
PARSHA-PIX Parshat B'har

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Parsha Pix
At the bottom: Har Sinai with a pair of Luchot at the top. Next to a scene
of a horse pulling a plow that is being guided by a farmer. There is a
negation circle over the plowing, because it is forbidden during Sh’mita
year. The question mark between the two represents the famous question
from the beginning of the sedra- namely, MA INYAN SHMITA EITZEL HAR SINAI?
The abacus on the top is for counting the seven years of each Shmita cycle
and the seven Shmita cycles of Yovel. The Shofar is blown on the Yom
Kippur of Yovel. The Liberty Bell is inscribed with the partial pasuk: AND
PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT THE LAND TO ALL ITS INHABITANTS
The adding machine is to calculate the fair price of land, depending upon
how many years remain until Yovel.
The NOT FOR SALE sign is a reminder of the prohibition in the parsha.
Upper-right is a fellow lending money at the Torah-approved interest rate
for personal loans between Jew and Jew - 0%.
What Shabbat in the last pasuk referring to? That’s why the pair of
Shabbat candles has a question mark between them.
The price tag in the middle of the ParshaPix indicates that the regular
price of the item is 100, and it is being sold for 117. That mark-up
exceeds the halachic limit of 1/6 and so there would be a violation of
ONA’AH.
The house with feet goes with “V’KAM HABAYIT”, and the house gets up.
Calling someone Dum-Dum probably violates ONA’AT D’VARIM.
Monopoly card is a deed for Anatot (Haftara).
That leaves a new old 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 (EMOR) TTriddles:
[1] Shabbat, RH, YK, SUK, Shmini Atzeret, and what?
[2] Double him, them, and them - double
[3] 20 times until we see where
[4] Pasuk that contains a Purim self-contradiction
[5] plus one visual TTriddle from the Parsha Pix
[6] and one "hidden-in-plain-sight" TTriddle
And the envelope, please...
[1] This is a tricky one, but straightforward and honest at the same time.
The answer is SHABBATON. The word appears 11 times in Shmot and Vayikra,
and nowhere else in Tanach. First occurrence is in the phrase SHABBATON
SHABBAT KODESH LASHEM in the context of the MAHN when it fell in double
amounts on the first Erev Shabbat. In the pre-Mishkan building warning,
Shabbat is called SHABBAT SHABBATON KODESH LASHEM (in Ki Tisa) and again
as SHABBAT SHABBATON LASHEM (in Vayaqhel). In Parshat Acharei, in the
context of the AVODA of YOM KIPPUR in the Mikdash, the day is called
SHABBAT SHABBATON. In Vayikra 23 (Parshat HaMo'adim in Emor), we find
SHABBAT SHABBATON referring (probably) to Shabbat and then again to Yom
Kippur. In addition, the word SHABBATON, without SHABBAT, giving it a
connotation of a lower sanctity than SHABBAT, the word describes Rosh
HaShana and the first and eighth day of Sukkot. Its use for these holy
days makes it synonymous with YOM TOV. When in the same phrase with
SHABBAT, it implies the higher level of MELACHA restrictions, and higher
K'DUSHA of Shabbat and Yom Kippur. The word SHABBATON is not used in
connection with Pesach or Shavuot. But, in Parshat B'har, SHABBATON
appears its two final times, once as SHABBAT SHABBATON and once as SH'NAT
SHABBATON - both referring to the SH'MITA year. And that is the answer to
this TTriddle. SH'MITA.
[2] If anyone gets this one, please let us know.
[3] We count the Omer 20 times - i.e. the first 20 nights of the Omer -
before we read about the mitzva of the counting of the Omer in Parshat
HaShavua. (We did read about it on the second day of Pesach, i.e. on the
first day of counting, so this TTriddle has a weak spot, but...)
[4] Don't look in Parshat Emor; you won't find it. But look in the haftara
- Yechezkeil 44:21. No kohein shall drink wine when he enters the CHATZEIR
HAP'NIMIT, inner courtyard. Really referring to the Mikdash, the term is
familiar from Megilat Esther referring to Achashveirosh's palace. Based on
what went on in Achashveirosh's court, no wine is a contradiction to the
term CHATZEIR HAP'NIMIT.
[5] There is a needle and below its eye is an eye, making it AYIN TACHAT
AYIN. (FYI - the phrase occurs twice - in Mishpatim and Emor.)
[6] The past two issues of Torah Tidbits (and this one too) have a graphic
that is a visual wordplay, making it a hidden-in-plain-sight visual
TTriddle. The first week, no reference was made to it at all, and no one
volunteered a solution. Last week its existence was mentioned, and AW/NJ
found it and emailed the correct solution. A CD as a prize is already on
its way to New Jersey by airmail. On page 2, Word of the Month, there is
usually a graphic of the Zodiac symbol (Mazal) of the month. For Iyar, the
bull for Taurus was replaced by a geometric solid, donut-like shape known
as a TORUS. TORI is the plural, and TOROID is the more general type of
shape. A torus is one kind of toroid.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] HBS would have mixed feelings about part of B'har
[2] Partial fulfillment of Va'eira's opener
[3] When the previous afternoon is NOT like the day itself
[4] The Shma-like pasuk makesG-d's intentions clear
[5] possibly implies not to read Torah Tidbits during davening
[6] Confused dispute-partner of Amora Rav Yosef
[7] Maybe it's the 13th year
[8] Besides Sh'mita, B'har's other Har Sinai connections
[9] plus one element from the ParshaPix
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