PARSHA-PIX Parshat Vayigash
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ParshaPix
Across the top of the ParshaPix, from right to left, are the TRUP marks
for the first six words of Vayigash. See the comment in the Sedra Summary.
If you’ve got U.S. sports fans among your Shabbat guests and/or household,
you might want to challenge them with the Pix before they read the
solution. The basketball player is labeled CHI for Chicago, as in the
Bulls. The football player is labeled DET, for the Detroit Lions. Together
they represent the clash between Yehuda (Lion) and Yosef (Shor). The two
Zodiac symbols to the right of the football player are for Leo and Taurus
– again, representing the confrontation. Below the symbol of Taurus is a
diagram of a square knot, standing for V’NAFSHO K’SHURA V’NAF-SHO, and his
soul was tied up with his soul (Yaakov and Binyamin). Below the knot are
five shirts, standing for the five changes of clothes that Yosef gave to
Binyamin. He also gave him 300 silver pieces, represented by the money
sack marked with a SHIN, which equals 300. Then there are two of the
wagons that Yosef sent to Yaakov, to bring the family down to Egypt... and
to remind him of the Torah topic they last studied together. The outline
of a donkey marked 10+10 stands for the donkeys (10 CHAMORIM and 10 ATONOT)
that Yosef sent to Yaakov with provisions for their trip to Mitzrayim.
This brings us to the dreidel — purposely a Chutz LaAretz one, with SHIN.
The letters of the dreidel rearrange to spell GOSHNA, to Goshen. This from
Vayigash, which is almost always the post-Chanuka Shabbat. To the right of
the dreidel is a pie with five sections, one of which is colored in. This
represents the fraction one-fifth, the tax imposed at Yosef’s suggestion,
on the Egyptians, during the seven years of plenty. The shepherd’s crook
is the symbol of the occupation of Yaakov’s sons (which was problematic in
the Egyptian setting). And lastly (but not leastly), there is the number
70, marked with an asterisk, and an arrow pointing downward (really
southwesterly). This represents the 70 souls who went down to Egypt. The
asterisk reminds us that one had gone down much earlier (Yosef) and two
others were born in Egypt (Efrayim and Menashe), but are still counted
among the 70.
Last issue’s (VAYEISHEV-Chanuka)
TTriddles:
K'MACY'S in the sedra
His dreams stay; his dream goes
If not from Erev Rosh HaShana to the Rosh HaShana for the tithe of the
animals
Tachanun & Slichot quote whom/what?
Yosef, Aharon, Elazar, David, and whom (and his Chanuka connection)?
plus two elements from the Parsha Pix Puzzle
And the envelope, please...
[1] Heavy famine in the Land... Yaakov sees that there is food available
in Egypt and sends “the brothers” there to purchase food... B’reishit 42:6
tells us that Yosef was the ruler in Egypt and the provider for all the
people... the provider = HAMASHBIR a Macy’s- like department store chain.
The word appears nowhere else in Tanach.
[2] Parshat Mikeitz tells us of Par’o’s dreams. The regular haftara of
Mikeitz tells of the dream of Shlomo HaMelech and the episode of the two
babies. When Mikeitz is Shabbat Chanuka - second one, as this year or only
one, as most often - Par’o’s dreams stay - we read Mikeitz as Parshat
HaShavua, but the haftara is preempted, and Shlomo’s dream goes.
[3] Erev Rosh HaShana is the 29th and last day of the month of Elul. Rosh
HaShana for Maaser B’heima (according to the first opinion in the Mishna)
is the first of Elul. The range from one to the other is the whole month
of Elul... backwards. ELUL (ALEF-LAMED- VAV-LAMED) backwards is LULEI
(LAMED-VAV-LAMED-ALEF). LULEI means “if not”, the opening words of this
TTriddle. This TTriddle was in the classic style of Games magazine’s
Cryptic Crossword puzzle. The answer is LULEI, a word that appears four
times in Tanach, including only once in the Torah, in Mikeitz, when Yehuda
laments that had they not lingered they would have already gone back to
Egypt for food.
[4] When faced with the fact that this ruler of Egypt has caught them,
specifically Binyamin, having stolen his special cup, Yehuda says: What
can we say to our master, what can we speak, how can we justify... MA
NOMAR... MA N’DABEIR UMA NITZ-TADAK... The words appear in Tachanun and
Slichot as we say them to G-d about our own actions.
[5] VAYALBEISH, and he dressed so-and-so. Par’o takes of his ring and puts
it on Yosef’s hand, and he dresses Yoef in linen garments, and places a
gold necklace on his neck. Moshe Rabeinu dressed Aharon with the garments
of the Kohen Gadol. Later on, Moshe removes those garments from Aharon and
dresses Elazar with them, in prepa- ration of Aharon’s death and Elazar’s
succession to Kohen Gadol. Shaul dresses David with armor and helmet in
preparation of David’s battle against the champion of P’lishtim, Golyat.
And the fifth one to be dressed (with the word VAYALBEISH) in Tanach is
Mordechai, whom Haman dresses in royal garments in preparation of parading
him through the streets of Shushan to proclaim: Thus is done to a person
whom the king wishes to honor. The Chanuka connection of Mordechai are the
initial letters of the stanzas of MAOZ TZUR, which spell Mordechai.
[6] The two unexplained elements in the ParshaPix are: a bell, which
describes Par’o’s heart when he is awakened by the disturbing dreams.
VATIPA-EM RUCHO, Rashi explains, his heart rang like a bell.
[7] And then there is a shirt with the number 6 on it, which, of course,
is the Bigdei Sheish that Yosef was dressed with when he was paraded
through the city and declared AVREICH. (One wonders if in addition to the
garments the Par’o dressed Yosef with, did his father-in-law, Poti Fera,
buy him a Borcellino.)
EB submitted a near-perfect solution set, as did DAC. RHM's solution is
also a winner, and DM wins too, mostly because he got the Shlomo-dream
answer which no one else did.
Lots of veterans submitting solutions. Where are the rookies? Awarding
prizes of NOAM CDs or Big Deal gifts is very liberal for new solvers.
Can't do all the TTriddles? Don't worry. Enter one or two solutions and
you'll win a prize just to encourage you to keep TTriddling.
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