PARSHA-PIX Parshat D'varim
Click on image for enlargement
Parsha Pix
At the top is a speech-bubble which contains the main elements of what Moshe
said to the People. He told them about the travels from Egypt to Eretz
Yisrael and what happened during those travels, of the victories of the
People in several battles they fought (that's the V for victory hand
signal), and about Torah and Mitzvot that are the essence of Jewish Life.
Also contained within that speech bubble is the letter D which is marked 24K
which stands for one of the places Moshe mentioned - DI ZAHAV.
The judge's gavel flanked (above & below) by two negation circles, relates
to the mitzvot in the sedra, against appointing judges for the wrong reasons
- not because of wealth, nor out of fear or threats. A judge may not be
afraid of threats (e.g. the gun).
The arrows indicating DO NOT ENTER to the right and the left, but only
straight ahead, stands for the two instances, as related by Moshe, that we
approached nations for permission to pass through their land.
The graphic of the spies carrying the cluster of grapes stands for one of
the major elements in the sedra, namely CHEIT HAMERAGLIM.
The ghost with the San Francisco Giants logo is a play on the pasuk (2:11),
The REFA’IM (ghosts in modern Hebrew; warriors or mighty people in the
Biblical context) can be considered giants (or vice versa).
The Roman numerals represent the different “units” of Jews, with their
“captains” - thousand, hundred, fifty, and ten.
The silhouettes of the bull and donkey are from the pasuk at the beginning
of the haftara in which the prophet contasts us unfavorably with the
animals. The bull knows his master and the donkey, his feeding trough.
The buttons (computer keys) emanating from a button represents D'varim 2:23.
The stars at the top represent the description by Moshe of the size of the
nation: G-d has caused you to multiply and here you are as numerous as the
stars of the heavens.
The blank face with a question mark is for LO TAKIRU PANIM BAMISHPAT (D'varim
1:17).
The compass pointing north, as in D'varim 2:3 - ...P'NU LACHEM TZAFONA, turn
to the north.
That leaves two unexplained new elements of this ParshaPix Consider them
visual TTriddles.
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 (MAS'EI) TTriddles:
[1] father of three in B'midbar and two others in Na"Ch
[2] Tevet, Adar, Nissan, Av
[3] 9 times a father's father; twice a place
[4] (1&2 3 4 &5) x2; 1 2&3&4&5; 1 5&3&4&2
[5] Short: Spy • Long: Nasi • Both: a husband? of Michal
[6] Kildare's Gillespie
[7] Place that reminds you of Purim
[8] Every day, twice a day boundaries
[9] plus three elements from the ParshaPix
And the envelope, please...
[1] AMIHUD. In Mas'ei, in the list of leaders of the tribes (not Reuven and
Gad) who will assist in the Divine lottery by which the Land will be
apportioned, we find SH'MUEL b. AMIHUD of Shimon and P'DAH-EIL b. AMIHUD of
Naftali. In the beginning of B'midbar, Efrayim's leader is ELISHAMA b.
AMIHUD. Popular name for fathers of Tribal leaders. There are two other
AMIHUDs in Tanach: TALMI b. AMIHUD, king of Geshur (Shmuel Bet 13:37) and
UTAI b. AMIHUD, who was one of the first people to return to Jerusalem from
Bavel.
[2] These are the four months, that when their Rosh Chodesh falls on
Shabbat, we DO NOT read the special haftara for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. Rosh
Chodesh Tevet is during Chanuka, and we read the haftara for Shabbat Chanuka.
Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Adar is Parshat Sh'kalim and Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
Nissan is HaChodesh. The haftara of each of those pre-empts the one for Rosh
Chodesh. The fourth one occurred last Shabbat. The second haftara of tragedy
pre-empted that of Rosh Chodesh. The Av situation though is unique among the
four. The other three all happen on three-Torah Shabbatot, when the Rosh
Chodesh Torah portion is read in the second Torah. It is not the last read
Torah portion and therefore is not "expected" to get its haftara. In each of
the three cases, the maftir (Chanuka, Sh'kalim, and HaChodesh) determines
the haftara. Av is the only month, that when its Rosh Chodesh falls on
Shabbat, we read the Rosh Chodesh portion as maftir and we don't read the
Rosh Chodesh haftara. BTW, in Sefardi communities (and Ashkenazi ones that
adopted the S'fardi practice), when the Rosh Chodesh haftara is pre-empted
(so too for Machar Chodesh haftara), they read the first and last pasuk of
the pre-empted haftara after the haftara of the day.
