PARSHA-PIX Parshat Balak

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Parsha Pix
Upper left is from one of the first ParshaPixPuzzles. There is a BLOCK (sounds like BALAK) in a nest, which makes it BLOCK BEN TZIPOR.
Moving to the right, we find a globe wearing an eye patch. Balak said that Israel was so numerous that we covered EIN HAARETZ, the eye of the Earth (as does the patch).

Next, the messengers from Moav came to Bil'am with K'SAMIM B'YADAM, represented by the magic trick in the hand.

Bil'am's donkey saw the sword drawn in the angel's hand; Bil'am did not see it at first (or second or third).

Second row, left. When the donkey talks to Bil'am, she asks him why he has hit her these three REGALIM, three times. Commentaries point out that it doesn't say P'AMIM, three times, but rather uses the word that refers to our cycle of holidays and to the People who observe them. The angel repeats the reference to SHALOSH REGALIM.

The speech-bubble for the donkey contains the question (mark) about the three festivals, represented by the Lulav, Matza,and Torah.

To the right we find a Chicago basketball player, one of the BULLS and a St. Louis football player, one of the RAMS. Bulls and rams , 7 of each, (hence the large numeral 7) were repeatedly offered as sacrifices by Bil’am and Balak. We suggest that you try to get this out of your kids rather than giving it away to them. (That is, if they follow American sports. Otherwise, teach them.)

The lion cub was one of the ways that Bil'am described the Jewish People.

Below the donkey are Clapping hands - a representation of Balak striking his hands together in disgust at Bil’am’s repeated failure to do as requested.

VAYISPOK. A unique word in Tanach, appearing no where else.

The Xed out snake is also from Bil'am's words, that there is no NACHASH in Yaakov. His meaning is that we do not rely on omens.

Below the snake is a "house filled with money" - sort of what Balak told Bil'am that he missed out on by not uttering one teensy weeny curse.

The shul in the lower-left corner reminds us of the famous MA TOVU OHALECHA YAAKOV...

Lying across the bottom of the ParshaPix is the ROMACH, the spear that Pinchas used to protect G-d’s honor.

The river of oil from the pitcher is mentioned in the haftara.

On the reverse side of a US dollar bill is a picture of the Great Seal: A pyramid with an all-seeing eye on top. Sometimes called the enlightened eye. Bil'am calls himself the man with SH'TUM HA-AYIN. Living Torah brings these translations: enlightened, future-seeing, seeing, open, true-sighted, sleepless, evil, dislocated, blinded.

Worthy of repetition is something Zev Frank of Arutz-7 discovered. ROMACH, spelled in the Torah REISH-MEM-CHET is numerically equivalent to 248, which immediately brings to mind the number of positive mitzvot in the Torah. Pinchas armed himself with the RAMACH (248) mitzvot in his righteous defense of G-d's honor. But Zev did not stop there. What about the prohibitions in the Torah? There are 365 of them. If we count just the prohibitions, starting from GID HANASHE and follow the count of the Sefer HaChinuch through the sedras, we come to an amazing discovery. The 248th prohibition in the Torah is at the end of Va'etchanan, and it is the prohibition of intermarriage and of taking a woman from another nation. Exactly the sin that Zimri was guilty of. Pinchas not only armed himself with a physical weapon, and not only did he have the 248 positive mitzvot guiding him, but he also had a numeric match to the specific prohibition at issue.

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. 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 (CHUKAT) TTriddles:
[1] an extra dot at the end
[2] The eye passes by silently
[3] Assuming the first two are covered by the first word here, what's missing?
[4] The king who sent you, Ish Yehuda and what?
[5] 11 times past the bar, only 5 with: lamb, cow, horses, oil, gift
[6] plus one easy visual TTriddle from the ParshaPix
[7] and one almost impossible

