PARSHA-PIX Parshat B'midbar
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Parsha Pix
The major component of the ParshaPix for Bamidbar is/are the flags - 12 of
them - representing the flags of the tribes, as they camped and as they
marched. The flags here do not represent any specific tribes, but the one
with the crown could be for Shevet Yehuda. And the one with a bunch of
carrots marked 2.50 was our whimsical suggestion for the flag of Machane
Yehuda. The one with the flower could be for Reuven, perhaps. Don't obsess
on the individual flags; they were chosen to number twelve and to differ
from each other, as the tribes differed from each other, but were not
meant to specifically represent the Tribes.
The compass stands for the different sides of the Mishkan the different
groups camped, both among the Leviyim and the 12 Tribes..
The parking meter represents the encampments, since the modern Hebrew word
for parking has the same root as to encamp. LACHANOT.
The abacus is for the various countings. (Works better than a calculator
because there are no batteries to run down, nor does it ever need
charging. The abacus is best-suited for desert counting.)
The skull with the 5 on it comes from 3:47 in the portion of the exchange
between firstborns and Leviyim (who were not themselves firstborns). We
would say, 5 shekel a head. The Torah uses the term GULGOLET, skull.
And let's not forget the desert scene with the cactus and blazing sun, in
the upper-right corner of the PP. Our Midbar is better translated as
Wilderness, rather than desert, but there plenty of desert too that Bnei
Yisrael passed through.
The three diamond engagement rings in the lower- right are for the final
two p'sukim of the haftara, the words we say when winding the T'filin
strap around the middle finger of the left hand, symbolic of our betrothal
to G-d.
Which leaves one unexplained pair of items as a visual TTriddle.
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 (B'CHUKOTAI) TTriddles:
[1] In a TTriddle-way, it represents all of Mishna & Gemara
[2]This time, the deal is to all of us. For what individual was a
similarly worded deal offered?
[3] CD LaZ TU FGF
[4] Newborns: 17 calves, 17 lambs, 17 baby goats • How many animals are
MAASER B'HEIMA?
[5] plus one element for the Parsha Pix
And the envelope, please...
[1] One solver went for the last pasuk in B'chukotai, which is also the
last pasuk in the Book of Vayikra. Of course, all that G-d commanded Moshe
on Har Sinai is the Oral Law, embodied by the Mishna and Gemara. A nice
answer to the question if it had been a standard type of question on the
parsha. But these are TTriddles. You can't expect anything
straightforward. The correct solution is: the mitzva of Maaseir B'heima,
the tithing of kosher animals (cow, goat, and sheep). And why does this
mitzva represent all of SHAS? Because it is the Sefer HaChinuch's mitzva
no. 360. SHAS, that is.
[2] The deal for us in the sedra is IM B'CHUKOTAI TEILEICHU... The
similarly worded deal of IM TEILEICH B'CHUKOTAI was made by G-d to Shlomo
HaMelech. Several solvers got this one.
[3] C=3, D=4, LaZ=37 (LAMED-ZAYIN), TU=15 (as in TET-VAV), F=6, G=7, F=6.
These numbers are the p'sukim count of B'chukotai's 7 Aliyot.
[4] This was almost too regular for a TTriddle. Almost. One solver went
for 51 animals all together meaning 5 end up as MAASEIR B'HEIMA. In a
follow-up email, that same solver realized that we do not mix calves with
lambs and kids. Some people might have separated each of the three types
of animals, resulting in only 3 MAASEIR animals. But sheep and goats can
be combined, so 1 calf from the 17 and 3 somethings from the 34
flock-animals would make 4 MAASEIR animals. One solver felt that newborns
are too young to be part of the MAASEIR process, so none would be MAASEIR.
Not a bad answer, assuming that there would be at least the 8-day old rule
applicable. On the other hand, isn't an 8 day old calf a newborn? The real
answer must include the possibilities that the owner can choose what
animals to bring together, meaning if he has 9 new lambs in one flock and
8 in another, and does not bring them together, there won't be any MAASEIR
animals. The the full answer has to be anywhere between 0 and 4.
[5] Several solvers identified the Unexplained (which is hereby declared a
noun, in addition to its usual adjective role) as the Israeli made UZI
submachine gun. And said solvers also connected the word to the second
word in the sedra's haftara.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] The Mishkan, Camp, Aron, People
[2] Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly's Biblical inspiration
[3] Estimated to be in the order of magnitude of
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
[4] He was not; Yaakov was
[5] Infamous Levi who "copied" the Mishkan's major keilim
[6] plus one element from the Parsha Pix
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