PARSHA-PIX Parshat Chukat
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Parsha Pix
We have in the upper-left, of course, the Red Cow, an archaic play on
words with the symbol of (RED) Communism. This is necessary in the black &
white hard copy of TT, but those who find the ParshaPix on the web will
see it in color.
Following Miriam's death, the Well dried up and there was no water for the
people (the faucet with the spider's web at the spout).
Although Moshe was commanded to speak to the Rock, he struck it with the
MATEH twice and water gushed forth from the rock(s). The ear indicates the
rock’s ability to hear Moshe who was commanded to speak to the rock.
The Kohen Gadol is pictured, with the garments that were transferred from
Aharon to Elazar.
Following Aharon's death, the people panicked and a plague of serpents
attacked the people. G-d told Moshe to put the form of a snake on a rod
(which he did, making the snake from copper) and anyone bitten by a
poisonous snake who looks at the snake-on-the-stick would live. The symbol
of the medical corps is a serpent (or two) wound around a staff. Known as
a caduceus, dictionaries and encyclopedias give it an origin in Greek
mythology. One wonders if the Torah is its original source... or something
like that.
The sedra mentions SEFER MILCHAMOT HASHEM, some kind of written record of
the battles. It is represented by the open book with a tank on one page
and the HEI-shmichik on the other page.
DO NOT ENTER sign has a double-double meaning. Edom and Emori both
responded to Israel's request for safe passage through their territory
with DO NOT ENTER. Moshe and Aharon, as a result of the Hitting the rock
rather than talking to it episode, were given DO NOT ENTER orders for
Eretz Yisrael.
The bottle of water with the dollars signs represents the offer Bnei
Yisrael made to pay for the water they would use while passing through
Edom's land.
The well with the musical notes stands for the Song of the Well. Think
about the prominent role played by water (and its lack) from the moment
Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim (you can even go back to the first plague in
Egypt - BLOOD) until they arrived at the threshold of Eretz Yisrael.
Which brings us to an old (one of the first) PPP component, 3+2=fire is
for the phrase, "For a fire has come out of CHESHBON..."
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 presented for call-in solution on Torah
Tidbits Audio (Arutz-7, Thursday night). The best solution set submitted
each week (there isn't always a best) wins a double prize a CD from Noam
Productions and/or a gift (game, puzzle, book, etc.) from Big Deal
Last issue’s (KORACH) TTriddles:
[1] Besides its namesake, who else did what he did (sort of) in this sedra?
[2] Swallow, Flower, Return
[3] Shoham, Copper, Gold
[4] 400sh, Manna, Land, Aharon, Mordechai
[5] Turban & staff - who & what?
[6] He comes from level Ashkenazi parentage
[7] Finish reading from mid-Wednesday
And the envelope please...
[1] The namesake of the sedra, of course, is Korach. What he did is told
to us with the first word of the sedra - VAYIKACH, and he took. Besides
Korach, two others VAYIKACHed in the sedra: Both Aharon and Elazar took.
They took firepans. Korach’s “taking” is variously explained as “took with
words” or “took himself”. That’s why there is (sort of).
[2] MATEI AHARON, the staff of Aharon. It swallowed the staffs of the
wizards of Egypt, it flowered in the Mishkan and it was returned to the
Mishkan after being shown to the people. The flower and return are both
from Parshat Korach.
[3] The answer to this TTriddle is ZIKARON LIVNEI YISRA’EL (ZLY), a
remembrance for Israel (or something like that). This phrase appears only
three times in Torah (and in all of Tanach). The AVNEI SHOHAM on the
straps of the EIFOD of the Kohein Gadol, which sat on his shoulders, which
had the names of the tribes engraved on them - they are to be ZLY. (GuruNet
translates SHOHAM as ONYX. Actually, it translates onyx as shoham, but we
won’t be picky.) Then in Korach, the copper firepans which were used to
plate the Mizbei’ach, were there to serve as a ZLY. And in Parshat Matot,
the gold that the officers brought back from the successful battle against
Midyan, which they gave to Moshe and Elazar, and which they in turn
brought to the Mishkan, was to be a ZLY.
[4] MA HU or MA HI (both spelled the same way, and meaning “what’s this”).
Efron said it to Avraham - Hey, what’s 400 shekel between friends? The
people didn’t know what the manna was. The Meraglim were given
instructions to check out the land and see MA HI, what is it. Moshe said
to Korach and his gang, among other things, what (who) is Aharon that you
should challenge him. That’s four occurrences of the phrase in the Chumash,
and one more in Megilat Esther. Mordechai came before the king, because
Esther had told the king who and what Mordechai was to her.
[5] AHARON. The TZITZ was to be placed over his turban (on his forehead).
And the staff of Aharon (in Parshat Korach) budded with a TZITZ of almond.
Same word - different meanings.
[6] This one is sort of inspired by and dedicated to Yossi Zadok, a
Teimani friend who good-naturedly teases me about my Ashkenazis Torah
reading at Mincha Gedola in Ramot Eshkol. ON BEN PELET, whose wife
“convinced” him not to stay with Korach, is Ashkenkazis-pronounced as ON
BEN PELES. PELES (spelled with a SAMACH) is a level. So the answer to this
TTriddle is ON who comes from level Ashkenazi parentage (on his father’s
side, at least).
[7] We finished the reading of the Haftara with the pasuk that begins with
KI LO YITOSH HASHEM. That phrase also appears in T’hilim, specifically in
the middle of the Wednesday SHIR SHEL HAYOM, Psalm of the Day.
Most of the solvers this week got some annd missed others. No point in
mentioning any of them by name because they were vastly overshadowed by a
near- perfect solution set submitted by EB. Double prizes to him this
week.
And to top it off, EB’s is responsible for a significant part of this
week’s TBDATR column. He’s on a roll!
This week's TTriddles:
[1] This time Rashi probably agrees with Onkeles
[2] Korbanot, Nega'im, Death
[3] Who first found the liquid component of the potion
[4] Yiftach, Yarav’am, Naaman, Bo’az, Tzadok, Elyada, and thousands more
...and whose father?
[5] It's between 240 and 180
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