And the envelope, please...
[1] The word K'LI (vessel) has a SH'VA (2 dots) under the KAF. When the word is at the end of a pasuk (or at an ETNACHTA), it is pronounced KE-LI (accent on the first syllable). The KAF then has a SEGOL (3 dots) under it - an extra dot at the end.
[2] In B'midbar 20:17, emissaries from Bnei Yisrael ask the king of Edom for permission to pass through their land. LA-B'RA NA V'ARTZECHA... The second letter of NA-B'RA is an AYIN (eye) that is silent (for Ashkenazim) because it is voweled with the unusual- for-an-AYIN SH'VA (NACH). The eye (AYIN) passes by (NA-B'RA) silently (unpronounced).
[3] When Bnei Yisrael complained about the lack of water after Miriam died, they said, Why did you take us out of Egypt to this bad place (the Midbar), it is not a place of ZERA (seed), let's say that includes wheat and barley, UT-EINA V'GEFEN V'RIMON, nor one with figs, grapes, or pomegranate. What's missing from the Seven Species? Olives and dates.
[4] The word V'DIBARTEM, and you (plural) shall speak to... appears only three times in Tanach. In Parshat Chukat, G-d told Moshe and Aharon to speak to the rock (that's the answer to the TTriddle). M'lachim Bet begins with the story of King Achazya falling ill and sending emissaries to inquire about his fate from the BAAL Z'VUV ELOHEI EKRON. An angel of G-d tells Eliya(hu) HaNavi to send the messengers back to Achazya, and you shall speak (V'DIBARTEM) to the king who sent you... And G-d told Yirmiyahu to speak to ISH YEHUDA and YOSH'VEI YERUSHALAYIM.
[5] YIK-CHU means the will (or shall) take. VAYIK- CHU means (and) they took. The VAV with a PATACH flips the tense of the word from future to past. The word V'YIKCHU means and you shall take. The tense stays future (command) and the VAV has a SH'VA under it. No flip of tense. There are only 5 times in Tanach that the word spelled VAV-YUD-KUF-CHET- VAV is pronounced V'YIKCHU. That which is being asked to be taken is a lamb (or baby goat) for Korabn Pesach, a red cow in Parshat Chukat, five horses (M'lachim Bet 7:13), olive oil for the Menora, and the donations for the construction of the Mishkan. VAYIKCHU occurs 55 times in Tanach - that's 11 times as many as V'YIKCHU, 11 times it is past tense with the PATACH (bar). Only 5 with : (that's a SH'VA, not a colon as it was meant to look like.
[6] The easy visual TTriddle is the epaulet of the rank of lieutenant-general in the IDF. This is the rank of the chief of staff. It has a sword crossing an olive branch and two leaves (known affectionately as falafels). This represents Yiftach (from the haftara) who was asked to be ROSH and KATZIN, head and officer.
[7] The "impossible" TTriddle was included without expectation of anyone solving it, but rather to present the answer this week in the TTriddles report. This TTriddle, as most do, started with the solution and then an attempt to create the TTriddle with that solution. The solution is MELECH CHESHBON, the king of Cheshbon. In TTriddle talk, that means the math king. Sichon, the king of the Emori, is also referred to as MELECH CHESHBON, as in the haftara of Chukat. (In Chukat, there is reference to Sichon Melech HaEmori, who sits in (the city of) Cheshbon. One way or another, for the TTriddle, we look for the king of Math. Check the internet. Not so easy to find agreement. Here is what we found.
The most significant mathematician of all time, Leonhard Euler (pronounced oiler) was born in Basel in 1707. He contributed to areas of both pure and applied mathematics, including calculus, analysis, number theory, topology, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, analytical mechanics, hydrodynamics, and the theory of the moon's motion. That is who is pictured in the Torah Tidbits, and we are honoring him as the TTriddle for MELECH CHESHBON.
Personal note from Phil: I've said this before. TTriddles are not just for those who can solve them. Many other TT readers can enjoy the TTriddles with their answers a week later, and learn a thing or two as well. Remember, TTriddles are fun. In case of headache, take two Acamol and don't call me in the morning.
Here's a TTriddle for Parshat Balak; try it on for size:
...son of Joel and Mary Ann (Britton), was born 25 Aug. 1844 in Linn County, Iowa... died 8 April 1923 in Waterloo, Iowa (There are others, but one will do for TTriddle purposes.)

This week's TTriddles:
[1] From 626 to 728, more than 100 numbers, there's only one of these.
[2] 4 saw, 1 heard, 1 told - who? x 6
[3] For openers, a connection to last week's haftara
[4] Bil'am and Zerubavel are the only 2

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