PARSHA-PIX - Korach

Parsha Pix

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 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 enumer- ated 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.
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...
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 (SH’LACH) TTriddle:
[1] Long before they were his wives, one made a good suggestion to the other
[2] What three tribes have a cyclic relationship based on their Meraglim?

And the envelope please...
[1] If this were the Final Jeopardy answer, the correct question would be, “Who is Kalev”. Our sources tell us that Kalev was married to both Miriam and Batya (daughter of Par’o). Long before they were co-wives, Miriam suggested to Bat Par’o that she arrange for a Jewish wetnurse to nurse baby Moshe. That person was none other than Moshe’s mother Yocheved. A good suggestion, wouldn’t you say?
[2] This TTriddle did NOT appear in last week’s hard copy of Torah Tidbits, nor in the electronic versions thereof. It was a riddle asked on Torah Tidbits Audio (Arutz-7, Thursday nights, 10:10-11:00pm, and on www.israelnationalnews.com anytime you want).
Yissachar’s scout was Yig’al b. Yosef. Yosef’s scout, that is, Menashe’s scout was Gadi b. Susi. Gadi-Gad. Gad’s scout was G’u’el b. Machi. G’u’el and Yig’al are from the same root. So the answer is Yissachar, Menashe, and Gad are cyclically related scout-wise.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] Confuse a cow and she gets weak. What animal remains unchanged if confused?
[2] Parshat Korach for $800: You must; you may not; you should
[3] The Hebrew father of a religious tiger are his confused antagonists

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