Thursday, October 31, 2013

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Toldos

The following is a brief summary of some 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.

In discussing Yaakov and Esav as young men, the Torah states in Bereishis 25:27 that Esav became  an "Ish Yodea Tzayid" (a man who knows trapping) and "Ish Sadeh" (a man of the field), whereas Yaakov was an Ish Tam who sat in the tents.

Rabbi Frand asked - why does the Torah's description of Esav include the use of the word "Ish" twice, while Yaakov is only called "Ish" once?

Rabbi Frand answered by quoting a sefer called Mishchas Shemen, which in turn offered the following introduction to its answer. In the early 1960's, President Kennedy talked about how they wanted to put a man on the moon. A certain person asked the Shutzer Rebbi if man will ever walk on the moon. The Rebbi answered by quoting a pasuk from Tehillim which states that the heavens are for Hashem and the earth is for man.

After the lunar landing in 1969, the person again sought an answer as to how man could walk on the moon. As the Shutzer Rebbi had passed away years earlier, the man approached the Bialer Rebbi and asked - was the Shutzer Rebbi wrong? The Bialer Rebbi said no - he was not wrong. The fact that a man can walk on the moon does not mean that the moon was a place that he could live. The astronauts who are walking on the moon need to have oxygen pumped into their pressurized suits. The astronauts cannot dwell or live on the moon without assistance, they are permanently tied to the Earth.

The Mishchas Shemen explained that Yaakov was a man of the tents. Everywhere that Yaakov went, he had a connection to his simple lifestyle from his Torah learning. It is for this reason that Yaakov was a shepherd, again a tie to a simple Torah lifestyle.

On the other hand, Esav was an Ish Yodea Tzayid - he was a man who trapped people by pretending to be something that he was not, a simple man of the field. Esav used his outer appearance to try to trick people and take advantage of them.

R' Frand next quoted a letter written by Rav Hutner to one of his talmidim. The former student had written to Rav Hutner to express his concern that the student was living a double life, since the man was in the professional world and was no longer sitting and learning full time. Rav Hutner responded, no you are not living a double life. Your secular life is being sustained and supported by the learning that you did while you were in the Beis Medrash and the learning that you find time to do now.

R' Frand closed this portion of the vort by telling a story about Dr Wallach who was previously involved with Shaarei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem. There was a story about a man who was on a gurney, waiting to go in for surgery. The man was approached by Dr Wallach, who asked him his name so that he could daven for the man. The story was related to a gadol who said - how wonderful it is that Dr Wallach can make a kiddush Hashem by having his Torah life influence his public persona.

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Monday, October 28, 2013

Monday's Musings on Sports - Miami Meets its Fate or Why the Sanhedrin Got it Right

Last week, I was driving back from Court one day when I heard a story about how the University of Miami had learned of its punishment after a nearly three year investigation by the NCAA. The radio host (I think it was Collin Cowherd) was talking about how the punishment was nowhere as severe as the punishment meted out by the NCAA to some other schools. Still, the radio host thought it was more than fair, because the punishment had been delayed for so long. As I cruised the LIE through rural Suffolk County, I thought that the radio host was right and that he had been channelling Gemara Sanhedrin.

Approximately, two and a half years ago, a story broke about a Miami booster named Nevin Shapiro, who had access to student-athlete recruits and who influenced them with illegal gifts. As detailed in a timeline created by Yahoo sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaa-timeline-miami-scandal-140949730--ncaaf.html;_ylt=A2KJ3CSweHBSFA4AU31NbK5_) in 2009, Miami reported the incident to the NCAA. Thereafter, Miami punished itself by refraining from participation in bowl games for two years. Additionally, during the process, the Miami administration advised potential recruits that the school was the subject of an ongoing investigation and could be the subject of potential sanctions. 

Finally, the NCAA issued a report last week which contained its sanction - the school would lose nine scholarships (three a year for the next three years) but would not be suspended from bowl activity. As reported by Tim Reynolds of the AP (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/decision-day-miami-ncaa-saga-071905438--ncaaf.html;_ylt=A2KJ3CSweHBSFA4AVn1NbK5_) Miami called the punishment tough, but fair. But more importantly to Miami, it meant that the investigation was finally over and they could move on with the business of the university.

