
PARSHA-PIX Parshat T'tzaveh

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Parsha Pix
The sedra begins with the command to take pure olive oil and use it to
light the Menora daily in the Mikdash, so that it will burn (at least)
from evening until morning. (Upper-left and center.)
The shell in the upper right-hand corner is Murex Trunculus, the snail
which is thought, by a growing number of scholars and rabbis, to be the
source of T'CHEILET, mentioned often in our sedra in connection to the
garments of the Kohen Gadol.
The gemstones under MT are for the CHOSHEN. 3 of the 12 are shown here.
The chain is for connecting the CHOSHEN to the EIFOD.
Of course, that's the Kohen Gadol on the bottom-left. This is one of
Davka's Judaica Graphics.
The silhouettes of the bull and two adult male sheep (a.k.a. rams) are the
inaugural korbanot of the kohanim. The matza represents the Mincha
offerings that accompanied the animal sacrifices. Most, but not all,
Menachot were halachically matza.
At the bottom are two lambs for the twice-daily T'MIDIM. Although the
mitzva to bring the T'midim is learned from Parshat Pinchas, the T'midim
are also mentioned here in T'tzaveh.
Above the lambs is the Golden Altar, a.k.a. the Incense Mizbei'ach and the
Inner Altar. The command to make this Mizbei'ach does not appear in
T'rumah with the rest of the main items of the Mishkan, but rather in
T'tzaveh.
The heart with the graduation cap represents the CHACHMEI LEIV, the
skilled weavers, etc. who did the work on the garments and other Mikdash
requirements.
The pomegranate and bell are for the bottom of the ME’IL of the Kohein
Gadol.
That leaves three new items as ParshaPixPuzzles, or graphic TTriddles, if
you prefer that name.
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 (T’RUMA) 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
And the envelope, please
[1] 6 is SHEISH, which is also linen. BUTZ is Aramaic for linen. (It is
also used in Megilat Esther as linen.) So it is only reasonable that the
socks one wears with size 6 boots be made of linen.
[2] TACHASH skins were used as the top covering (MICHSEH) of the Mishkan.
The plural, T’CHASHIM, occurs five times in Tanach, all in Sh’mot, and all
talking about the top covering of the Mishkan. The word TACHASH occurs
eight times in Tanach. The first time, it is the name of one of the sons
of Nachor’s (Avraham’s brother, gradfather of Rivka) concubine, R’UMA.
Forget that one for this TTriddle. Six times, in Bamidbar, it is the
covering of various items in the Mishkan, in preparation for travel. In
Yechezkeil 16:10, it is referred to as a foot-covering. That’s the bottom
intended by the TTriddle.
[3] Among the span of five Shabbatot of the Four Parshiyot, this one,
Parshat T’ruma, was the HAFSAKA Shabbat - the one with no special Maftir.
HAFSAKA means “recess”, making it a favorite of school children.
[4] Each of these Jerusalem addresses is of a business whose name comes
from this week’s sedra (T’ruma, that is). The first two are addresses for
KAFTOR VAFERACH. At least one of them (if they are not branches of the
same outfit) do embroidery of Torah covers, other shul items, challah
covers, etc. The other two are for AVNEI SHOHAM and AVNEI MILU’IM, a
building company and some kind of educational institution.
[5] The Hebrew word for gold is ZAHAV. If you extend the head of the ZAYIT,
stretch it to the left, it becomes a DALET and the word becomes D’HAV,
which is gold in Aramaic. The hint built into this TTriddle was the
number, 79. It is the atomic number of gold. The word appears 25 times in
Parshat T’ruma (93 times in the book of Sh’mot plus about 12 more ZAHAVs
with a prefix letter).
[6] S’RADIN is the Targum for the curtains (K’LA’IM ) the surrounded the
courtyard of the Mishkan. 15 amot of the material, the sedra tells us,
were on each KATEIF (shoulder) of the CHATZEIR. Next week (meaning this
week, Parshat T’tzaveh), the KATEIF of the EIFOD of Aharon get the AVNEI
SHOHAM, the stones engraved with six names of the sons of Yaakov on each
shoulder.
[7] The answer is 30 amot. The OHEL covering of the Mishkan was made of
goats-hair. It was made of 11 woven panels, each panel being 30 amot long.
Its height refers to No’ach’s Teiva, which was 30 amot tall. The “House
that Shlomo built to G-d” (Melachim Alef 6:2 - haftara of Parshat T’ruma
and therefore the reason it was a TTriddle in TT 608) was 30 amot tall.
And the YAM SHEL SHLOMO (Melachim Alef 7:23) had a circumference of 30
amot.
[8] The ARON measured 2½ amot by 1½ amot by 1½ amot; its volume is 5.625
cubic amot. The MIZBEI’ACH measured 5 amot by 5 amot by 3 amot tall (maybe
that was its total height, or more likely, that height was from the SOVEIV
to the top - one way or other, 5x5x3 are the dimensions given in the
text). Its volume is 75. The ratio of the volumes of the MIZBEI’ACH to the
ALON is 40:3. Significance? None that we’re aware of.
[9] NEWS is an acronym for the four compass points: north, east, west,
south (never eat sour watermelon). In describing the walls of the Mishkan,
the Torah uses two terms for east - KEIDMA MIZRACHA, and two terms for
south - NEGBA TEIMANA. (A third name for south appears elsewhere in Tanach).
West also has two names, but only one of them is used in Parshat T’ruma -
YAMA. MAARAVA appears elswwhere in Tanach. North seems to have only one
name. North = TZAFON. East = MIZRACH & KEDEM. West = MAARAV & YAMA. South
= DAROM & NEGEV & TEIMANA.
It was close this week. YYW submitted an excellent solution set, but EB
just edged past him in the final judging. The extra points that brought EB
to the winner's circle was his trip to Rechov Reines to check out #16.
Seems that there are many institutions at that address, and that Avnei
Milu'im used to be there, but doesn't seem to be there anymore. Sorry, EB.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] What's the favorite brew of reserve soldiers?
[2] Almost 38 miles
[3] Today, it's a wine. Where was it in T'fakeid?
[4] On the Eifod, Mitznefet, and..what?
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