Monday Musings on Sports - Larry Frank the Se'ir Hamishtaleiach

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. As Max has resigned from 1050 and has not yet resurfaced on the NY area radio waves, I have decided to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

This week's post discusses the debacle which is the New Jersey Nets and how Lawrence Frank lost his job through no fault of his own.

Following the NBA lockout, I decided that I could no longer root for the Knicks and began to look for another team to follow. I was never a big NBA fan, but I had attended a few Knick games and hung a poster or two in my room when I was in high school. After Patrick Ewing said his now infamous line "Sure NBA players make a lot of money, but we spend a lot too" I knew that I could never root for the Knicks again.

I began to root for the NJ Nets and soon thereafter they began to improve their play. A few short years later they acquired Jason Kidd and then made the playoffs for the next six years. Their coach for much of the time was Lawrence Frank who started his career with a bang, taking a .500 team and directing them to 13 straight wins. They made the finals a couple of years in a row and it seemed like the NBA championship ran through the swamp every year. Perhaps his best (but least heralded) year was in 2004-2005 when the team played without Kidd and RJ for most of the year and he somehow brought the team from ten games out into the playoffs.

Over the last few years the job became exceedingly more difficult for Coach Frank. The team ownership became obsessed with a planned move to Brooklyn and less interested in fielding a competitive team. Jason Kidd was the first player traded, but RJ went a few months later. A year later it was time to dump Vince Carter. Although Rod Thorn was always able to acquire value in return for the stars they traded away, the talent was young and at times raw.

Despite these issues, Coach Frank was consistently able to get his players to practice and play hard. However, the Nets were struck by an early injury bug this season and many nights only fielded seven or eight players. The losses began to mount and suddenly the Nets were looking at the real possibility of breaking the NBA record for futility to start a season. The only thing left to do was fire the Coach, as to paraphrase Michael Kay - you can't fire all the players.

Was Coach Frank responsible for the team's injury bug? Of course not. Was he the one who engineered the trades which dumped All Stars in exchange for prospects? The same answer applies. But sometimes there needs to be a scapegoat and this time it was Lawrence Frank - mercifully fired before the team tied the record for futility.

The concept of scapegoat draws its origin from the Yom Kippur service. The Torah tells us that the Cohain Gadol would have two goats - one of which was slaughtered and the other sent to the desert to be thrown off a cliff. The gemara in Yoma (41 and 67) explains that there was a red string tied around the goat and another around a rock at the top of the cliff. After the goat died from its fall, the string tied to the rock would turn white as a symbol that Hashem had forgiven the Jews. Thus was born the concept which was commonly known as the scapegoat.

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Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Big Moose Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac's Big Moose Ale.

The Big Moose Ale is another of the new beers which previewed in Saranac's 12 Beers of Winter box. To my knowledge, its Saranac's first foray into the name brewing game.

Numerous breweries have played the game of giving a brew a catchy name in order to drive sales. Recently when we were in Cleveland, I was browsing in a supermarket and I came across some beers produced by Ridgeway Brewing (England) with some truly bizarre names - Bad Elf and Santa's Butt. I successfully resisted the urge to buy them as I did not know their source and did not know if they were kosher. They were also priced about $4 per bottle, but that was less of a deterrence since they were available in singles and the bottles were oversized. I then checked on BA and found other bizarrely named beers produced by Ridgeway including: Criminally Bad Elf, Insanely Bad Elf (both with abv's above 10%), Lump of Coal, Pickled Santa and Reindeer Revolt.

While some breweries probably do the odd name thing in order to drive sales, the good folks at Saranac did not do this for the Big Moose Ale since its only available as part of the 12 Beers of Winter box which contains two bottles of the Moose. This is unfortunate as it was my favorite brew in the box.

Saranac classifies the Big Moose Ale as an American Pale Ale. The beer pours a rich copper color with a fair amount of lacing on the glass. The crisp taste is full of hops and went really well with left over turkey this evening. I had previously tried the Big Moose with Noah's Ark bbq ribs and it went really well with the sweet ribs. I seriously wish that they carried the Big Moose Ale in six packs as it could easily become one of my favorite offerings from Saranac.

Saranac Big Moose 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 Big Moose Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/53202.

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).

