PARSHA-PIX - Parshat Mishpatim

Parsha Pix
Busy ParshaPix this week, reflecting a very busy sedra. You can really spend some quality sedra time with your children and Shabbat guests with ParshaPix this week.
Upper-left is really the starting point, the scales representing JUSTICE. In this case, MISHPATIM. In addition to the broad idea of justice, see what else can be found in the sedra, for which the scales of justice would be an appropriate representation.
Upper-right is the "fist" referred to as one of the weapons that can injure or kill.
An eye for an eye, literally, an eye UNDER an eye, is depicted here as money under an eye, based on Rashi and all other commentaries. The Vilna Gaon pointed out that the letters of the word AYIN are each followed in the ALEF-BET by the letters of the word KESEF. AYIN-PEI, YUD-KAF, NUN-SAMACH. A very nice graphical representation of the fact that monetary compensation on several levels is the correct understanding of an Eye for an Eye.
The bull and the fire are two potential causes of damages - one of the many key topics of the sedra. So is the pit (right below the fire is a peach pit, not a brain or a fancy kipa. Play on words from PIT to PIT. That give all types of damages: The bull with horns, the tooth, the feet of the bull, the fire and the pit.
The sneaking thief was caught in the cellar. Under what circumstances is one held blameless for killing him? Under what circumstances would one be held accountable? And how much does the caught thief pay to the victim?
The guard at his post represents the whole topic of the FOUR SHOMRIM.
The hands pulling the money out of the wallet are about to lend money at 0% interest. Or, perhaps, they are about to offer a bribe. Which will blind the judge receiving it, as in the image of the blindfolded head.
The rabbit in the hat is the symbol of magic, the real practice thereof (or the attempt at a real practice thereof) is forbidden and can be a capital offense. The witch on the broomstick stands for the same 3-word pasuk.
Down the lower-left side are images of the Three Regalim, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
The Har Sinai pix for Shavuot also corresponds to the end of Mishpatim where the events of Matan Torah are presented with other details not presented in Yitro.
The quill and scroll is for Moshe writing down "all of G-d's words" (Shmot 24:4).
There is milk & meat for the first of the three occurrences of LO T'VASHEIL G’DI...
Lower-right is the TZIR'A (wasp) that G-d will send into the Land to help slowly drive out some of the nations there.
The cloud is covering Har Sinai (end of the sedra).
The tooth is referred to in the mitzvot related to injuring an EVED K'NAANI and being required to free him. It is also one of the forms of damages. Also, there is a tooth for a tooth.
That leaves the three arrows from the haftara.

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 week’s (YITRO) TTriddles:
[1] R’ Elazar b. Mordechai Azkari’s book for him, him, him, him, them, and it.
[2] In Yitro, not just Yitro but...who and what?
[3] This year's statement on the major sin of thought
[4] A low quartet 10 years from now
[5] Honor your parents by offering them a glass of wine. What's the additonal connection?
[6] Object: Avraham, gold & silver, Shimon, Efrayim & Menashe, the People - Subjects & verb, please.

And the envelope please...
[1] Author of Sefer HaChareidim (which includes the beautiful poem Yedid Nefesh), an interesting (and different) work on the Taryag Mitzvot. VAYECHERAD, and he trembled, appears 6 times in all of Tanach - twice in Parshat Yitro. In Yitro, we find the word used for the Nation and for Har Sinai. They are the them and the it of the TTriddle. The four hims are Yitzchak (when he realized that his bracha went to Yaakov rather than Eisav), Achimelech (when David HaMelech came to him), Shaul - actually it was his heart (when he saw the Philistine camp, and Boaz (when he found Ruth with him at midnight).
[2] VAYISHMA YITRO, and Yitro heard. In the same sedra, the word VAYISHMA also is used for Moshe, when Moshe listened to Yitro’s suggestions.
[3] No one hit this one squarely on the head. This year is 5763. But for this TTriddle, we borrowed the secular date 2003. This is chapter 20, pasuk 03 of Sh’mot, which contains the major sin of thought - There shall be no other gods before Me.
[4] And, using the same secular year count, 10 years from now will be 2013. Sh’mot 20:13 contains the low quartet - i.e. the four prohibitions (LO x 4) of murder, adultery, kidnapping, and bearing false witness.
[5] Several would-be solvers danced around the answer to this one. Giving drink to one’s parents is one form of KAVOD. The additional connection between Honoring Parents and drinking a glass of wine is that each follows the passage of ZACHOR ET YOM HASHABBAT L’KADSHO. Honor thy father... follows it in Parshat Yitro and Borei Pri HaGafen follows it on Shabbat morning at Kiddush.
[6] Here the key word was VAYOTZEI, and He or he took someone or something out. The five objects of the verb VAYOTZEI are given as the TTriddle. Vayotzei is the verb. The subjects of each, respec- tively are: G-d, Who took Avraham out to show him the stars, Eliezer, who took out gifts for Rivka and family, Yosef, who brought Shimon out of jail to be reunited with his brothers, Yosef again, who took Menashe and Efrayim out of Yaakov’s lap to present them for brachot, and Moshe who brought the people to Har Sinai.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] Ox-owner, thief, pyro, borrower - who in Yirmiyahu?
[2] Binyamin, his hand thrice
[3] Bavel Bros. watch The Communication
[4] The captive of the creation of Daedalus
[5] It found them and he found her - huh?
[6] Layers of Jewish beauty and a funny way to stand
[7] Three times in the Sedra and haftara
[8] Garment does the best job at this among the three-in-a-row-ers

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