Thursday, April 28, 2011

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Kedoshim

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parsha 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.

This week's parsha contains the laws of Orlah - the rules which apply to the use of the fruit of a newly planted tree. As discussed in Vayikra 19:23-25, the Jews were commanded that when they would come to the land of Israel and shall plant fruit trees, any fruit growing during the first three years was forbidden. Thereafter, the fruit grown in the fourth year was deemed holy (much like the fruit of ma'aser sheni). Once the first four years have passed, any fruit growing during the fifth and successive years was free for whatever use the owner desired and the Torah promises that the fifth year fruit will be plentiful.

Rashi on Vayikra 19:25 indicates that the fruit of the fifth year was a reward for keeping the laws of Orlah. Rashi then uses an interesting lashon in saying "hayah R' Akiva omer" - that R' Akiva used to say that the Torah used this language against the yetzer hara so that a person should not say - I worked four years for free. Therefore the Torah says that the fifth year will be a bountiful year as a reward for keeping Orlah.

Rabbi Frand asked three questions on the above statements. The first question was - why is there a reward for Orlah? We just finished Pesach - a holiday that carries with it a great financial burden for matza, wine, meat. Does the Torah say don't worry about paying for matza, because after Pesach there will be a financial reward for keeping Pesach? Why is the reward mentioned here?

R' Frand's second question was about the language used by Rashi - that R' Akiva used to say. Why not just say that R' Akiva said.

R' Frand's third question was about the medrashim on Orlah including one that the Jews were commanded to plant upon reaching Israel. This was tied into a mashal about a mother bird who feeds her baby birds until a specific point. She then says - go out and find food. Similarly - Hashem says to the Jews - recess is over, the vacation is over. While you were in the desert you had water from the well of Miriam, food came to your door from the sky in the form of mon and your clothes never were outgrown. Hashem says to the Jews - no longer will you have a free ride - you must work on the land and not just rely on the trees which were already there. The question is -- why?

R' Frand answered the questions by looking at the third point. Hashem was saying to the Jews - things require effort both in the physical and the spiritual world and there is no instant gratification. There is nothing that is worthwhile which comes without effort. The Jews had not worked for anything for forty years in the desert and Hashem needed to teach the Jews a lesson that things don't come instantly and that sometimes work is required for a long period of time without seeing any reward.

This was the reason that R' Akiva used to say this statement. R' Akiva had spent forty years with no Jewish education or background. At the age of forty, R' Akiva went to school with children to learn the alef beis. R' Akiva used to say to himself - this is worthwhile - I spent forty years with nothing and now I have a desire to learn. How did R' Akiva become R' Akiva? Through being motivated to learn by realizing that he had not done anything for forty years. R' Akiva used to say - the deprivation serves a purpose as the lack of fruit over his first forty years made his learning that much more valuable to him - just like the post Orlah fruits to the farmer.

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Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sunday Night Suds - Laker Light

The last pre-Pesach Sunday Night Suds reaches for the back of shelf and review Laker Light.

While preparing my list of chametz which my Rav will be selling for us (iy"h) I came across a six pack of Laker Light which I had purchased during my last trip to visit the northern part of our clan. After double checking to make sure that it had not been previously reviewed on this site, I put a bottle in the fridge to review for this week's post.

The Laker Light pours a bright yellow, much like many traditional lagers. However, the taste of the Laker Light leaves most light lagers behind. The beer actually had a beer taste which is a step up from most light beers. This was surprising since the beer has a 4% abv which is lower than most of the macro light beers with no flavor. By way of example, Miller Lite has a 4.17% abv, while Bud Light and Coors Light each go off at 4.20% abv.

The quality of the brew was also evident evident in the carbonation and the lacing on the glass. Even an hour plus after I opened the bottle, the beer still had some decent carbonation and the flavor really started to grow on me. Don't get me wrong, I won't be doing anything crazy like giving up ales or moving to Canada to get more of this beer. Still, it has earned my respect - if I was making a shalom zachor in Canada, I could see offering this as the light beer alternative at the simcha.

Laker Light is certified kosher by the COR (aka Kashruth Council of Canada). For the experts' take on Laker Light click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/416/8939.

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, April 14, 2011

Thursday's Pre Pesach Matza Crumbs

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Thursday night post is usually a summary of a vort said over by Rabbi Frand on the Parsha during his Thursday Night Shiur. This week R' Frand did not give his regular Thursday night shiur. However, I did hear a shiur this evening given by R' Mansour on Pesach and I would like to reproduce a vort that he said in the shiur. Usual rules still apply - 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' Mansour.

