PARSHA-PIX Parshat Chayei Sara
Click on image for enlargement
Parsha Pix
An oldie with new additions.
Top-left: 400 silver pieces was the price that Avraham handed over to
EFRON (represented here by the pencil - IPARON, but without vowels, it's
the same as EFRON) for the cave and the field of MACHPEILA.
Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to cry. The word V’LIVKOTAH is written
in a Sefer Torahwith a small KAF. There it is, under the pencil - a small
kaf, a.k.a. a demitasse spoon.
G-d blessed Avraham BAKOL, with everything. There is an opinion that this
blessing included a precious gem that had miraculous curative powers.
That’s it under the B”H.
Eliezer’s search is represented in several elements in the ParshaPix.First
the speech-bubble with the chain in it stands for VAYOMAR, and he (Eliezer)
said, which is read with a SHALSHELET (chain), the most elaborate of TROP
notes. And the BARUCH HASHEM in the upper-right corner was said by Eliezer.
(Lavan also says something almost like it - B'RUCH HASHEM.)
Then, of course, is Dakva’sscene of Rivka at the well (spring) watering
Eliezer’s camels.
To the right of the camels is one of the gold rings Eliezer gave to Rivka.
The Xed out turkey platter represents Eliezer’s refusal to eat before he
had completed “business”. Good thing, too, because Lavan had poisoned the
food (see poison symbol). This wasLavan’s first attempt to eradicate the
not-yet nation to come from Avraham through Yitzchak.
The CHUPA at the top is for Yitzchak’s marriage to Rivka (and also
Avraham’s marriage to Ketura).
The gift box can be the gifts that Eliezer gave Rivka and her family, as
well as the gifts Avraham gave to the children of the “PILAGSHIM”.
The word TEREM appears eight times in the Torah, twice in Chayei Sara.
That’s the Terem logo on the right side of the Pix.
The bottle of NEVIOT water is for the sound-alike of the first born of
Yishma’el.
There are two dots forming a SH'VA - this is a sound-alike for a grandson
of Avraham's via Ketura.
the haftara is represented by the three animals at the bottom of the PP,
mentioned repeatedly in the haftara as the animals that Adoniyahu
slaughtered.
The chair with a question mark is also from the haftara - Bat Seva and
others wondering who will sit on David's chair (throne) after he dies.
The arrow?
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 (Lech L'cha) TTriddles:
[1] Sort of the only couple in the Torah eligible for Egged's green ones
[2] Michaihu said it similarly, but from the other end
[3] Preview for 25/9-2/10
[4] Yitzchak, his haftara parallel, and who?
[5] Solve for x: x, x, 700+x, 300+x, 200+x, 800+x: Who? What? Who? Who?
What? Who?
[6] Rosh Yeshiva for nearly 40 years until it was closed by theRussian
government in 1892. What's his connection to Irit/Idit?
[7] Although this TTriddle is number [7] of Vayeira, it is really [8] of
Lech L'cha. Except it didn't make it into Lech L'cha's issue. Didn't want
to save it for next year, so it became a Lech L'cha TTriddle in the
Vayeira issue. Got it? What is the most appropriate Zmira for Shabbat
Parshat Lech L'cha?
[8] plus 3 elements from the Parsha Pix (not counting the dugong or
whiskey).
And the envelope, please...
[1] Egged’s green ones refer to both the monthly bus passes as well as the
bus punch-card for senior citizens. As a couple, the Torah tells us that
Avraham and Sara were Z’KEINIM, old.
[2] Identical p’sukim in Melachim Alef (22:28) and Divrei HaYamim Bet
(18:27) tell us that Michaihu said: SHOV TASHUV... (if) you will return...
This two-word phrase is similar to the angel’s saying SHOV ASHUV... I will
return... The phrases differ from one end of the ALEF-BET to the other.
ALEF for the angel and TAV forMichaihu.
[3] 25/9 is NOT September 25th, but rather the 25th of the real ninth
month, Kislev. As is 2/10 the second of Tevet. That range of dates, of
course, is Chanuka. (In some years, Chanuka ends with the 3rd of Tevet; it
depends upon the length of Kislev - if it has it’s “regular” number of
days, 30, then there will be two daysRosh Chodesh Tevet, the 6th and 7th
days of Chanuka, and Chanuka will end on the 2nd of Tevet - as it does
this year. If Kislev is short - 29 days - then there is only one day Rosh
Chodesh Tevet - the 6th candle - and Chanuka ends on the 3rd of Tevet.)