[3] TERACH, father of Avraham Avinu (our father's father) is mentioned 9
times in B'reishit (and twice more in Na"Ch). Twice in Mas'ei (coming and
going) we find a place called TERACH.
[4] The daughters of Tzelofchad are (1) Machla, (2) No'a, (3) Chogla, (4)
Milka, (5) Tirtza. Four of the five times their names are listed in Tanach,
they are in the order 1,2,3,4,5. Once, in Mas'ei, they are listed as
1,5,3,4,2. Aside from the order in which they appear, there are differences
as to which are linked with the conjunctive VAV (and). The VAVs are
indicated by an ampersand (the "and" symbol).
[5] My name is PALTIEL; you can call me PALTI. Well, it isn't exactly like
that. The name PALTIEL appears twice in Tanach. Once in Mas'ei, as the
leader of Yissachar, PALTIEL b. AZAN. And once as PALTIEL b. LAYISH, in the
time of Shaul HaMelech. We'll leave it at that. PALTI b. RAFU was the spy
from Binyamin. And PALTI b. LAYISH is the same PALTIEL mentioned earlier.
[6 Dr. James Kildare (Richard Chamberlin) The was first an intern and then
doctor in a series of films and later a TV series. He was mentored by an
older doctor, Leonard Gillespie, played, in the TV series, by actor Raymond
Massey, as in Parshat Massey. The extra hint for this TTriddle was the
spelling of the parsha name in the footer - everywhere else, Mas'ei - on
that page where the TTriddle appeared, Massey.
[7 The place that reminds you of Purim is CHATZAR ADAR, mentioned in the
details of the borders of Eretz Yisrael. ADAR or course, reminds one of
Purim, and especially together with the word CHATZAR as in the inner
courtyard of Achashveirosh's palace, which featured prominently in Megilat
Esther.
All 7 of the above were solved by the Stone family; they missed only the
next one; they got all the visual TTriddles, as well. Some of the TTriddles
were solved by others, as well, but not as thoroughly at the Stones.
[8 TZAV ET B'NEI YISRAEL V'AMARTA ALEIHEM... And G-d spoke to Moshe saying:
Command the children of Israel and say to them... This phrase appears only
twice in the Torah. Once in Parshat Pinchas, commanding the daily
sacrifices, the twice a day T'midim. The other time is in Mas'ei with the
command to set the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael.
[9 There were actually four unexplained elements in the ParshaPix for Mas'ei,
but only three were new and meant to be visual TTriddles. The YERECH BEN
YOMO under the 2K (ALPAYIM) was missed when the explanations were being
written. But if you got that one, fine. Good call. On the left side of the
PP were 12 springs, as in the 12 springs and 70 date palms in EILIM, as
described in B'midbar 33:9. Obviously, the place was an oasis.
[10] The circle (yellow) with three black triangles is the symbol for a
fallout shelter, a MIKLAT. With an ear attached to it, we has an IR MIKLAT.
[11] This was a nice graphic that was intended to slip right by attempted
solvers, but several people got it on the nose. The graphic is made up of
two Ms on each side of a square, representing the cities of the Leviyim
which had an area on all sides of the city of 2000 amot, so the Leviyim
would have place to have fields and vineyards.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] your children didn't eat from the tree
[2] Vayishlach could have been
[3] Paro, Yosef's brother; Moshe, Meraglim; the nation, David
[4] Dor HaMidbar, Written & Oral Torah
[5] Morning, (before) noon and night - how so?
[6] plus two elements from the ParshaPix
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