As part of the shiur R' Mansour asked why do we use wine at the seder? He answered that wine makes people happy - since we are free we want something that will make us happy. This can't be accomplished with water and milk and beer is out so it must be wine. But if wine makes us happy, why do we use it for havdalah? We know that the end of shabbos is a sad time. Indeed, we use the besamim as part of havdalah so that we will not be so upset that the neshama yeseira is leaving us now that shabbos is over. So why is wine used in havdalah? R' Mansour answered that the reason that we use wine in havdalah is that havdalah itself is linked to the seder. Havdalah discerns between kodesh and chol and one needs intelligence to be able to differentiate. When a person realizes that he has used his intelligence to come to a conclusion, its time to be happy.

R' Mansour then explained that each of the four languages of separation in havdalah: kodesh - l'chol; ohr - l'choshech; yisrael - l'amim and yom hashvi'i - l'sheshes yimei hamaseh are linked to the four cups at the seder.

The first cup of wine at the seder is used for Kadesh - when we make kiddush and sanctify the day. The kiddush attests that today is kodesh and yesterday was not. The first separation in havdalah is between kodesh and chol - we recognize that there is a difference between holiness and mundane.

The second cup of wine at the seder is said over the hagadda. At the end of the maggid we say that Hashem took us out of darkness to great light. This corresponds to the second language of havdalah - separating between ohr and choshech.

The third cup of wine at the seder follows the meal - it is with the birkas hamazon. R' Mansour pointed out that the meal is sandwiched between parts of hallel. Could one imagine that during the week we would break in the middle of hallel in davening to go have breakfast and then continue davening thereafter? Of course not! So why do we do so at the seder? R' Mansour answered that the meal is not a break in the hallel. When we eat the meal on Pesach, even the meal is spiritual. He compared it to how the Kohen partakes of the sacrifice and the offerer obtains atonement. This is different than the offering of an akum which is only an olah.

R' Mansour then quoted the Sfas Emes who remarked about the concept of v'achalta v'savata u'beirachta - you ate, you were satiated and you bentched. The language is odd - it should say u'tivarech - a commandment to bentch. The Sfas Emes explains that the reason there is no direct commandment is because it is the natural progression. Because you ate and were satiated you will want to bentch. This is seen on the night of the seder - v'achalta is the karban chaggiga, v'savata is the karban pesach which must be eaten l'sova. Once these have been consumed then we will want to bentch and thank Hashem. This concept sets us apart from the akum. We understand that we can sanctify the mundane and that the concept of eating can be raised to a spiritual level.

The fourth cup of wine is for the future - we say shvoch chamascha and are thinking about the geula in the future. Previously in the hagadda we had talked about the past, but now we begin discussing the future. R' Mansour then noted that the concept of galus is compared to the six days of the week. We are always praying that we will have a day that is kulu shabbos. When we talk about the future and redemption we are looking for the day which will be different than the rest of the week.

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday's Musings on Sports - Minor League Baseball, Lotto and Timely Medicine

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.

Today I caught a story on Yahoo's Big League Stew Blog about Joel Torres, a former Cleveland Indian farmhand who was released by the Indians in March. During his brief stint in the Indians' farm system, the twenty-one year old Torres played in two seasons with the Indians Arizona Fall League affiliate. However, in late March, the Indians decided to sever ties with Torres.

While the release of a minor league ballplayer is hardly newsworthy, there was a reason that Big League Stew decided to feature the story on the blog. In February, Torres was visiting his mother in Queens and purchased a Sweet Millions lottery ticket. The "golden" ticket yielded a one million dollar prize, which Torres cashed soon after his release from the Indians. When interviewed by a local paper, Torres said that he would use the money to buy his mother a house and to finance another try at minor league baseball. (To see the full story click here -http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Just-released-Indians-prospect-cashes-1-million?urn=mlb-wp2974).

While Torres' positive attitude and thoughtfulness is newsworthy, the story struck me from a different angle. There is a common Torah theme that Hashem provides the medicine before He allows the punishment to occur (aka He gives the refuah before the makah). A classic example is the gift of the land of Goshen. The Medrash teaches that after Pharaoh realized that he had erred in taking Sarah from Avraham, he gave Sarah the land of Goshen as a present. Many generations later, the Jews were living in Egypt as slaves to Pharaoh. However, the Jews did not live in Egypt as they resided in Goshen. This allowed them to continue their separate national identity and not change their names, language and manner of dress. A chief factor which enabled the Jews to keep their identity was that they did not reside in Egypt and instead dwelled in their own land - Goshen.

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sunday Night Suds - Red Stripe Jamaican Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds review looks at Red Stripe Jamaican Lager.

In early 2001 I became aware of Red Stripe for two distinct reasons. The Diageo company began to aggressively market Red Stripe in the United States by way of television commercials featuring a Jamaican comic and the slogan "Hooray Beer."