The preeview is found in the haftara of Vayeira and the miracle ofthe oil
as brought about by Elisha HaNavi on behalf of the widow and son of one of
the “Bnei Nevi’im”.
[4] Of Yitzchak in the sedra, it says: VAYIGDAL HAYELED, and the boy grew
up. His counterpart in the haftara is the son of the Shunamit, of whom it
says VAYIGDAL HAYALED. The only other occurrence of this phrase is about
Moshe Rabeinu.
[5] x=45. Believe me, it is easier to make this kind of TTriddle than to
solve it. I knew that x is 45, but I’m not really sure how you are
supposed to figure that out. YYW did. Anyway, that’s the first part of the
TTriddle. Now we need to search Tanach for ARBA’IM VACHAMISHA, 45. The
first x is for the 45 righteous peoplethat Avraham hoped could be found in
Sedom in order to save it and the neighboring cities from destruction. The
next 45 is found in Melachim Alef (7:3) - the number of pillars in the
construction of BEIT YAAR HALVANON, the house of the forest of Lebanon. So
that’s the first Who and What. In the 23rd year of the reign
ofNevuchadretzar, his captain of the guard, Nevuzaradan exiled 745
Judeans, among 4600 exiles. Another Who. In the book of Ezra, there is
reference to 345 “B’nei Yericho”. Another Who. Also in Ezra, in the long
second chapter that details those who returned to Jerusalem and Judea from
Bavel, there is mention of 245 mules.Another What. In a similar account of
the Return to Zion in the book of Nechemia (Ezra-Nechemia is considered a
single book of Tanach), there is a list of family groups, among whom are
845 people of Bnei Zatu. The final Who of the TTriddle. (Bnei Yericho are
mentioned again in this same chapter of Nechemia.) What mighthave been
included in this TTriddle, but wasn’t, is the one ARBA’IM V’CHAMEISH, the
45 years that Yehoshua refers to (Yehoshua 14:10) since Moshe had told the
people that their children would receive the Land... Yehoshua mentions
that he was now 58 years old. With Avraham asking about 50, 40, 30, 20,
and 10 righteous people,the number 45 was sort of unusual enough to prompt
the computer search that shaped this TTriddle. To complete (I think) the
45s, we find CHAMISHA V’ARBA’IM in the censuses of the people Bamidbar. In
the first count, GAD had 45,650. In the later count, BINYAMIN has 45,600
and NAFTALI has 45,400. I think that’s it for 45in the Tanach.
[6] The Rosh Yeshiva for nearly 40 years of the Yeshiva of Volozhin until
it was shut down by the Russian government was HaRav Naftali Yehuda Tzvi
Berlin, popularly known as the NETZIV. That acronym as a word is found in
Vayeira as in what happened to Lot’s wife when she turned back to look at
the destruction of Sedom.She became a NETZIV MELACH, a pillar of salt. In
Midrashic sources, she has a name - either IRIT or IDIT (Iris or Edith?).
[7] This is a TTriddle I meant to ask last week, and I didn’t want to hold
it for next year, so I put it into this week’s TT. One solver went for KI
ESHM’RA SHABBAT, since its stanzas spell AVRAHAM (initial letters). But
that wasn’t the solution. Because then it could be a TTriddle for this
week, too. The intended answeris BARCH KEIL ELYON. As in BARUCH AVRAM
L’KEIL ELYON.
[8] There are five elements in the ParshaPix that represent sons of Nachor,
Avraham’s brother. Last year’s repeats are the DUGONG, an herbivorous
marine mammal, native to tropical coastal waters of the Indian Ocean, Red
Sea, and southwest Pacific Ocean and having flipperlike forelimbs and a
deeply notched tail fin. In modernHebrew, the dugong is TACHASH, the name
of one of Avraham’s nephews. The other one from last year is the bottle of
whiskey for BOOZE. Neither of these is part of this TTriddle. The three
that are: at the top of the ParshaPix between the bull and the UGOT is the
scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Oz in Hebrew is UTZ, anothernephew of
Avraham. Then there is a chef or cook. TABACH. Same spelling as nephew
TEVACH, different pronunciation and a nicer connotation than TEVACH. And
here’s the more farfetched one. Container of a flammable liquid which
represents an arsonist. In Hebrew, GECHAM. Similar to GACHAM, another son
of Nachor from Reuma.
And that’s it. Winner this week (so far, there could be others) is YYW.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] Identical words ban whom from what?
[2] Avraham, Yishmael, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and who?
[3] Rivka and the Three Queens
[4] Eliezer, Yonah, Koresh, Nechemia
[5] x to find her; 3x from son to son
[6] People from here are early risers
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