This was the point that the radio host had been making last week. For the last three years, every recruit who came to the school was warned - there may not be football here next year. You might play for use, but the team might be suspended from playing in a bowl game. But then again, nothing might happen. This was the reason why (in his opinion) the NCAA did not mete out a more severe punishment on Miami. The NCAA was aware of what Miami had been experiencing due to the delay in concluding the investigation. As a result, there would be no additional severe punishment.

The story reminded me of the halacha on judging cases according to Jewish law. No cases are heard at night and cases are not presented near nightfall so as to be sensitive to the emotions of the accused. The NCAA and Miami, that's a different story.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Ruby Mild


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams Ruby Mild.

This year, the Boston Beer Co (a/k/a Samuel Adams) has produced a special fall line of beers which they call the Harvest Collection. The beers in this box include Octoberfest, Latitude 48 (reviewed here - kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunday-night-suds-samuel-adams-latitude.html), Harvest Pumpkin, Hazel Brown, the standard Boston Lager (reviewed here - kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/04/sunday-night-suds-samuel-adams-boston.html) and new for 2013 - Ruby Mild.

The Ruby Mild is an ale unlike any other ale that I have ever tried. The hop profile is very subdued and the malts are prominent. When I went to BA to look up the style of beer, I found that it is classified as an English Dark Mild Ale, which they define as:

The quintessential British session beer, like its name suggests, a Mild is known for its low level of hops character. Alcohol content is traditionally very low. Grainy to toasty malts might be present, but expect some body from the high dextrins produced in brewing. Low carbonation with a near still, bubbly head. Colors can range from gold to dark brown. Traditionally a draft beer made popular in London and the Midlands of England.

My first drink of the Ruby Mild was all malt. I shared some with Mrs KB who thought the beer a tad sweet. I did not think that it was sweet, but there was a good deal of caramel in the brew, so I can see why she had that impression. I enjoyed the beer on its own, so I have no pairing experiments to suggest. Feel free to hit the comments with your personal experiences.

The Samuel Adams Ruby Mild has a Star-K on the label, but is not listed on the September 2013 LOC on the Star-K website. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/97114.

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, October 24, 2013

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Chaye Sarah

The following is a brief summary of some 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.

Rabbi Frand started his vort on the parsha by quoting to a Ramban on Parshas Lecha wherein the Ramban writes that the purpose of the book of Bereishis is not merely to recites stories, but are episodes which serve as a templates or guideposts for the generations (ma'asei avos simanim l'banim). He gave the example of the story in Parshas Lech Lecha where Avraham went down to Egypt and Pharaoh abducted Sarah. This story had multiple impacts on the Jewish future as is seen from the stories of Ya'akov going down and the Jews' subsequent exodus from Egypt. I have attempted to list some of these examples below:

Much like Avraham who went down to Egypt because of the famine in the land, Yaakov also went down to Egypt because of the famine. After Avraham went down to Egypt, he was stuck there for a time as Sarah was being held by Pharaoh. After Yaakov went down to Egypt, the Jews were stuck there for a time as Pharaoh did not allow them to leave. When Pharaoh took Sarah he was struck by many nega'im (blemishes). When the Jews were stuck in Egypt, the Egyptians were struck by many plagues. When Avraham left Egypt after the episode with Pharaoh, he left with great wealth. After the Jews left Egypt after having been enslaved there, the Jews left with great wealth. Even the story of Pharaoh taking Sarah foreshadowed the troubles which would befall the Jews in Egypt as Pharaoh's decree was that all the male children would be killed, but the females could be kept alive for the Egyptians.

Rabbi Frand then sought to apply this principle to the story of Avraham buying the Ma'aras Hamachpeilah for the burial of Sarah. Many meforshim explain that the story of the purchase of machpeilah was actually Avraham's final test. A link to this can be found in the gemara in Bava Basra 16, which discusses a conversation between Hashem and the Satan. The Satan comes to Hashem and says that he has searched the entire world and has not found a tzaddik like Avraham. He explains that Avraham had been promised by Hashem that Avraham would have all of the land of Israel. Yet when Sarah died, Avraham could not find a location in his land which was suitable to bury Sarah. Instead, Avraham went and bought the Machpeilah cave from Efron. At this point Avraham could have complained to Hashem that the land was his and why did he need to buy the cave. But he did not do so.