The other factor which increased my awareness of Red Stripe was that it began to appear in kosher restaurants which served beer. This of course was not based on the fact that it was under kosher supervision. Rather, the Red Stripe was featured based on the chazaka which allows for the presumption that beers which do not have flavorings or additives can be assumed to be kosher as the basic four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast) are generally acceptable.

While Red Stripe has seen a gradual increase of market share from the late 90's to present, they have now made an attempt to reach out to the kosher market as they are not certified kosher by the Star-K (although like many of the kosher flavors of Samuel Adams, they do not have the Star-K on the label).

The Red Stripe is a lager which bears a strong similarity to many domestic macro lagers. The beer pours a pale yellow with a good amount of foam. It is an easy drinking beer (4.7% abv) which would not clash with any dish, but also has no distinctive characteristics of its own. If you are looking for a basic lager you could do worse, but there are better lagers which are readily available.

Red Stripe Jamaican Lager is certified kosher by the Star-K, although like many of beers certified by the Star-K, there is no kosher certification on the label. If you would like to see the Star-K's LOC click here http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_12831_redstripe.pdf.

For the experts take on Red Stripe Jamaican Lager, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/221/689. 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, April 7, 2011

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Metzora

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parsha a number of years ago. 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 Vayikra 14:4-7, the Torah discusses the sacrifice brought by a someone afflicted with tzara'as. As part of the atonement process, the Metzora takes two birds - one is slaughtered and used in the cleansing process, while the other is set free. Rashi on Vayikra 14:4 comments that the reason why birds are used is that they are constantly tweeting which is a reminder that the tzara'as punishment comes about because the person spoke loshon hara - evil speech which he prattled on about another person.

R' Frand asked - why is that one bird is killed while the other is released? He answered by making reference to one of the premiere examples of one who guarded his mouth from loshon hara - the Chofetz Chaim. R' Frand asked - would you have expected that the Chofetz Chaim was a "big talker" or a quiet person? He answered that those who knew the Chofetz Chaim recalled that he liked to shmooze. Why? To teach that a person does not need to sit mute in order to be properly mikayaim shmiras halashon.

R' Frand then brought a proof from the releasing of the second bird. The Klei Yakar explains that the bird which is killed is symbolic of the negative speech (which brought about the tzara'as) which needs to be cut off. However, people are also capable of positive speech and the bird which is released teaches us that we can make positive use of our power of speech.

R' Frand closed this thought by citing to a Minchas Asher which discussed a gemara about a peddler. When the peddler (in the term of the gemara a "rochel") came to the middle of the city he got up and announced - who wants the elixir of life? When the townsfolk approached, the peddler said who wants life - keep your mouth from speaking evil - making obvious reference to the pasuk in Tehillim. The gemara relates that Rav Yanai was touched by the episode. This is surprising as the peddler did no more than relate a well known line from Tehillim. However, the Minchas Asher explains that Rav Yanai was impacted not by what was said, but by who made the statement. The prohibition against tale telling is known as "rechilus" and it derives its name from the word "rochel" since the peddlers use to repeat gossip about people which the peddlers had learned in their travels. Since this peddler had not only managed to overcome this problem, but was actively encouraging others to avoid loshon hara, he made a great impact on Rav Yanai.

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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Sunday Night Suds - Miller Lime Chill

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Miller Lime Chill.

Late last year, I began to review lime flavored beers and had some very mixed results. These included: Rising Moon, the "oldest" of the kosher lime flavored beers (reviewed here); the New Belgium Skinny Dip (reviewed here) and Brick Brewery's Red Baron Lime (reviewed here ).

While I can't speak for brewmasters, my rule of thumb is that if the fruit flavor is over the top, the beer isn't worth drinking. When the first thing that you taste in the beer is strawberry or cranberry or cherry, the beer simply isn't beer, its alcopop or worse.

From my perspective, it seems that the recent trend towards lime flavored beers is an attempt by brewers to capture the casual drinker who would not normally buy a beer. It is for this reason that the lime flavored beers are usually light beers (the Miller Lime Chill claims to be 100 calories) where the beer already has a weak taste. By adding in the lime juice (or chemically induced lime flavor) to a light beer, the resulting beverage will not be an unbalanced clash of flavors - it will just be a lime flavored alcoholic beverage.

The Miller Lime Chill easily slips into the above definition. The beer poured a very pale yellow and a had a good deal of sticky white foam. The first and last taste was of lime, although not sickeningly sweet lime lollypop - just lime flavor. I was unable to drink the entire beer and would not recommend it for anyone looking to pair it with food. Still, it beats Slivovitz as it will not wear a hole in the stomach as far as I can tell.

Miller Lime Chill is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, although like many of the Miller family of beers, there is no kosher certification on the label. If you would like to see the OU's letter of certification, please e-mail me at your convenience.

For the experts take on Miller Lime Chill, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/105/35735. (Grades range from D to F).

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!