As a final note, while I was at Saranac I noticed that they had begun bottling for Kirkland (Costco). I contacted the Va'ad of Detroit and this week received LOCs for Kirkland along with three other new brands which are newly kosher certified - Gordon Biersch, Trader Joe's and Joseph Brau. I have updated the September certification list to reflect the varieties which are under kosher certification.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayeitzei

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand in his shiur this evening. I have attempted to reproduce this 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 Vayeitzei (29:1-30) we read of Ya'akov's arrival at Lavan's home and his interplay with Lavan and Lavan's family which ultimately results in Ya'akov's marriage to Leah and Rachel. When Ya'akov first meets Rachel, the Torah indicates at 29:12 that Ya'akov told Rachel that he was "her father's brother." This is an odd choice of words for Ya'akov as his mother was Lavan's sister and he was certainly not her uncle.

Rashi offers two explanations for this lashon. The first explanation is that he said to her that he was close to her father like a brother. The second (midrashic explanation) was that Yaa'kov told Rachel that he was like Lavan - if Lavan tried to trick him, Ya'akov was Lavan's brother in deceit.

Rabbi Frand then commented that many times the boys in his shiur will come to him for advice before they begin dating. They discuss many things, but he never has to tell them that its not a good idea to tell a girl that the boy is as good a trickster as the father. What possessed Ya'akov to tell Rachel that he was as good a con man as Lavan?

Rabbi Frand then asked a second question - how do we see that Ya'akov followed through with his statement that he was as good a trickster as Lavan. We actually see the opposite since when Lavan switches Leah for Rachel and then Ya'akov sees the true first wife's identity, Ya'akov approaches Lavan who tells Ya'akov you can marry Rachel in exchange for another seven years of work. If Ya'akov was such a good ramai, he would have taken Rachel and left without having worked the extra seven years!

Rabbi Frand quoted the Tolner Rav who answered the questions by making reference to a gemara in Bava Basra 89b (a Daf Yomi Crossover!) which discusses the various ways in which merchants could trick buyers or buyers could trick sellers by using uneven measuring devices. After discussing these various tricks, R' Yochanan Ben Zakai then questions whether he should openly bar these practices. He states that if he overtly discussed the tricks there is a possibility that people will learn "new" ways to trick others. On the other hand if he does not ban them the unethical people will think that the rabbis are not familiar with their tricks. The gemara then asks - did he or not? R' Shmuel bar R'Yitzchak said that they were openly barred based on a pasuk in Hoshea that the ways of Hashem are straight - the righteous will follow them and the wicked stumble upon them.

The Tolner Rav asked on the gemara - what difference does it make if the wicked think that the Rabbis don't understand their tricks? He answered that a person respects another if the other person knows the intricacies of his trade. By example, when I first visited the Square Rebbi, I knew that he was a great man and he certainly gives the appearance of being a holy man. But when I spoke with him and he asked me about my profession including the type of firm I work for and the type of work we do (all in perfect English) I was floored. Here was a chassidish Rebbi whose chassidim all speak yiddish and live in an insular community and he knew enough to ask whether I practiced civil or criminal law and the subcategories therof. This only served to raise my level of respect for him.

Rabbi Frand gave his own example of this principle in discussing Rabbanim who know a great deal about biology and how when a patient requires that a doctor consult with the Rabbi, the doctors are impressed with the level of knowledge the Rabbi has about the human body.

Rabbi Frand explained that R' Yochanan was concerned that the tricksters did not respect the Rabbanim. However, if they knew that the Rabbis knew the intricacies of their fraud the tricksters might respect the Rabbis. Rabbi Frand then quoted R' Chaim Vital who explains that R' Yochanan Ben Zakai was the gilgul of Ya'akov Avinu.

In telling Rachel that he was Lavan's brother in trickery, he was not saying that he would be tricking Lavan. Instead he was telling her that since he knew Lavan's tricks, maybe he could have an impact on and be mikarev Lavan. It was for this reason that Ya'akov never retaliated against Lavan - his intention was to try to earn Lavan's respect, not outfox him.

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Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Bava Basra 95

While preparing Bava Basra 95, I was struck by how different our view of wine is today as opposed to the time of the gemara.

The mishna on Bava Basra 93b stated that one who contracted to purchase wine was required to accept 10% of the wine as "kossisos." The Rashbam on Bava Basra 95a explains that this was wine which was starting to go sour (but was still drinkable) and was the common wine which was sold by shopkeepers for immediate consumption.

The gemara on 95a contains a discussion as to which type of wine the seller intended to buy which would require that he accept 10% kossissos. As the discussion spills over onto Bava Basra 95, the gemara offers an opinion that when a buyer indicates that he wishes to use the wine to cook with, there is an obligation on the seller to provide him with superior quality wine. The Rashbam explains that wine which was used for cooking needed to last for a significant period of time as it was not rapidly used by the buyer. As such, the seller could not provide kossissos wine since it would go completely sour before the buyer will have exhausted his cooking needs.