Rabbi Frand linked this to a Medrash quoted by Rashi on Parshas Va'era, wherein Hashem says to Moshe, you are complaining about your role, but look at the trouble that the Avos went through and they never questioned me. I said to Avraham you could have all of the land of Israel and yet when it came time to bury Sarah, he had to buy a plot. Yet, he did not question Me.

Again, the proof to Moshe circles back to a story from Sefer Bereishis.

R' Frand then quoted R' Isaac Bernstein who asked - why did Avraham have to buy the cave of Machpeilah? After all, when Avraham first approached the people of Cheit, he was told that he could bury Sarah there for free. It was only after Avraham insisted that he wanted to buy the cave that Efron began to negotiate the sale for an exorbitant price. But the whole transaction would not even have been necessary, had Avraham accepted their offer of free burial! So why do these medrashim harp on Avraham's purchase of the cave when it is a voluntary act?

R' Frand tied the answer to this question into a Medrash quoted in the Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, which linked the story of the burial of Sarah with the meeting of Avraham and the angels in the beginning of Parshas Vayera. The Medrash states that when the angels came to Avraham, he went to get a cow to slaughter to feed the angels. When he tried to catch the cow, it ran away and sought shelter in the cave of Machpeilah. Avraham chased after the cow and entered the cave where he saw Adam lying peacefully with Chava in a room with nice candles and a pleasant scent. When Avraham saw them lying this way he decided that he needed this place for burial for himself and Sarah.

Acting on this thought, Avraham went to look for someone to buy the cave from. The Medrash states that he went to the people of Yevus and said that he wanted to buy the cave. But why Yevus if the land belonged to the Hittites? The answer was that the city was called Yevus and it was located in the land of the Hittites. 

When Avraham approached the people of Yevus they agreed to sell him the cave, on condition that he would swear to never forcibly take their city. Avraham agreed and there were documents made which memorialized the transaction. These documents were recorded and copper signs containing the promise were hung around the city for all to see. 

The ma'asei avos simanim l'banim aspect of the story took place much later. The city of Yevus was actually Jerusalem. When the Jews later came to the city when they were conquering the land of Israel, they were unable to do so because of the promise. In the end of Sefer Shmuel, David Hamelech had to pay Aram Hayivusi to purchase Jerusalem. This was the only way they could get it.

Now three thousand years later, we are still fighting to own and keep Jerusalem. This is the maasei avos simanim l'banim - we have constantly needed to bargain and work to get Jerusalem. It is even now the subject of "peace talks" which involve negotiations on the status of many things in Israel. 

Finally after thousands of years we finally got some of Jerusalem. Iy'h we will get all of it and keep it, as it is the undivided capitol of Israel.

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sunday Night Suds - Boulevard Pale Ale


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Boulevard Pale Ale.

The NY Times reported on Friday that Boulevard Brewery is being purchased by Duvel Moortgat, a Belgian brewing company which also owns Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, N.Y. It is reported that the two domestic breweries will be owned by a separate holding company focused on U.S. sales.

When I first heard about the buyout I admit to having concerns. Boulevard recently joined the ranks of kosher certified breweries and I have been trying to catch up on all of its quality brews. Although Duvel also has some beers which are certified kosher by the KF, the Ommegang brewery in Cooperstown has shown no interest in obtaining kosher supervision.

It will be worth watching whether Boulevard opts to abandon the supervision or if Ommegang chooses to finally go kosher.

Back to the Boulevard Pale Ale - the beer poured a rich amber and had great lacing which lasted much longer than I could have expected. The beer has a great bouquet of fragrant hops which hits before the first sip and lasts well beyond the last swallow. The hops are not very complex as the notes are mostly pine, but if you like American Pale Ales, this is the beer for you. 

Boulevard Pale Ale 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/423/2094.

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, October 17, 2013

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayera

The following is a brief summary of some 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.

In the beginning of this week's parsha, we read about Avraham's encounter with the angels on the third day after his bris millah. In Bereishis 18:5, the Torah recounts part of the story in which Avraham says that he will give the angels bread since the angels have passed through his way. The angels respond, so shall you do just as you said.

R' Frand said - you can hear and learn the parsha for fifty years and then suddenly you have a question about a pasuk you have reviewed many many times before. He quoted Rashi on this pasuk, wherein Rashi explains that the dialogue between Avraham and the angels was that Avraham said to the angels, since you have passed through here, I am asking you to eat by me. The angels respond, yes as you have said.

