Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Chukas

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.

Rashi quotes the Medrash Tanchuma who compares the Parah Adumah with the following parable. A child, the son of the king's cleaning lady, had soiled the palace and the mother came and cleaned up after her child. Rashi explains that the Parah Adumah is coming to be m'chaper and atone for the Cheit HaEgel.

But the obvious questions is, other than the two being cows, what does the Parah Adumah have to do with the Egel?

R' Frand first quoted the Klei Yakar who explains that when the Jews received the Torah at Har Sinai they were on a high spiritual level and had been cleansed of their tumah. However, when they sinned with the Egel, the tumah returned.

R' Frand clarified that this was not to say that if the Jews had not sinned there would not have been any death. People still would have died, but their death would not have been at the hands of the Malach HaMaves, they would have died by Neshikah. But because they sinned with the Egel, tumah came back through the death at the hands of the Malach HaMaves. So the Parah Adumah functions to be m'chaper for the Egel, because it cleanses us from the tumah.

R' Frand quoted another answer from the Meorei Ohr. He first quoted Rashi who states that prior to the Egel the Jews were called Temimim. But as a result of the Egel, they had blemishes and needed to be purified. 

The Meorei Ohr explained that Rashi's use of the word Tamim means that a person should just accept what Hashem does. But when the Jews made the Egel they were trying to outsmart Hashem. They were desperate without Moshe, so they took things into their own hands and made the Egel so that Hashem could speak with them through the Egel.

But the Jews should have accepted what Hashem had set as the path and been Tamim in this regard. Instead they tried to figure a work around.

The Parah Adumah is the antithesis or perhaps the antidote for the Egel. The Parah Adumah is beyond our understanding as it is a Chok. By following the rules of Parah Adumah, we say to Hashem ,we don't get it and we are not going to try figure it out. Instead, we are putting our trust in You that this the path that we should follow. 

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Belated Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Cold Brew Coffee Lager

This week's (belated) Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Cold Brew Coffee Lager.

With things starting up for staff at Camp M, this week's Sunday Night Suds is a bit belated due to the move up schedule. So how else can I wake myself up after driving back and forth (and going to work) other than with a coffee lager.

The Cold Brew Coffee Lager is not a typical coffee infused brew as it does not attempt to mimic the earthiness of a stout, nor is it an ale with coffee undertones. Instead, this brew tastes like an iced coffee, sans sweetener. I did not detect hops or even any alcohol bite. Rather this beer is almost like an alcopop, albeit made for coffee drinkers.

Saranac Cold Brew Coffee Lager 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 brews some of its beers 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 brew, please follow this link www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/235896.

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).

Important Disclaimer - If you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please click on the kosher beers list link on the top left corner of the blog.

Lastly, 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 Korach

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.

R' Frand began the vort by quoting the Gemara in Sanhedrin 109 which discusses the role of On Ben Pelet's wife. By way of introduction, the first pasuk of the parsha describes Korach's gang which included the instigators - Dasan and Aviram as well as On Ben Pelet. However, the Torah makes no further reference to On and he does not die in the plague or by being swallowed up by the ground.

The Gemara discusses how On's wife talked him out of participating in Korach's rebellion. She reasoned with him by saying --what is in this for you? You won't become a Kohain as this fight is among the sons of Levi and you are from Reuven. You will always be an On, so why get involved? This argument proved successful and On retreated to the inside of the tent while his wife sat outside and warded off Korach and his men. The Gemara links this to a pasuk in Mishlei in which it is written the Wisdom of a woman builds her house.

R' Frand then asked on this Gemara --why was On's wife effective? Korach's complaint was not only about the role that Moshe assigned to his brother Aharon. He also made fun of the shaving of the Levi'im and the fact that Moshe picked them up and waved them like lulavim. He also circulated a story about an indigent widow who Moshe supposedly required to give leket, shichicha, peah and ma'aser from her field. And when she had animals which gave birth, Moshe required her to give the first animal as a bechor and the Kohanim took their priestly gifts. As a result, she and her daughters died of famine. So why was On's wife able to convince him not to join the revolt?

R' Frand answered that On's wife was able to convince On that the revolt was not about the nepotism or the way that the Levi'im were treated. And the story about the woman was "fake news" invented thousands of years before the combover. She convinced him that the machlokes was entirely based on Korach's jealousy and his desire for power. Being a wise observer, she recognized that these other issues were merely devices to garner support, but at its core, a machlokes is never about the ancillary issues. It revolves around jealousy and a desire for money, or in this case, power. And since On was not in line to accede to any of the lofty roles that Korach sought, there was simply no reason for him to get involved.

R' Frand also said a second vort on the complaint by Korach that Moshe was "haughty". R' Frand quoted R' Bunim M'Parshizcha who R' Frand applied in a 20-21st century manner. He theorized that a person could not logically state that Einstein was a genius, but did not have a grasp of physics. You could perhaps say that he did not know how to balance a checkbook, but anyone who knew Einstein would reject the claim that he did not know physics.

R' Frand gave another example of a person saying that Warren Buffet was brilliant but did not know how to pick stocks. Again, anyone who knew him would reject this statement out of hand.

But since Hashem had said that Moshe was an anav and everyone knew him to be that way, what gave Korach the legs to make this argument?

