PARSHA-PIX Parshat Mas'ei
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Parsha Pix
The Pyramids, the many arrows, and the outline of Israel, of course, stand
for the travels of the people from Exodus to Eretz Yisrael.
The compass at the top of the ParshaPix represents the description of the
boundaries of Eretz Yisrael, with the pasuk taking us through the compass
points.
The map in the upper-right with a big 3 on each side of the Jordan River
refers to the Cities of Refuge to be designated in Eretz Yisrael.
The road sign to Hebron is one of the requirements for Cities of Refuge
(which Hevron is one of). Roads to them must be well-marked to facilitate
the escape to them by one who committed a homicide, regardless of the
outcome of his trial.
Elsie the Cow of Borden's fame has two horns. They stand for the rare (this
once only) occurrence of the TROP called KARNEI PARA.
Lower-right is the logo of YOTVATA, the choir is for MAK-HEILATA, the Lulav
for SUKKOT, and the dreidel is for CHASHMONA - all names of places of
encampment.
There is a Chatan-Kallah, multiplied by 5, representing the daughters of
Zelofchad who marry distant cousins to solve the old “land going from one
tribe to another tribe” problem.
There are three visual TTriddles remaining. One (along the left side of the
PP is easy, if you can make out what is pictured. The other two are more
challenging. The one to the right of Elsie (who's been around since 1930,
believe it or not) is a stand-alone challenge that will come with its own CD
prize.
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 (MATOT) TTriddles:
[1] Its being dropped results in a touch of aliteration
[2] 79, 47, 29, 26, 50, 82 are red cowish
[3] gufa cup beans
[4] Pair below empty center
[5] Not for Liza Doolittle, pre-
[6] plus three elements from the ParshaPix
And let's not forget the mascot of the month
And the envelope, please...
[1] The word ANACHNU, we, appears 90 times in Tanach. Three other times, the
ALEF is dropped to produce the word NACHNU, also meaning "we". When the
brothers told Yosef that they were all sons of one man, they said: KOLANU
BNEI ISH ECHAD NACHNU. In Matot (B'midbar 32:32), the leaders of Gad and
Reuven said: NACHNU NAAVOR CHALUTZIM... By the dropped ALEF, the result is
the aliterative phrase NACHNU NAAVOR. The third NACHNU is in Eicha 3:42
where the pasuk needs to begin with a NUN for alphabetical reasons. If
anyone knows a connotative distinction between ANACHNU and NACHNU, please
enlighten us.
[2] These numbers are the atomic numbers of the following elements (metals
all): Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Tin, Lead. These are the metals mentioned
in 31:22 as requiring kashering, since vessels made from them were taken as
booty from the battle against Midyan. The topic of purification of the
metals is introduced with the phrase: ZOT CHUKAT HATORA ASHER TZIVA... The
only other topic that has that phrase is PARA ADUMA. So these metals (at
least in a TTriddles sense) are red cowish.
[3] Same as the previous TTriddle, this one contains the symbols for the 6
metals in that pasuk. They are scrambled to make this TTriddle annoyingly
obscure. Au, Ag, Cu, Fe, Sn, and Pb are the symbols for ZAHAV, KESEF,
N'CHOSHET, BARZEL, B'DIL, AND OFERET respectively.
[4] This refers to a word at the end of Matot, the third word from the end,
to be specific. The word is LAH, LAMED-HEI, meaning her, referring to the
city NOVACH. There are two unusual things about this word. First the HEI
does not have a MAPIK in it, which the word ordinarily has. Out of 392
LAHHHs in Tanach, this might be one of only three that don't have a MAPIK.
Rashi says, in the name of R' Moshe HaDarshan, that the dropped MAPIK
indicates that the name for that place did not endure. Rashi seems to
question that explanation, since he finds no similar reason applicable to
the two other MAPIKless HEIs of LAH. The other unusual thing is the TROP-
note, MERCHA K'FULA, a very rare note in the Torah. Hence the pair (MERCHA
K'FULA) below the empty center (of the HEI).
[5 Speaking of MAPIK-HEIs, this TTriddle refers to the abundance of MAPIK
HEIs in the first Aliya of Matot, rather than its conspicuous absence from
the word LAH. Liza Dolittle of My Fair Lady fame was unable (or unwilling)
to aspirate her Hs, so Harry was 'Arry and Hello was 'Ello. Etc. Etc. The
MAPIK HEI situation is at the end of the word rather than the beginning, but
there is a similar difficulty some people have in pronouncing the MAPIK. The
first Aliya in Matot would not be for Liza Dolittle, pre- Henry Higgins,
that is. After her lessons and training, she had no trouble with the initial
H and we might expect her to do well with the MAPIK-HEIs as well. See last
week's Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading for more on MAPIK HEI, and
this week's column of the same name for some TTreader feed- back and further
comments.
[6]The unexplained elements in the ParshaPix for Matot included many, many
sheep at the bottom of the PP, representing the MIKNEH RAV that the tribes
of REUVEN and GAD had and were the reason they gave for wanting to settle on
the east side of the Jordan.
[7] The other two visual TTriddles are really two parts of the same TTriddle.
There is a percent symbol and the less known per-mil symbol. % is one part
in a hundred, and per-mil is a part in a thousand. These were the two taxes
levied on the spoils of war from the people and soldiers who shared the
booty. The People received half of the booty and gave one fiftieth to the
Leviyim. 1/50 of a half is one part in a hundred, or 1%. The army received
the other half and their tax, given to the kohanim, was one part in 500,
which is 1 per-mil.
[8]For the last few months, we've replaced the "traditional" graphic images
for the mazalot (Zodiac symbols) of the months with something more
TTriddle-sytle. We had the torus for Taurus (Iyar), the Minnesota Twins
baseball cap for Gemini (Sivan), and a crab apple for Cancer (Tammuz). For
Av, we went with an old cartoon lion from the early 60s. We asked TTreaders
to tell us who the lion is and what his favorite lines were. Several people
correctly identified him as Snagglepuss (contemporary of Yogi Bear,
Huckleberry Hound, and Quick Draw McGraw), the Shakespearean Lion who was
fond of saying Exit, stage left (and variations on that), as well as,
"Heavens to Murgatroyd. The following emailed his name and lines and are due
a CD from Noam. Please be in touch with tt@ou.org
to figure out how to get your CD. Names are in order of receipt of the
emails. Technically, only the first three were promised CDs, but we'll go
for the whole Snagglepuss gang. AD/Bklyn, AW, H(S)M, FM, DA?Australia, RK,
DK/Beit El, AS/Ramot, DD/J'lem.
This week's 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
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