
PARSHA-PIX Parshat Bamidbar

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Parsha Pix
The major component of the ParshaPix for Bamidbar is/are the flags - 12 of
them - representing the flags of the tribes, as they camped and as they
marched. The flags here do not represent any specific tribes, but the one
with the crown could be for Shevet Yehuda. And the one with a bunch of
carrots marked 2.50 was our whimsical suggestion for the flag of Machane
Yehuda. It was a PPP a few years back. The one with the flower could be
for Reuven, perhaps. Don't obsess on the individual flags; they were
chosen to number 12 and to differ from each other, as the tribes differed
from each other.
The compass stands for the different sides of the Mishkan the different
groups camped, both among the Leviyim and the 12 Tribes..
The parking meter represents the encampments, since the modern Hebrew word
for parking has the same root as to encamp. LACHANOT.
The abacus is for the various countings. (Works better than a calculator
because there are no batteries to run down, nor does it ever need chraging.)
The skull with the 5 on it comes from 3:47 in the portion of the exchange
between firstborns and Leviyim (who were not themselves firstborns). We
would say, 5 shekel a head. The Torah uses the term GULGOLET, skull.
And let's not forget the desert scene with the cactus and blazing sun, in
the upper-right corner of the PP. Our Midbar is better translated as
Wilderness, rather than desert, but there plenty of desert too that Bnei
Yisrael passed through.
Which leaves the two items in the lower-right. This is a visual TTriddle,
or as we used to call it, a ParshaPixPuzzle. I hereby challenge Steinhart
to come out of retirement and solve this PPP. If you, dear reader, know
Steinhart, tell him about this challenge. Thanks.
And to all the current TTriddle solvers, the challenge is yours too. CD
from Noam Productions for this PPP alone, aside from prizes for the other
TTriddles.
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
alsopresentedforcall-insolutiononTorahTidbitsAudio(Arutz-7,Thursdaynight).Thebest
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 (B'har-B'chukotai) TTriddles:
[1] Firstborns, Shofar, inheritance, and what?
[2] 60 T's and dashes throughout Tanach - just one high dot in this week's
reading
[3] It's both the what & when
[4] The Land, the People, their firstborns
[5] The freed & purified sparrow sang on Shabbat
[6] one item in the ParshaPix
And the envelope, please...
[1] V'HAAVARTA (Only 4 occurrences in Tanach) - and you shall set apart to
G-d, all "openers of the womb"... (Sh'mot 13:12). Blow the Shofar in the
7th month, on the 10th of the month... (Vayikra 25:9). You shall transfer
their fathers property to them... (Bamidbar 27:7). Take a razor and pass
it over your head and beard... (Yechezkel 5:1).
[2] The word ME'AT (MEM-AYIN-TET, a little) occurs 61 times in Tanach. The
MEM always has a SH'VA under it. 60 times, the AYIN has a PATACH (dash) or
KAMATZ (T, being at the end of a pasuk or at an ETNACHTA). Once - and only
once - for one of the two occurrences in B'har (viz. Vayikra 25:16), the
AYIN has a CHOLAM CHASEIR (high dot). M'OT HASHANIM (adjective rather than
noun).
[3] The many occurrences of the word YOVEL, with and without a VAV, with
and without prefix-letters, refer to WHEN. In Sh'mot 19:13, HAYOVEL refers
to the Shofar blowing at Maamad Har Sinai, the WHAT.
[4] KI LI... for to ME, says G-d, is the Land, the People of Israel, and
firstborns. Of 5 occurrences in the Torah of KI LI, two are in B'har.
[5] DROR, in B'har, related to Yovel, on the Liberty Bell, means LIBERTY
or FREEDOM. In the expression MOR DROR, it refers to a purified spice for
the K'torat - either myrrh or musk. The DROR part of the expression means
PURIFIED. DROR in modern Hebrew is a sparrow. And then there is the Z'MIRA
fro Shabbat day, DROR YIKRA.
[6] The hard copy had no ParshaPix explanations; the electronic versions
(website, email, Palm) had explanations for all elements except the pen
point, which is mentioned in the haftara.
EB asked about the messed-up tTTriddle that was reworded for
Acharei-K'doshim: Last week, 5; the week before, only once, but
conspicuous; none this week; thrice next week. Let's hope this works out.
The answer is HASH'MINI. Last week (meaning Tazri'a and M'tzora), there
were 5 HASHMINIs - one for Brit Mila and 4 for the Atoning-Korbanot of the
M'tzora, et al. The week before - only once - the sedra's name. None in
Acharei or K'doshim and three in Emor - the minimum age for a Korban and
twice for Shmini Atzeret.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] His name and camp are opposite each other
[2] The Kohein's blessings are in the same place
[3] In the beginning, these leaders are like their tribes; at the end,
this one
[4] Yissachar's leader's namesake's famous brother
[The Parshat
Bamidbar Homepage]
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