Torah tidbits
PARSHA-PIX - Sh'lach

Parsha Pix

Actually, it’s on page 5 this week...
Welcome back to Mad Magazine's two spies. Follow this: These spies are carrying a bomb. Short jump to granade and from there to RIMON, one of the fruits that the Meraglim brought back. If we take the Mad feature to its name, we have spy vs. spy, so the one in black can represent one of the 10 and the white one can be Yehoshua or Kalev. But, according to Tradition, only the other 10 brought fruit back with them, so either this picture is not accurate, or Kalev was trying to take it away from the other. The author in Mad always signed his name in Morse code, so to retain that image, we have a very important quote from Kalev depicted in Morse - ALO NA'ALEH.
The compass represents the directions that Moshe sent the Meraglim to explore. The grapes refer to the timing: “...And the days were the days of the ripening of the grapes.”

The tree with the eye is a play on words: See if the Land has trees IM AYIN, or not. Switch the initial ALEFs of IM AYIN to AYINs and the question becomes: Is there a tree with an eye?

Towards the upper-right are the spies with the grapes as they appear in the emblem of the Ministry of Tourism and the logo of Carmel-Mizrachi Wines.
Among the names of the Meraglim (including father’s names) are three related to animal names: Gadi b. Susi and (Amiel b.) G'mali.
Flour, oil, and wine are for the MENACHOT and N’SACHIM presented in the sedra.

The Challa stands for the mitzva of CHALLA.
The Tzitzit for that mitzva.
At the bottom right is Murex Trunculus, suspected (probable) source of T'cheilet dye and used by many people today for that aspect of the mitzva.
The heart with the eyes combine the two warnings of not to follow the evil temptations of your heart and your eyes.
Lower-left is the wood gathered on Shabbat and the stone used to execute the Shabbat desecrater.

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 (B’HA’A’LO’T’CHA) TTriddle:
[1] Not 7; just for dinner
[2] The list of confused Talmud includes radiusand anvil
[3] Kalev to Miriam on their 15th or 30th
[4] What culinary delight is identified with Tzifyon, Chagi, Shuni, Etzbon, Eiri, Arodi, Arieli
[5] Tiyul to Paran Desert - From when to when?

And the envelope please...

[1] The answer is CHAMETZ. In the sedra we have the mitzva of Pesach Sheni. For Pesach SHeni, Chametz is NOT forbidden for 7 days, as it is for the first Pesach. It is forbidden only at the meal one is going to eat the Korban Pesacvh Sheni. So it is forbidden... just for dinner.
[2] This is a Games Magazine gone to Yemen type of TTriddle. One may not break a bone in KP2 (just like the prohibition for the first Pesach). Targum Onkeles translates ETZEM (bone) as GARMA, which is a confused (mixed up letters, anagram) form of GEMARA or TALMUD. The list of confused Talmud means the list of bones, includes the radius (one of the arm bones) and the anvil, a.k.a. the incus of the middle ear.
[3] Kalev was married to Miriam. If he followed the “traditional” wedding gifts, then for the 15th anni- verary, he’d give her crystal and for the 30th he’d give her pearl. B’DOLACH is translated as either crystal or pearl, and is a word used to describe the Manna. Kalev might not have had too much else available to give to his wife as a wedding gift, but MANNA would be particularly appropriate for the 15th and 30th anniveraries.
[4] Here’s another TTriddle whose answer is the Manna. This one’s not as much of a stretch as [3]. Tzifyon, Chagi, Shuni, Etzbon, Eiri, Arodi, and Arieli are the sons of GAD, making them ZERA GAD, one of the descriptions of the Manna. And if the Manna took on the tastes of one’s imagination (with limits) then it was truly a culinary delight.
[5] The special tiyul mentioned at the bottom of the Travel Desk page last week was not a tiyul of today, but a tiyul of over 3000 years ago. In Bamidbar 10:11, we see that Bnei Yisrael left Sinai for Midbar Paran on the 20th of Iyar 2449. The Torah further on tells us that it was a three-day journey, so you can answer the to when part of the TTriddle as well as the when part.

This week's TTriddles:

[1] Long before they were his wives, one made a good suggestion to the other

With TT #521, we tie Willie McCovey and Ted Williams. Next stop, IY”H, is 534 - Jimmie Foxx and then 536 - Mickey Mantle. (This is for you, SD!)


[The Sh'lach Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]


The Torah Tidbit Archive