R' Frand said this would be akin to a person saying to another "because you are here, come eat by me." To this the angels respond, OK we will. Would a person invite someone to come for a meal because they are in the neighborhood and the guest responds, "Ok I will"?

R' Frand explained that what Avraham was saying to the angels was, there is no coincidence in this world. Its hot outside and no one is walking around. The reason that you are here is because Hashem wants you to be here, so eat by me. The angels respond, you are right - things don't happen by accident - we are here and you can see us, so it must be that we should eat by you.

R' Frand remarked that this is also the central theme of Megillas Esther. (He prefaced this by saying that he is not crazy in talking about Purim right after Sukkos). Mordechai tells Esther - you need to go to Ahasverus even though you were not asked and it is with a danger to your life. 

R' Frand said parenthetically that he saw a medrash this week which said that Esther passed through seven chambers before she got to Ahasverus and when she got to him, he said to her - Vashti never did anything like this.

Mordechai's says to Esther in 4:14, "who knows if this is the reason that you were made queen." In so doing, Mordechai in effect says to Esther - you did not become queen by accident, there must be a reason for this.

R' Frand closed the vort by telling a story about Gerrer Chassidim in pre-World War II Europe. There was a custom among the Gerrer Chassidim that if someone could not pay his rent and he was about to be evicted, the community would take up a collection to pay so that he would not be out on the street.

There was an incident in Lodz, Poland where a man and his landlord were both Gerrer Chassidim. The tenant could not pay his rent, so the landlord went to the Imrei Emes (Gerrer Rebbi) and said what do I do - I need to pay my expenses? The Rebbi said - you can't evict him. The landlord responded - then the community needs to pay his rent to me. The Rebbi responded - no, its your burden. The landlord said to the Rebbi - its not fair, if I was not a Gerrer Chassid, then I would get paid. The Rebbi responded - you are right, its not fair. But you are in this position for a reason and Hashem wants you to be charitable to this man.

This the upshot of the story between Avraham and the angels. Avraham says the angels - you wound up here on this hot day for some reason, it must be because Hashem want me to give you a meal. The angels respond, you are right, this is from Hashem.

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Pesachim 117

On Pesachim 117b, the gemara discusses the structure of prayer and kiddush. Within the context of this discussion, the gemara recites the opinion of R' Acha Bar Yaakov, who states that we must remember the geulah from Egypt when saying Kiddush. 

R' Acha proves his point this by contrasting two pesukim, both of which use the word "remember."

The first pasuk cites was from Devarim 16:3 which states that "you should remember leaving Egypt, all the days of your life." The second pasuk is from the Aseres Hadibros in Yisro (Shemos 20:8) which states "remember the Shabbos day to make it holy."

Tosafos (d'h L'maan) quotes a medrash which adds additional proof to the limud. Tosafos states that while the Jews were in Egypt, the Egyptians enslaved them with avodas parech. (This term is also mentioned in the haggadah). Tosafos writes that using the "at bash" exegetical tool, we see that parech is equal to Vav, Gimmel, Lamud, which together are 39. Tosafos explains that while the Jews were in Egypt, they were forced to do parech work. Once they were redeemed from Egypt, the Jews were told to observe the laws against doing the 39 melachos of Shabbos.

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Sunday, October 13, 2013

Sunday Night Suds - Gordon Biersch Marzen Lager


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Gordon Biersch's Marzen Lager.
 
Although the word Marzen would sound like a beer best consumed in the winter, its actually an Octoberfest which was brewed in March so that it could be ready for the fall. As explained by the experts at BA:
 
Before refrigeration, it was nearly impossible to brew beer in the summer due to the hot weather and bacterial infections. Brewing ended with the coming of spring, and began again in the fall. Most were brewed in March (Märzen). These brews were kept in cold storage over the spring and summer months, or brewed at a higher gravity, so they’d (sic) keep. Märzenbier is full-bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content.

The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies'n (the location at which Munich celebrates its Oktoberfest) contains roughly 5.0-6.0% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in style.
 
I picked up this beer in the remainder aisle of a store which will remain nameless. I say this because when I drank this tonight, I realized that the beer had been brewed in April (true to the style) but that the April was April 2012! While some higher alcohol beers can keep for a year or two and even three (the Sixth Glass I reviewed last week had a best before date of March 2016!), a mass produced lager like the Gordon Biersch has an outside freshness of about nine months. As this beer was eighteen months old, the beer had begun to turn and tasted more like apple cider than beer.
 
