PARSHA-PIX Parshat Sh'mot
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Parsha Pix
Pyramids, of course, represent our descent into Egypt.
The head of lettuce is MAROR from the Seder table. It relates to the pasuk
in the beginning of the sedra which describes the Egyptian’s embittering
the lives of Bnei Yisrael.
That pasuk continues to specify the work with bricks (see the trowel and
bricks) and the fieldwork (see the planting of the seedling).
The ball and chain represents enslavement in Egypt.
Davka Graphics of baby Moshe floating on the Nile with sister Miriam
watching over him.
Another Davka Graphics of Moshe at the Bush.
Point the sheep out to your children and ask them if they know any of the
stories about sheep. Don’t restrict the discussion to Moshe; extend it
back to the Avot.
Along the left side of the Pix is the MATEH, Moshe’s staff.
Now along the bottom, from the left. You find the three signs that G-d
gave Moshe to catch Paro’s attention. The snake, the hand that turned
leprous like snow (that’s a snowflake on the back of the hand), and the
turning of water into blood (symbolized by the 4 common bloodtypes: A, B,
AB, and O).
The goal of the Exodus: the land flowing with milk and honey (hence the
cow and bee with the outline map of Israel). Har Sinai. Brit Mila (Tzipora/Eliezer).
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-insolutiononTorahTidbits
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 (VAI-CHI) TTriddles:
[1] Finzi, Karo, Kluger
[2] anagrams in the closed opener
[3] 1 thru 19, skip 2, 22 & 23 plus only two more in NACH
[4] His grandson and his servant, but his Master is The Master
[5] In the first's ultimate, Slytherin; in the last's ultimate, Gryffindor.
Who? (separate prize for this one)
And the envelope, please...
[1] FINZI An ancient Italian family, which probably derived its name from
PINCHAS through the Latin "Finea"... Gur Aryeh ha-Levi ben Benjamin Finzi,
rabbi at Mantua about 1680, composed and collected additions to the
Shulchan Aruch... Gur Aryeh Finzi, grandson of the preceding, edited and
wrote an introduction to "GUR ARYEH"...He was rabbi at Casale in 1711.
KARO as in Rav Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch. Born in Toledo...
exiled from Spain at 4 years old... At age 25 wrote his commentary to the
Tur Shulchan Aruch, known as BEIT YOSEF...
Rabbi Shlomo KLUGER was chief dayyan and preacher of Brody, Galicia for
over 50 years... During his long life he wrote a great number of works
(160 volumes) including IMREI SHEFER on the Torah.
The phrases GUR ARYEH, BEIT YOSEF, and IMREI SHEFER are all found in
Parshat Vai-chi.
[2] The closed opener refers to the first pasuk of VAI-CHI, which is the
"closed" sedra. The word CHAYAV, his life, referring to the years of
Yaakov's life (147) is an anagram of VAI-CHI.
[3] This TTriddle came about as a result of a computer search of Tanach
for the word VAI-CHI. There are 47 occurrences of VAV-YUD-CHET-YUD in
Tanach. Eliminating a bunch of VAYECHIs and a couple of VI-CHIs, and even
a couple of VAI-CHIs that weren't followed by a person's name, left 36 VAI-CHI
someone. Among the 36 are23 different peopel (allowing for many doubles).
The people are the first 19 generations of the world - Adam (once), twice
each for Sheit, Enosh, Keinan, Mehalaleil, Yered, once for Chanoch, twice
for Metushelach and Lemech, once each for No'ach, Sheim, Arpachshad, and
Shelach, twice for Eiver, Peleg, R'u, S'rug, and Nachor,and once for
Terach. Skip two generations - Avraham and Yitzchak, and then we find Vai-chi
Yaakov and Vai-chi Yosef - both appropriately in Parshat Vai-chi. Only two
more people in Tanach share the VAI-CHI phase: twice for AMATZYAHU b.
Yo'ash, king of Yehuda, and once for IYOV (Job).
[4] The phrase CHESED VE-EMET appears 13 times in Tanach - only three
times in the Torah. Eliezer asks Betu'el and Lavan for Chesed and Emet in
telling him if he can take Rivka with him or not. Yaakov asks Yosef for
Chesed and Emet to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. In the YUD-GIMEL MIDOT, the
13 Divine Attributes, G-d is describedas RAV CHESED VE-EMET. His servant
and grandson refers to Avraham Avinu - Eliezer and Yaakov fitting that
des- cription respectively. His Master is G-d, Avraham being the first to
call G-d Master. The Master is RAV CHESED VE-EMET. By the way (btw), the
whole TTriddle was in uppercase letters so the word Master whould
notobviously refer to G-d.
[5] In the first's - i.e. B'reishit's - ultimate, i.e. ultimate sedra,
i.e. Vai-Chi, DAN is blessed/described as "Dan shall be a serpent by the
way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider
shall fall backward." The snake is the symbol of Slytherin (MIMA-NAFSHACH,
if you know this is a Harry PotterTTriddle, then it is not necessary to
explain what Slytherin and Gryffindor mean. And if you don't know it's
HP-related, then...) In D'varim's (the last book's) ultimate sedra, V'zot
HaB'racha, Dan shares the title of GUR ARYEH, moving him into Gryffindor
House.
So far (as of Sunday afternoon), three people have submitted solutions to
[5] - SS/Canada, the Falk family, and RHM with an alternate solution.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] Borrowers include: RHM, PA, and R' Yaakov b. Asher
[2] He returned there 80 years later. Who was there first?
[3] Chayei Sara, Vayishlach, Vayigash, Va-eira, Bamidbar (3), Pinchas,
Mas'ei
[4] What did each of the three (f) open?
[5] His 2 sons, 5 of his sons, and Moshe - what, who and whom else?
[6] Moshe grew, no king, they gathered
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