtalk.com website) as "Water is added to the grist to reach the initial mash temperature. Once the first temperature rest is complete, a portion of the grain and water is scooped or shoveled out of the mash tun and into the kettle or another heated vessel, where it is brought to a boil. The portion removed, which can often be as much as a third of the grist, is called the decoction."

However, I was still left with the question - is this the only beer that Saranac makes which undergoes decoction? I don't have an answer to the question, but I do know that the Saranac DCL is tasty for a lager with some floral pine, a bit of nuttiness and some malt.

Saranac's DCL is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit as is every other beer produced at the Matt Brewery plant in Utica, NY. Keep in mind, Saranac has begun to brew some of its High Peaks series off site and these bottles do not have kosher certification from the Va'ad of Detroit.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the DCL, please follow this link www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/101803.

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 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 Shemos

The following is a brief summary of some of the thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

The first pasuk of this week's parsha states that "These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt..." The pesukim which follow (1:2-4) contain a list of all of the sons of Yaakov who came down to Egypt.

Rashi comments that even though the sons of Israel and their offspring were specifically counted in Sefer Bereishis when they were still alive, they were counted again after their death, to show how dear they were to Hashem, much like the stars. Hashem named all the stars to show how dear they are to Hashem, so too the Jews are dear to Him.

R' Frand quoted R' Leib Baks (sp?) who asked - why are the stars dear to Hashem? He answered by quoting a Rashi in Bereishis which mentioned a medrash that the sun and moon were originally the same size and had the same luminescence. The moon then came to Hashem and said - how can two wear the same crown? Hashem responded to the moon - you are right, go and diminish yourself. However, Hashem did not want the moon to feel bad, so Hashem created the stars to assist the moon in lighting the night sky.

R' Frand stated in the name of R' Baks that we see that the stars were dear to Hashem because they assisted someone or something which felt bad. Hashem loves people who are sensitive to others and make them feel better. The Jews are compared to stars because they too help to make others feel better.

R' Frand closed this vort by mentioning the Rama who writes that there is a minhag that people should get married outside under the stars so that they should have children as multiple as the stars. R' Frand said that he once heard a vort that the children should be like the stars - they should be zoche to have the sensitivity for others like the stars had for the moon.

The second vort that R' Frand said related to Amram's taking Yocheved back as a wife. The gemara in Sotah 12 states that after Pharaoh made his decree that all the male children should be thrown into the Nile, Amram divorced his wife Yocheved. His reasoning was that if no more children were born, they would not be subject to death.

Amram is now approached by Miriam who says to her father - you are worse than Pharaoh - since Pharaoh only decreed against the boys and you have decreed against all children. Pharaoh only decreed death in this world and you are causing death in the world to come. Rashi explains this by saying that a person who is not born, cannot get to Olam Haba, but once a person is born, even if the person lives for a few moments, he can earn Olam Haba.

R' Frand further explained the second half of Miriam's statement by making reference to a gemara in Sanhedrin which recites a dispute as to when a person is zoche to Olam Haba. R' Chiya says that a person can earn Olam Haba from birth. But Ravina says that it is from the moment of conception. R' Frand quoted a teshuva from R' Moshe Feinstein wherein he states that we paskin like Ravina. Thus if a woman (c'vs) has a miscarriage, the embryo can still go to Olam Haba and her pregnancy and pains were not for nothing.

R' Frand closed the vort by quoting a story about the Vilna Gaon. The Gaon had a student who tried for many years with his wife to have a child and after much time, they finally had a child, but the child died as an infant. When the Gaon came to console his student and his wife he said - your child was the gilgal of a certain Polish Nobleman named the Graf Potutski (sp?) who converted to Judaism and abandoned the privileges of his noble birth. The Polish rulers were unhappy and said - renounce your conversion or die. The Graf refused and was burned at the stake in Vilna's public square. The Gaon said to his student - your child was the gilgal of this man and the few moments that he was alive completed his neshoma.

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Sunday Night Suds - Boulevard Bully! Porter

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Boulevard's Bully! Porter - the beer with a bulldog on the label.

When fall turns to winter and the Friday Nights get longer, I often turn to beers that can be sipped after a meal. For nights like these, you really can't beat a porter.

As explained by the good folks at BA:

Porter is said to have been popular with transportation workers of Central London, hence the name. Most traditional British brewing documentation from the 1700’s state that Porter was a blend of three different styles: an old ale (stale or soured), a new ale (brown or pale ale) and a weak one (mild ale), with various combinations of blending and staleness. The end result was also commonly known as "Entire Butt" or "Three Threads" and had a pleasing taste of neither new nor old. It was the first truly engineered beer, catering to the public's taste, playing a critical role in quenching the thirst of the UK’s Industrial Revolution and lending an arm in building the mega-breweries of today. 

Porter saw a comeback during the homebrewing and micro-brewery revolution of the late 1970’s and early 80’s, in the US. Modern-day Porters are typically brewed using a pale malt base with the addition of black malt, crystal, chocolate or smoked brown malt. The addition of roasted malt is uncommon, but used occasionally. Some brewers will also age their beers after inoculation with live bacteria to create an authentic taste. Hop bitterness is moderate on the whole and color ranges from brown to black. Overall they remain very complex and interesting beers.

The Bully! Porter was out of a mix box that I bought in Chicago and had a best by date of August, but that had no impact on this beer. The beer had the initial coffee notes of a Guinness, but some additional complexities, with a hint of vanilla and some other earthy tones. I have one more left from the mix box and I intend to let it cellar for a few more months.

Boulevard Bully! Porter is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Kansas City, but the bottle I purchased did not have the certification mark on the label. If you would like the LOC from the Va'ad, please let me know and I will email it to you.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link -http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/1262.

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