The Gordon Biersch Marzen Lager is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and has their certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1551/16254
 
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 www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Lech Lecha/Hesped for R' Ovadia Yosef ztl

The following is a brief summary of some thoughts said over by R' Frand this evening. The vorts have some connection with the parsha, but were mostly geared towards being a hesped for R' Ovadia Yosef ztl. I have attempted to reproduce these thoughts 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 parsha portion of this week's shiur by making reference to a pasuk in Bereishis 15:5 wherein Hashem tells Avraham to look at the sky and see the stars. The basic explanation for this direction is that Hashem is promising Avraham that his children will be numerous as the stars in the sky. However, R' Frand quoted Rabbeinu B'Chayei who explains that the direction to look at the stars was actually meant to advise Avraham that the same way that each star differs from all the other stars in the heavens, so too the Chachamim/Gedolei Yisrael are each unique and different from each other.

R' Frand then stated that this would be a proper vort to use as a starting point for the hesped of R' Ovadia Yosef ztl. But before beginning the hesped, R' Frand gave an interesting introduction. R' Frand noted that times have changed. No longer when a person visits his doctor, does the doctor take notes and a history on a pad. When taking clothes into the dry cleaner, the dry cleaner no longer uses carbon paper. When a car has problems, it is taken to a mechanic who hooks up a diagnostic tool to see the problem.

R' Frand remarked that now when he prepares his shiur, he makes reference to computerized collections of seforim. But before he had the computer programs, R' Frand had his own computer - the Yabia Omer, written by R' Ovadia Yosef. R' Frand said that when he used to prepare his shiurim in the pre-Bar Ilan library times, if he could find a reference in the Yabia Omer to the particular question, he knew that he would be OK. The two most important sources in the early days of the shiur were the Yabia Omer and the Tzitz Eliezer. Having given that introduction, R' Frand remarked that he and anyone who has ever come to his shiur and anyone who has ever listened to a tape of his shiur, are all talmidim of R' Ovadia Yosef, because R' Frand could not even count how many times he has referenced R' Ovadia Yosef.

R' Frand told a story about how years ago, there were only six volumes of the Yabia Omer, but R' Frand could only get the first and sixth volume. R' Frand tried and tried to get the complete set, but they were out of print. But a student in the yeshiva from Brazil had a complete set. So R' Frand sent the talmid down to a copy shop so that he could photocopy every page of those missing volumes. R' Frand said that he kept them in boxes so that he could refer to them, because they were so invaluable to him and no one had them. R' Frand remarked that the encyclopedic knowledge in these seforim was mind boggling.

R' Frand then stated that one could remark that the biggest talmid chacham in the world died this week. And whether you agreed with every psak is irrelevant, because everyone who learns halacha needs to be aware of R' Ovadia Yosef's psak.

R' Frand said that 32 years ago, R' Ovadia Yosef came to Baltimore to give a shiur. One of those attendees was R' Shternhill who was a great talmid chochum in his own right and a chassid who was anti-zionist. But when R' Ovadia Yosef came to Baltimore, R' Shternhill put this aside and went to see him, because R' Ovadia Yosef was a great talmid chochum. When they were introduced and one person told R' Ovadia Yosef that R' Shternhill was the author of a sefer, R' Ovadia Yosef knew of the sefer and was able to discuss one of the teshuvas with the author.

R' Frand next said that R' Ovadia Yosef was a transformative figure, much like the Ba'al Shem Tov, R' Yisrael Salanter and R' Aharon Kotler. R' Ovadia Yosef was a transformative figure because he transformed Israel by resuscitating Sephardic Jewry in Israel. Where the Yeshivos in Israel used to be all Ashkenaz, now there are tens of thousands of Sephardic boys learning. But more than that, R' Ovadia Yosef reached out to non-frum Sephardim as well. This is attested to by the fact that nearly 1 million people came to R' Ovadia Yosef's funeral - 15% of the Jews in the entire country came to the funeral.

R' Frand talked about how there was a live broadcast of the funeral and you could see that there were Ashkenazim and Sephardim, but also people who came who even did not wear kippot, because they felt connected to him. R' Frand said that everyone felt connected to R' Ovadia Yosef, because he cared for them and went to them, he gave them money and prayed for them. And they knew how he felt.