R' Frand answered by quoting the Sfas Emes who stated that there are two kinds of anav. The first kind is a person who knows that he has talents and works hard at trying not to be arrogant or to give the impression that he is important. This person is always worried that people will think him haughty and he thinks about what others may perceive before he acts.

The second kind of anav is someone who has a close relationship with Hashem and by way of the connection, he is an anav. This person does not worry about others' impressions of him and he is naturally humble. 

Moshe was this second kind of anav and this freed him to occasionally take positions which to an outsider might appear to be hubris, but which was really just standing up for what was right.

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 Night Suds - Negev Oasis Beer

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Negev Oasis Blonde Ale.

This brew is another of the fine beers carried at the Beer Bazaar in the Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. (Click here https://beerbazaar.co.il for a link to their beer menu). Although the bottle did not give much of an indication about the style of the beer, I thought that it was cool that there was a beer brewed in the Negev, so I added it to my six pack at the store.

The Oasis poured a darker orange than I expected, but the flavor was pretty close to American Blonde Ales. There was a bit of malt and some citrus, but the overall hop flavor was pretty subdued. I In some ways this beer reminded me of the Layla brew which was produced by a defunct brewery in Ashkelon. I would not mind trying this again if it ever makes it to the US.

The Negev Oasis Blonde Ale is certified kosher by Rabbi Weiss of Kfar HaRo'eh,. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew (yes its on BA), please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29093/247241.

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).

Also, if you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please check the label on the bottle you are purchasing (since the the kosher beers list link does not include beer brewed in Israel).

Lastly, 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 Shelach

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.

There are two stories of meraglim (spies) which will be read on Shabbos. There is the story in Parshas Shelach wherein Hashem told Moshe to send the spies, making the task a mitzva and there is the story in the Haftorah from the book of Joshua which discusses the spies sent to Jericho.

R' Frand first asked about the spies sent in Parshas Shelach ---If Hashem knew that the task was fraught with danger, why did He order that they be sent in the first place ("Shelach Lecha")? 

R' Frand then quoted the Medrash on the spies sent in the book of Joshua wherein they are referred to as being unparalleled in their endearment to Hashem because they were Sheluchei Mitzva --messengers tasked to perform a mitzva, who risked their lives to do His will. And who were these praiseworthy men who risked their lives - Kalev and Pinchas. And they went forth and were moser nefesh and succeeded.

The Medrash notes that when Kalev and Pinchas entered the city of Jericho, they were pottery  (Klei Cheres) salesman. They simply set up shop out in the open and anyone who wanted to buy pottery would come and buy from them. It was a simple way not to be called spies, since they were out in the open as "salesmen."

R' Frand quoted the Sfas Emes who addressed the first question by stating that Hashem knew that the spies in Parshas Shelach were in a dangerous position. It was for this specific reason that he made the sending of the spies a mitzva ---because if Hashem endorsed the desire to send the spies and made it a mitzva instead of a voluntary act, the mitzva will protect them. However, the spies did not take on this task as a mitzva. Instead they viewed it as a task for personal gain. In contrast, Joshua sent the spies as a mitzva and they viewed it as such and succeeded.

The Sfas Emes then asked ---why did they specifically choose to be pottery salesmen? He answered that pottery is not intrinsically valuable, it is utilitarian and serves a specific purpose to hold or store things. It is for this reason that a kli cheres is not mitamei from the outside and only becomes tamei when something tamei comes into (or in contact with) the inside of the vessel.

R' Frand closed this part of the vort by noting that a person who goes to work needs to realize that he is serving as a "butcher, baker or candlestick maker" because he needs to earn a living in order to support a family and give tzedakah and not to simply amass personal fortune. We are vessels which hold our souls and we need to realize that the jobs we perform are a mechanism to fulfill a task, not an end of itself. This is not an easy mindset to have as there are many distractions which may cause us to feel a need to work in order to earn prestige or build our bank accounts. But if a person who works realizes that this is simply a means to support his family and to use the earned funds to perform mitzvos, he can succeed like Joshua's men.

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 Night Suds - New Belgium Citradelic Exotic Lime Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium Citradelic (the other one).

Last year New Belgium introduced the first Citradelice (reviewed here http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2016/05/new-belgium-citradelic-tangerine-ipa.html) a fantastic tangerine flavored beer which drew accolades wherever I brought it. For reasons I can't fathom, this year New Belgium created another beer which it also calls Citradelic, although with the extension of "exotic lime ale." But other the name, these two brews have very little in common.

The beer has a hazy pale straw color with a hint of citrus emanating from the glass, but the sips are all artificial lime, almost like someone poured lime juice into a bottle of blonde ale and mildly shook it up.

If you are into sweet lime flavor, this beer might be for you. If you are looking for a beer light on hops but calling itself an ale, this beer might be for you. But if you are looking for an ale with a little hint of fruit, just keep walking down the beer aisle.

The New Belgium Citradelic Exotic Lime Ale is under kosher supervision by the Scroll-K/Va'ad of Denver, but not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision. For a list of the New Belgium brews currently under supervision, please click on the link on the left side of my home page for my latest Kosher Beer List.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Citradelic Exotic Lime Ale click here beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/262267.

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).

Please Note - if you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please click on the kosher beers list link on the top left corner of the blog.

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!