Torah tidbits
PARSHA-PIX Parshat T'ruma

Click on image for enlargement

Parsha Pix
Across the top are sacks of gold (Au is the symbol for the element gold - it is based on the Latin name for gold, Aurum), silver (similarly, silver’s symbol comes from its Latin name Argentum - Ar was spoken for by Argon), and copper (Cuprum), that were donated to the building of the Mishkan and its accouterments.
The two things in the upper-right of the ParshaPix are cabbages. In Hebrew - KRUV, as in the K’RUVIM on the KAPORET of the ARON.
Many of the other items in this ParshaPix represent the materials that were collected, and mentioned, in the beginning of the sedra. The gem represents the stones for the CHOSHEN and the shoulder straps of the EIFOD.
The gold rings stand for the rings through which were inserted the carrying poles of some of the furnishings of the Mishkan.
The spools of thread represent the different colored wool and linen that were used to weave the coverings in the Mishkan. Also, to sew together the panels of the Mishkan and the Ohel.
Under the cabbages is a bouquet of flowers, in Hebrew - ZEIR. That is the term used in the Torah for the decorative border of gold that was made for the ARON and SHULCHAN (at least).
The olive oil represents the olive oil, which had several purposes in the service of the Mikdash.
Next to the olives is a tree and a log, standing for the ATZEI SHITIM, the acacia wood used extensively in the construction of the Mishkan.
Below the olive oil are representations of the three decorations of the Menorah. The trophy cup is called a GAVI’AH. The buttom is KAFTOR and the flower is the PERACH. The actual Menora shapes did not resemble these, but the names do.
Then there is a sewing machine to facilitate various sewing jobs that were needed in the Mishkan.
To the right of the sewing machine is a column or pillar, of which there were many in the Mishkan - to support the PAROCHET, the covering of the entrance of the Mishkan, the curtains of the courtyard, and the entrance to the courtyard. Many AMUDIM.
To the column’s right and under the bouquet is a frame, MISGERET in Hebrew. The word is used in the description of the SHULCHAN.
Bottom row, right to left: Matza with a face is LECHEM HAPANIM, which reminds us that those special loaves were halachic matza - no Chametz.
Notebook is MACHBERET, a term used in the sedra.
The computer screen is called a MASACH in Hebrew. The Biblical use of the word applied to the curtains that covered the entrance to the Mishkan and to the courtyard of the Mishkan.
Which brings us to the lower-left and the flag of Lebanon, reminding us of the Cedars of Lebanon mentioned in 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 alsopresentedforcall-insolutiononTorahTidbitsAudio(Arutz-7,Thursdaynight).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 (Mishpatim-Sh'kalim) TTriddles:

[1] Va'etchanan beats Mishpatim at its own game. By what score?
[2] Delicacies; master & family
[3] Mixed up fool in the water
[4] Three boys were sent to the principal's office for fighting. The principal asked the first one what happened. He pointed to the second one and said, "He pushed me". When the principal looked at the second boy, he pointed to the third boy and said, "He pushed me". The third boy just sat there and smiled. Name the three boys.
[5] Man of 1, 2,3, 5, 7, and 8
[6] double-scrambled first-born item
[7] In the sedra, he swears; in Shoftim, he's old
[8] Who, besides the king, may not
[9] The first, the second, the third, the fifth, the seventh, the tenth, this, and...
[10] Money, donkey, blemish, Divine Spirit
[11] An angel, messenger, or prophet - Eliya

And the envelope, please..