In contrast to the gemara, when someone in this era buys cooking wine, the product is usually of the poorest quality since people do not use fine quality wine to cook with.

Still, there was one point made by the gemara which still rings true today. The gemara on the bottom of 95b discusses a dispute as to whether one who consumes wine which is truly going sour must make the heightened brocha of borei pri ha'gafen or only the shehakol. As part of this discussion, the gemara mentions R' Zevid's position that wine which is pressed from grape kernels is of such poor quality that one would recite the shehakol blessing. The Rashbam describes such wine as "extremely bad" which would only be sold in the outer corners of the city. Yes, even in the times of the gemara there was a "thunderbird" wine which you needed to be desperate to drink!

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Monday Musings on Sports - The Purpose of Injuries in Football

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. As Max has resigned from 1050 and has not yet resurfaced on the NY area radio waves, I have decided to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

Last Friday I heard an interesting discussion on the Michael Kay show related to Leon Washington's injury and his attitude during his arduous rehab from a broken leg. As has been well documented, this is the final year of Washington's rookie contract which pays him about $500K for the year. Before the season began Washington was unable to agree with the Jets on a contract extension and his future contract would depend on his stats for this year. Although his season started in promising fashion, Washington sustained a severely broken leg in the Oakland game a few weeks ago and his season is over. The injury was so bad that he was unable to fly back to New York and he needed to have surgery in Oakland.

The segment of the Michael Kay show began with some quotes that Washington gave when he visited the Jets' training facility last week. After the quotes, Michael and Don began to debate whether it was good idea for Washington to have played out his contract this year and Washington's quotes that everything happens for a reason and that he has made his peace with the injury. Michael asked - if everything happens for a purpose, why does anyone need to take any affirmative steps since everything is pre-ordained. Don responded that we still need to act as things do not come if we don't take action. Bonnie Bernstein then added her own view, explaining that she had sustained a severe knee injury and that while she would not wish the injury on anyone, the rehab process had strengthened her and showed her that she could overcome adversity.

The discussions on the Michael Kay obviously have their root in traditional Jewish hashkafa. The gemara in Ta'anis 21 mentions how Nahum Ish Gamzu used to say "gam zu l'tova" - this is also for the good about everything that befell him in life. Once the Jews wanted to send a present to the Caesar and they asked Nachum Ish Gamzu to be the courier. On his way, Nahum stopped at an inn. During the night, the innkeeper emptied the jewels in the chest and filled it with sand. When the chest was offered to the Caesar he opened it and saw the sand. The Caesar was infuriated and wanted to kill all the Jews. Nahum Ish Gamzu said, "Gam zu l'tova" - this is also for the good. Immediately thereafter, Eliyahu Hanavi suggested that maybe this sand was from Avraham who threw sand and it turned into swords. The Caesar's forces tried it in battle and were successful. The Caesar sent Nahum back with with great honors and a chest full of treasures.

While we may not be zocheh to see such an obvious display of how Hashem does everything for the good, we do believe that all that He allows to happen is for the best (or in the words of Rabbi Akiva in gemara Berachos - kol ma'an d'avid Rachmana l'tav avid) and that there is a positive purpose to what happens in this world.

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Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Sunshine Wheat Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium's Sunshine Wheat Ale.

Although the city of Fort Collins, Colorado has a population of less than 140,000 people, it is home to six breweries including: Anheuser Busch, Odell Brewing, Fort Collins Brewery and New Belgium. As I recently learned, New Belgium produces a number of kosher brews including the Sunshine Wheat Ale.

The Sunshine Wheat Ale is classified by BA as an American Pale Ale and it certainly carries the moniker in that it is pale in color. However the taste of the Sunshine Wheat is more akin to a Witbier. This could be due to the fact the brew is flavored with coriander and orange peel, or it could just be the flavor of the beer itself.

I first tried the Sunshine Wheat while sitting at my kitchen table with a sefer. Sarah tried it at the same time and decided to cook our supper with it (grouper). It added a nice flavor to the seared fish and also went quite well with plated finished product. I had another one later in the week with pineapple chicken and it went equally well. It is easily one of the best American Wheat beers that I have ever tasted.

New Belgium Sunshine Wheat is 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 Sunshine Wheat, 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 check my latest Kosher Beer List (http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/09/kosher-beers-semi-annual-kosher-beers.html ) for a complete listing of those New Belgium brews which are certified kosher.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Sunshine Wheat, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/1911 .

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 such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!