ParshaPix

Here's last year's PP; hard to improve on it. Upper left is a split-ground earthquake scene. Upper middle is a fire. If one were to ask, how did Korach and his gang meet their end, "getting swallowed by the Earth" would be only partially correct. The 250 incense offerers were killed by fire. And there is a question as to exactly what happened to Korach. Some sources say that his end was actually a combination of both punishments.

Upper right is a guard at his post; this refers to the obligation of the Leviyim to do SH'MIRA in the Beit HaMikdash area. Actually, the Leviyim stood guard on Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) and outside the AZARA, the courtyard of the Mikdash. They manned 21 posts, and there were 3 posts in different rooms of the Beit HaMikdash complex that were manned by Kohanim, for a total of 24 watchposts.

The 5 coins are for Pidyon HaBen, one of the mitzvot of Parshat Korach.
In the center of the PIX are the barren staffs of the tribes surrounding the flowering (albeit not almond) staff of Aharon (of the tribe of Levi). 
Above the sticks, to the right, is a gift, representing the gifts of the Kohen and Levi which are enumerated in the sedra. 

Lower left is an example of one of the MATNOT K'HUNA. It stands for the tenth part of the tenth part that the Levi must give to a kohen from the Maaser he receives (from Yisra'eilim). 

Which brings us to the lower right and a lamb in a baby carriage, which refers to the topic of B'CHOR B'HEIMA T'HORA. The aspect of this topic in Korach is the prohibition of redeeming (attempting to redeem) the animal.
Okay, let's add something new this year... and make an important point along with it. Bottom, middle is an Earth with a mouth - PI HA'ARETZ. (Let's forget the eyes and nose for now.) Some say that the Earth's opening was supernatural, and not comparable to a "natural" earthquake. Therefore, this fanciful image of the Earth's mouth is a better representation of what's in the sedra, than the pix at upper-left.

TTriddles
TTriddles are Torah Tidbits-style riddles on Parshat HaShavua (sometimes on the calendar events of the week). The best solution set submitted each week (there isn’t always a best) wins a double prize — a CD from...Noam Productions 8 Malchei Yisrael, Geula & the Rav Shefa mall CDs, tapes, equipment - broad selection, good prices, personal attention and a gift (game, puzzle, book, etc.) from...Big Deal•15 Malchei Yisrael in Geula• Rechov Lunz right off the Ben Yehuda Midrachov in the center of town• Rabbi Akiva Street in Bnei Braq. You never really know what you’ll find there A fun place to shop.

Even if you can’t solve any, they are fun (and sometimes informative) to read about in the weekly TTriddles report (which is what you’re reading now).

Last week's (SHLACH) TTriddles:
[1] Did Haman have a drawl?
[2] X and Y have the same consistency, Z is looser. Solve for X, Y, and Z
[3] You shall offer the first fruits of his kingdom, your reaping, your grain, your produce, your dough. Oh, no! Nations to him.
[4] Make sure to add the truth when you daven.
[5] 4 each: longer, shorter, and the same

The envelope please...
[1] A drawl is a pattern of speech that involves lengthened and drawn out vowels. It is typical of southerners in the U.S. - hence the term, Southern drawl. The Meraglim made a point of telling us that Amalek dwelled in Eretz HaNegev, that is, the South. Haman, as a descendant of Amalek might have retained the southern drawl of his ancestors. 
[2] This is a question that has come up several times in the past. In Parshat Shlach (and elsewhere), the amounts of olive oil and flour in the Menachot for the three types of animal korbanot are presented. Specifically, the PAR (bull) is accompanied by 3 ESRONIM of fine flour and a half of a HIN of oil. The AYIN (ram) gets 2 and a third, respectively, and the KEVES (lamb) gets 1 and a quarter. With 12 LOGs in a HIN, let’s use 6, 4, and 3 LOGs of oil for the PAR, AYIL, and KEVES (easier to handle and less scary for fractionphobes). Ignoring other ingredients (mainly, water, which was added to the (most? all?) mixtures of Menachot, albeit not mentioned in the Written Word), the mixture of oil and flour for the bull is 6:3 or 2:1 (units are different, but can be disregarded when the ratios are used for comparison only). The ram’s mixture is 4:2, the same 2:1 consistency. The lamb’s Mincha is 3:1, proportionally, a much higher oil content than the other two animals, a looser consistency. So X and Y are the PAR and AYIL; Z is the KEVES.
[3] The word REISHIT is used 10 times in the Torah. The word(s) that follow it each time are included in the wording of the TTriddle. (All are translated into English, except ONO, which is cleverly “disguised” as Oh, no!
[4] This was the TTriddle of last week most solved by readers. The third passage of the SHMA is also the final 5 p’sukim of Shlach. In the Torah, the final words are Ani HaShem Elokeichem. When we say the Shma in davening, we add the truth — the word EMET.
[5] For this one, I was surprised that anyone got what I was looking for. But MM/Bklyn solved it. If you look through the list of the spies in the opening portion of the sedra, you will find that four of them have names with the same number of letters as their fathers’ names - YIG’AL b. YOSEF. Four others have longer names than their fathers - HOSHE’A b. NUN. And the other four have shorter names than their fathers - KALEV b. YEFUNEH. Significant? I don’t think so. But it was a fun discovery. By the way, GADI b. SUSI was not a GADI, but G’U’EL b. MACHI was. That could have been a TTriddle too.
Winner this week:MM/Bklyn for his near perfect sol’n.

This week's TTRIDDLES:
[1] Listen Korach: Two prohibitions with a fruit if you take things literally
[2] Avraham, Moshe, Yehoshua, Golyat, M'fiboshet, Ovadyahu
[3] Could be a record setting pasuk with 10
[4] 3 instead of 100? 40-50 switch? That's nuts!
[5] Emanuel Goldenberg a.k.a. EGR, a.k.a.?

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