[1] The word HAMISHPATIM makes its first appear- ance in the beginning of Parshat Mishpatim, as in V'EILEH HAMISHPATIM. And the second occurrence of the word is later in the same sedra. Mas'ei has one HAMISHPATIM and Va'etchanan has THREE! Va'etchanan beats Mishpatim at the HaMishpatim game. Final score is 3-2. Eikev,R'ei, and Ki Tavo has a HaMishpatim each, as do the books of Melachim Bet, Nechemia, and Divrei HaYamim Alef. And that accounts for the 12 HAMISHPATIMs in Tanach. (There are also 6 plain MISHPATIMs and 17 other MISHPATIMs with various prefix letters, but they are not part of this TTriddle.)
[2] If the EVED IVRI decides he wants to stay with his master beyond the regular period of six years, he declares that he loves his master and family - AHAVTI... Curiosity about the word AHAVTI lead to only one other occurrence in all of Tanach. Yitzchak asked Eisav to make him the delicacies that he loves - ASHER AHAVTI.So that's it for AHAVTI - delicacies and master & family.
[3] A TTriddle in the classic style (almost) of a Games Magazine Cryptic Crossword puzzle clue. Fool is a TIPEISH, TET-PEI-SHIN. Mixed up means re- arrange the letters, to get SHIN-PEI-TET. Their being in THE WATER, means put those letters inside the word HAMAYIM, HEI-MEM (insert the other letters here) YUD-MEM, and youget HAMISHPATIM.
[4] This could be the longest, wordiest TTriddle we've ever had. And it's not really difficult. The "boys" are named Yirmiyahu, Yonatan, and Y'ho-ash. Yirmiyahu, whose chapter 34 contributes the regular haftara of Mishpatim, was pushed by Yonatan, whose story from Shmuel Alef 20 provides the haftara for Shabbat Erev RoshChodesh. Yonatan is pushed by Y'ho-ash, the main personality in Melachim Bet 12, which is the haftara of Parshat Sh'kalim. Y'ho-ash just sits there and smiles, since his haftara is the one we read on Shabbat Mishpatim - Sh'kalim which falls on the 29th of Sh'vat.
[5] And speaking of Y'ho-ash, he is the man whose name appears in the first, second, third, fifth, seventh, and eighth pasukim of the haftara.
[6] This is a nice one because it has more than one wordplay in it. first-born, of course, is B'CHOR, but not for this TTriddle. There is another Torah word for first-born, which is PETER (rhymes with better). PEI- TET-REISH. Detail is a PARIT, spelled PEI-REISH-YUD -TET. Scramble each of the words and you get TAROF YITAREIF(Sh'mot 22:12). Since each of two words needed to be scrambled, the term double- scrambled is used. But also because TET-REISH-FEI not only refers to non-kosher and to a malled animal, but to scrambled eggs, as well. That gives a double meaning to the word double.
[7] The answer is BAAL HABAYIT. In the context of Mishpatim, the term refers to a SHOMEIR CHINAM who swears before Beit Din that he was not negligent in his guaurding that which he was asked to watch (in his house - that's why he is called the Baal HaBayit). In such case, he does not have to pay if the object was stolen.Curiosity, once again, led to a computer search in Tanach that resulted in only three finds. Besides in Mishpatim, the term appears twice in the same context in the Shoftim (the book, not the sedra), and there the Baal HaBayit is described as being a ZAKEIN, old.
[8] A King of Bnei Yisrael may not have an excessive number of wives, nor horses, nor gold & silver. These prohibitions are commanded with the words LO YARBEH. That phrase occurs three times with a MELECH in Shoftim (the sedra, not the book), and only one other place - in the beginning of Parshat Ki Tisa, i.e. in ParshatSh'kalim, which is why it was a TTriddle davka (the word processor with which TT is prepared) last week. And who is it that LO YARBEH? The ASHIR, a wealthy person.
[9] The word CHODESH, HACHODESH, BACHODESH month, , the month, in the month, appears many times in Tanach - often followed by a modifier. As the TTriddle indicates, the most common modifier to month is a number, as in the first month, second month, etc. Another modiier is HAZEH, this month. And one other, which was thetarget of the TTriddle, is HA-AVIV, the spring month. In fact, there are three CHODESH HA-AVIVs (one in Mishpatim) and two BACHODESH HA-AVIVs in the Torah (and none elsewhere in Tanach).
[10] KI YITEIN... The phrase appears four times in the Torah, twice in Mishpatim. If a person gives to his fellow, MONEY or vessels to watch (fro him)... If a person gives a DONKEY or ox or sheep... If a person "gives a blemish", i.e. injures someone else... (this one isn't in Mishpatim, but it could very well be, especiallyas it is followed by another occurrence of an eye for an eye...). And the fourth one is in Moshe's reply to Yehoshua's report about Eldad and Meidad prophesying within the camp. Should you be jealous for me... KI YITEIN HASHEM... that G-d gives of His Divine Spirit upon them.
[11] This one was a natural TTriddle. As soon as you see the phrase, it said: Make a TTriddle about me. HINEI ANOCHI SHOLEI-ACH... Something like: I am hereby sending... And what was G-d going to send? A MAL-ACH. Opin- ions differ as to what MAL-ACH means in this context. Angel, messenger, and prophet are the possibilities.And then we go to the only other HINEI ANOCHI SHOLEI-ACH in Tanach. The more famous one. The one from the end of Mal'achi, the one from the haftara of Shabbat HaGadol. And who is HaShem promising to send us? Eliyahu HaNavi. But his name appears in that context without the VAV. One of 5 times that Eliyahu is called ELIYA.
After being quiet for a few weeks, YYW returned with a vengeance andsubmitted a near-perfect solution set. Kol HaKavod and prizes. Be in touch.

This week's TTriddles:

[1] What material socks do you wear with size 6 boots?
[2] Here it's a top cover; where is it a bottom cover?
[3] This Shabbat is a favorite among school children
[4] Yehuda HaMacabi 5 • Me'ah She'arim 21 • R' Reines 16 • Robovitz 322
[5] TTriddle 79: Extend head to change languages
[6] This week, it gets 15 amot s'radin each. What does his get next week?
[7] Its length Its height, its height, its circumference
[8] Their volumes are in the ration of 40:3
[9] NEWS items with two names in the sedra, one name in the sedra and another elsewhere, only one name


[The Parshat T'ruma Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
 [www.ou.org]
 
The Torah Tidbit Archive