R' Frand told a story which had been said at the funeral. 14 years ago, R' Ovadia Yosef had suffered a heart attack and needed a bypass procedure. He told the doctors that he needed to go home for three hours before the surgery. Why? Because he was in the middle of writing a teshuva that would allow an agunah to remarry and he was concerned that if he did not make it through the surgery, the woman would be unable to remarry.

R' Frand then called R' Ovadia Yosef the father of the Sephardic world. He remarked that although there are sayings at funerals about how people have lost their crown, or the ship has lost its captain, this time it was true and not an exaggeration. Because this was a gadol who comes along once in three hundred years.

R' Frand closed by quoting from Koheles 12:9 and in so doing, R' Frand compared R' Ovadia to Shlomo HaMelech. The pasuk states that more than being wise, Koheles taught the people - he made the Torah accessible. R' Ovadia Yosef made the Torah accessible to the people and he listened and helped and assisted.

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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Sunday Night Suds - Boulevard Sixth Glass Quadruple Ale


This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Boulevard Brewery's Sixth Glass Quadruple Ale, one of the beers in Boulevard's Smokestack Series.

Picked up a few different Boulevard Smokestack Series brews at C Gasbaro's in Seekonk, Massachusetts. Stopped in at Gasbaro's based on reviews on Beer Advocate and the sale ads on their website. Neither turned out to be accurate, but they did have a decent (yet overpriced) selection of Boulevard beers.

The Boulevard Smokestack series features some extreme beers which are normally sold in 22oz bottles, but are also available in 12 oz versions. One of the advantages to buying them in 12oz versions is that you can try out specialty styles without spending $6-10 and potentially being stuck with beer that outkicks your coverage.

The Quadruple Ale is a style of beer that I never tried before. As defined by the experts at BA:

A Quadrupel is a Belgian style ale of great strength with bolder flavor compared to its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. Typically a dark creation that ranges within the deep red, brown and garnet hues. Full bodied with a rich malty palate. Phenols are usually at a moderate level. Sweet with a low bitterness yet a well perceived alcohol.

Mrs KB and I tried this brew one YT evening and were struck by the complexity of the flavors of the brew. The beer poured a dark brown and was thick and had an almost velvety mouthfeel. The alcohol flavor was prominent (10.5% abv) and caused me to sip, rather drink the brew. There are strong dark flavors with some phenols, but also some plum and even brandy tones in the brew.

I could not see drinking this regularly, or trying to consume an entire bottle on my own. But it was a nice special treat which I would recommend sharing with friends.

Boulevard Brewery Sixth Glass 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/423/39621.

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, October 3, 2013

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Noach

The following is a brief summary of some 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.

In the end of Parshas Noach the Torah tells the story of the Dor Haflagah - the people who built what is colloquially known as the Tower of Babel. Prior to telling the story of the Dor Haflagah, the Torah recites the children and grandchildren of Noach. Among these generations were the children of Cham, which includes Chush who was the father of Nimrod who was a might hunter and who established kingdoms in many lands including Bavel. 

After describing these generations, the Torah writes that Ashur left these lands and he built many cities including Nineveh. (Bereishis 10:8-11).

R' Frand quoted two Rashis on these pesukim. The first Rashi on 10:9, states that Nimrod was a mighty trapper, who would ensnare people's minds with his mouth and lead them astray to fight Hashem. The second set of Rashis on 10:11-12 state that when Ashur saw that his children were listening to Nimrod and rebelling against Hashem, Ashur picked up and went with them. He then built Ninveh, the great city. Rashi underscores the greatness of the City by citing to a pasuk from Sefer Yonah which states that Nineveh was a great City for Hashem.

Where did the people of Nineveh learn how to be great? Indeed, it is a wonder that the City was able to do teshuva! Where did this strength come from?

R' Frand answered that the people of Nineveh were influenced by their ancestor who walked away from Nimrod with his family and built his city so that his children would not be corrupted by Nimrod. Since Ashur was a role model and he sacrificed to take his family away from Bavel and build his own city on the countryside, the people of that city, many, many generations later, were able to use that power to take the incredible and inspirational steps towards teshuva.

R' Frand observed that there are people who are exceptional, even though their parents may seem to be plain people. Although when looking at the family, one does not see greatness, the person still has greatness in their genetic code. Because when a person's ancestor takes incredible steps and sacrifices to serve Hashem, the result is imprinted in their DNA and passed on for future generations.

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!