PARSHA-PIX - Parshat Vayeitzei
[1] TZACHAK means he laughed. TZA'AK means he yelled. Both words belong to the sedra (and others). TZADI-CHET-KUF and TZADI-AYIN-KUF. CHET in laugh is 8, suggestive (on a TTriddle level) of a soft sound at 8dB (decibels). The AYIN for scream is 70dB, much louder. The remaining letters, the ones both words have in common, are TZADI-KUF, which spell CHECK, hence the clue - CHECK it out. Solved nicely by a few solvers... including the CHECK part. Actually, 7dB would not really be audible; a soft whisper might measure 20dB. But if we are talking of the laughter of Sara in her heart, for example, then it could have registered as low as 7dB. Normal speech measures about 60dB, so it is unlikely that Eisav's scream was only 70dB. Nonetheless, a TTriddle is a TTriddle. [2] The answer to this one is VAYOMER ____ B'LIBO, so-and-so said in his heart. This phrasing appears only 3 times in the Tanach. Once in To'l'dot, when Eisav said "in his heart" that he was going to kill Yaakov after his father died (B'reishit 27:41). In Melachim Alef 12:26, Yarav'am realizes that the kingdom is being restored to the House of David. And in Megilat Esther 6:6, Haman says to himself that Achashveirosh doubtlessly wants to honor none other that Haman. Avraham was added in parentheses because in his case, the wording is VAYOMER B'LIBO. [3] This is not a parsha TTriddle, but rather a Torah Tidbits TTriddle. It was included for baseball fans and in honor of SD who has been keeping track of the issue numbers of TT corresponding to the number of homeruns hit by various people. The Iron Horse was Lou Gehrig. He hit 493 HRs in his career. With TT #494, we just passed the Iron Horse. Apologies to non-baseball readers of Torah Tidbits. [4] The modern city of Rehovot is known as the city of the citrus, the microscope, and the book. In the time of Yitzchak Avinu, Rehovot was one of the wells he dug. [5] VAYIGASH. That's the answer. Avraham approached G-d to plead for the people of S'dom and other cities slated for destruction. Yaakov approached Yitzchak so that Yitzchak could feel him to determine which son he was. And then when Yitzchak asked his son to approach him and give him a kiss. When Yaakov saw the Rachel,he approached the stone that covered the well and rolled it off the opening. Next comes the famous approach by Yehuda of the Egyptian leader who turned out to be none other than Yosef, in the sedra by the same name. Yosef to Yaakov was removed from the TTriddle, because there the word is VAYAGESH, he presented his sons to Yaakov. There are a few other VAYAGESHes, but that's it for VAYIGASH in the Torah. [6] VAYIGDAL is used predominantly with Yitzchak. First in Vayeira, Yitzchak grows, is circumcised, and there is a party when he is weaned. The word next is used for Yishma'el. Eliezer uses it in telling about his master Avraham. The Torah uses it again for Yitzchak, that he prospered greatly. (Concerning Yaakov and Eisav, the Torah uses the term VAYIG-D'LU. So they are part of the answer, if we broaden the solution beyond the word VAYIGDAL.) The Torah next uses the term for Moshe, that he grew (weaned would fit here too) and his mother brought him to Bat Par'o (who named him Moshe). And the term is used in the Torah once more, again with Moshe, when he goes out to see what's doing with his fellow Jews. So the five who grew are either four or six, including Avraham, Yitzchak, Yishma'el, Yaakov & Eisav, and Moshe. [7] The first connection between Yitzchak and Mea Shearim is obvious. The Torah says that Yitzchak "found in that year Mea Shearim", that he reaped 100-fold of what he planted, and G-d blessed him. It's the second connection that makes the TTriddle. The Torah says VAYECHERAD YITZCHAK CHARADAG'DOLA. When he realized that who he thought was Eisav wasn't, he trembled greatly. Yitzchak was a Haredi. Interesting, that the only other time theterm is used in the Torah is in reference to all of the people of Israel at Sinai. [8] NAZID - (lentil) stew. Besides Yaakov who was simmering the stew at the beginning of the sedra, the word NAZID occurs only one other time, in Melachim Bet, when Elisha has one of his servants cook a NAZID (stew) for B'NEI HA'NEVI'IM (during a famine). [9] The word ALAI (AYIN-LAMED-YUD) appears prominently with both Rivka (on me shall be the curse, my son) and Esther (gather the Jews in Shushan and fast "on me"...). ALAI is a combination preposition and pronoun. The word is not exclusive to Rivka and Esther, but TOVAT MAR'EH HI is only used to describe the two of them. There are variations of the phrase to describe other exceptionally beautiful women, but TOVAT MAR'EH HI is the adjectival link between Rivka and Esther. A long TTriddles Report - hope you enjoyed it and learned some things from it too. Veterans RHM and MM/Bklyn submitted good partial solution sets, as did TTriddles rookies, the Shilo Shalevs. Top honors (and the two prizes) this week go to ZviR for his solutions. Re the Iron Horse, the Shalevs mentioned that in walking from the old Israel Center building to the new one, one passes an Iron Horse in front of the old Menora Garden on King George Street. Nice try. [The Vayeitzi Homepage]
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