PARSHA-PIX - B'shalach

ParshaPix

Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire. 

Flat tire is for the wheels of the Egyptian chariots which fell off when bogged down in the mud of the seabed 

Of course, there is the Davka graphic of Moshe raising his hand (with the MATEH) over the Sea and its splitting. 

The brick pattern is how AZ YASHIR is written in the Torah. 

Water coming from the rock that Moshe hit (as instructed). 

Quail, as in S'LAV. (Do you think he was from the tribe of DAN? Just kidding)

Two challot represent the double portion of Manna that fell on Friday, in honor of Shabbat. 

Three facets of the battle against Amalek: Moshe's upraised hands, Yehoshua's sword, and the pen with which the account of the battle was written down. 

Lower right is the representations of the Haftara. The singing bee is Dvora. Thunderbolt = BARAK, Devorah's associate. Milk that Yael gave to Sisra, and the tent peg with which she killed him. 

TTRIDDLES... are Torah Tidbits-style riddles on Parshat HaShavua (sometimes on the calendar). They are found in the hard-copy of TT scattered throughout, usually at the bottom of different columns. In the electronic versions of TT, they are found all together at the end of the ParshaPix-TTriddles section. Some TTriddles are also presentedfor call-in solution on Torah Tidbits Audio (Arutz-7, Thursday night). The best solution set submitted each week (there isnt always a best) wins a double prize a CD from Noam Productions and/or a gift (game, puzzle, book, etc.) from Big Deal 

Last week's (BO) TTriddles: 

[1] 1, 2, and 3 are 12 or 13, 14, and 15 respectively 

[2] A wind, a sound, and an illness 

[3] Avraham,Yishmael, Yosef, Moshe, David, Shaul, ?,?,? 

Plus 3 PPP-style elements in the ParshaPix (p.3) 

Plus a TTA (radio) riddle... 

And the envelope please... 

[1] The first mitzva in Parshat BO is about Kiddush HaChodesh, sanctifying the months. The mitzva happens, therefore, 12 or 13 times a year (in the time of Sanhedrin, and maybe even now). That's 1 is 12 or 13. The second mitzva is the bringing of Korban Pesach, which happens on the 14th of Nissan. 2 is 14. The third mitzva is the eating of the aforementioned K.P. 3 is on 15. 

[2] This kind of TTriddle comes from a curiosity about certain phrases in the Torah. For example, When the wind that blew the ARBEH (locust) out of Egypt is referred to as CHAZAK M'OD, very strong, the TTriddle-antennae immediately emerge. How many times does this word-pair appear in Tanach – and is there a TTriddle in it? Computer search program gets called up and finds that the term appears only thrice. The wind that took away the ARBEH, the sound of the Shofar at Har Sinai (next week's sedra), and the illness of the son of the woman who gave Eliyahu HaNavi lodgings (Melachim Alef 17). The child died and was brought back to life by G-d at Eliyahu's "request". 

[3] Similarly (to TTriddle [2]), VAI-MAHEIR, and he hurried, was a potential TTriddle. Who hurried in the Torah, in the rest of Tanach? Avraham, to where Sara was, to ask her to bake cakes for the angels. Yishma'el, to prepare the meat (tongue with mustard) for the angels. Yosef, out of the room to be able to cry over what he was putting his brothers through, without yet giving away his true identity to them. Par'o (he's the first question mark, and the connection to Parshat Bo), to get Moshe and Aharon back so that they can get rid of the locust plague. Moshe, to bow before HaShem after hearing the 13 Divine Attributes. That's it in Chumash. David (future) HaMelech, in his fight against Golyat (a.k.a. Goliath). Sha'ul HaMelech, fell to the ground quickly upon hearing Shmu'el's terrible prophecy. Shim'i b. Geira (Shmu'el Bet 19). And in Melachim Alef 20. 

In the ParshaPix, there was a bull in a circle - that's PAR-O. The can of food above the dog could have been the reward for the dog's part in accentuating the miraculous nature of the Night. But that's not TTriddly enough. It is canned food, known in Hebrew as SHIMURIM, so it does point to the same night. 

Then we have a sneaky PPP. The BO at the upper right is NOT for the sedra. Since when do we put the name of the sedra in the PP? It is part of the word BONE - the NE are on the face of the compass - the BONE is broken, which is a prohibition from the sedra.

Here's a TTriddle that missed getting into last week's printed version of TT, but was asked on Arutz-7's Torah Tidbits Audio. The plague was also a preview. 

It was kind of simple, because there were only three plagues in Parshat Bo, and the Makat B'chorot was the last, so it couldn't be a preview of another plague (although it could have been a preview of something else). Anyway, the answer is ARBEH, the locust. The Torah tells us in 10:15 that the ARBEH were so numerous that they covered the "eye of the earth", and DARKENED the land... Thus, this plague was also a preview of the follwing one, CHOSHECH, Darkness. 

The explanations of the TTriddles are occasionally long... on purpose. It is our intention to encourage some of the readers to use the TTriddles - or better still, to make up their own - in order to give fun, challenge, and education to their children (and Shabbat guests). For example, take the idea just mentioned and backtrack with it. If there is a link from ARBEH to CHOSHECH (the darkening of the land), is there a link from BARAD to ARBEH? Of course. That one is spelled out. There were some plants that survived the Hail because they were pliable. They did not survive the Locust. Can you find similar links from plague to plague within each 3-plague set? And how about links from set to set? Worth a try. 

This week's TTriddles:

Not a TTriddle, really, but an actual, interesting halachic question, which we did not attempt to answer in this issue. Give it a try and let us know if you've got an idea.

[1] Here's a favorite Bracha-Dilemma in honor of TU BiShvat. Dried fruit: Raisins, apricots, pineapple. Apricots are your favorite. Then pineapple. Last, raisins. Three fruit, two different brachot. What goes first? Raisins, you say, because they are of the 7 Species. Good guess, but pineapple would have priority because you like it better (CHAVIV) and the brachot are different. Okay, pineapple then. Problem. Apricots have priority for the first bracha because you like them best. So start with the apricot. No can do. Raisins have priority as Shiv'at HaMinim (with the same bracha). Raisins beats apricots. Apricots beat pineapple. Pineapple beats raisins. A Bracha-Dilemma. 

No regular TTriddles this week.

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