
PARSHA-PIX Parshat Naso

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Parsha Pix
The fork lift stands for the work of the Gershon and mostly the Merari
families of Leviyim. Only Kehat might have had a problem using a forklift,
since they must carry the sacred vessels on their shoulders. Gershon and
Merari were given wagons (also shown) to help in their tasks. A forklift
would probably be acceptable for loading the wagons, and Merari would
definitely have put one to the best use.
The calculator is for counting the Leviyim.
The Do Not Enter signs are for the three types of ritually defiled
individuals who may not enter one camp of another - The Camp of the Sh'china,
i.e. the Mishkan and its courtyard, the Camp of the Leviyim which surrounded
the Mishkan area on four sides, three each for the family units of Levi and
one side (east) for Moshe, Aharon and family.
The grapes, wine, and shaver are Xed out for the Nazir. Not shown: Becoming
Tamei, but it too is forbidden to a Nazir.
The SOTA bottle holds the potion for the Sota to drink. The liquid is brown
because of the ink and dust of the Mikdash floor that is mixed in.
The animals and golden spoon with Ketoret that are around the opened gift
box are part of the gifts of the N'si'im .
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'MIDBAR) 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
And the envelope, please...
[1] BINSO'A (and UVINSO'A), and when it travels, occurs 5 times in Tanach.
That which is described by this word as traveling is the Mishkan, the Camp,
(these three times in Bamidbar), once more in B'haalo'tcha (HaAron), and
once in Yehoshua (the people).
[2] Alvin Kelly is acknowledged as the world's greatest flagpole sitters.
This is a reference to the term ISH AL DIGLO, a man on his flag (B'midbar
2:2)
[3] The haftara describes a multitude of the people of Israel that is
uncountable like the sand of the sea. It is true that it is an impossibly
large number to count, but the number of grains of sand on all the beaches
and shores in the world is somewhere around 10 to the 22nd power, i.e. a 1
with 22 zeros after it. Interestingly, there are many estimates as to the
number of stars in the universe, one such estimate being the same 10 to the
22nd power. This is a gross oversimplification of the issue, because
estimates of both grains of sand and stars vary widely. But what makes this
interesting is that the countlessness of the Jewish people was described to
Avraham Avinu in both ways. Neither image is meant to be larger than the
other, but they are not interchangeable expressions. Sand is lowly, that
upon which people trod. Stars are lofty, heavenly. Our status in the sceme
of things throughout history has been some of each - that which is on the
beach and that which one cannot reach.
[4] AVIDAN ben GID'ONI was the tribal leader of Binyamin. His name was
AVIDAN, literally the father of Dan, which he was not, but Yaakov Avinu was.
[5] The major furnishings of the Mishkan - the Aron, Shulchan, Menora,
Mizbei'ach - were all covered with a BEGED T'CHEILET (among other things), a
garment of T'cheilet-dyed wool. Korach was the infamous Levi who dressed in
a garment of T'cheileet and taunted Moshe Rabeinu with the famous question:
Does a garment made totally of T'cheilet require a thread of T'cheilet (on
its Tzitzit)? Meaning - does a holy nation need a holy leader.
[6] Several solvers identified garlic and the chemical formula for sucrose,
table sugar. The sugar molecule is raised to the third power, or cubed,
representing sugar cubes and garlic, something given out at a Pidyon HaBen.
It refers to the Levi non-bechor exchange for the non-Levi B'chor, as in
B'midbar.
[7] And then ther is the silent TTriddle, there, but not mentioned. Last
month there was a torus representing Taurus, the Zodiac sign, the Mazal of
Iyar. From this week, there is a baseball cap (sorry EB, et al) of the
Minnesota Twins, representing Gemini, the Twins, mazal of Sivan.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] Shavuot 2, N'si'im 12, Yom Kippur
[2] the animal of the Galician future
[3] A name in Sh'mot, B'midbar has 7 of them
[4] 4.56% and 21.67% more
[5] Kehati, yes; Ger'shuni, no
[6] 830 times without a VAV; only 3 with
[7] Double term common only to this week's readings
[8] zav, "blessing", sota, Pesach Sheni
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