PARSHA-PIX Sukkot

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Parsha Pix for Sukkot
The reading for the first day of Sukkot begins by saying: "When an ox, sheep, or goat is born..." So we have a stork delivering the Zodiac symbols for Taurus (bull), Aries (ram), and Capricorn (goat).
In the upper-left is a graphic standing for OTO V'ET B'NO, the prohibition of slaughtering a cow and its offspring on the same day. The Torah uses the masculine form OTO (and also B'NO), although in practical terms, it is more common to know who the mother cow of a calf is than to know who sired it. Nonetheless, the prohibition applies to both male and female cows and male and female calves. BTW, this prohibition applies even if the cow and calf are owned by different people. The Mishna teaches us that if one comes to buy a calf, for instance, from a dealer who had sold the mother of that calf earlier that day, and the day is pre-Yom Tov, let's say, when it was very common for people to bring animals to a shocheit, then the seller has to tell the one who wants to buy the calf that its mother was just sold and likely to be on its way to slaughter. The buyer may not slaughter the calf without checking on the status of the mother cow. What does all this have to do with Sukkot or Yom Tov? Not much, but it's in the Torah reading and therefore fair game for discussion (if you are so inclined).
The obvious part of the ParshaPix is/are the symbols of the Chagim. Pesach is represented by a Seder plate, there is a S'firat HaOmer counter, a pair of Luchot for Shavuot, and a Shofar for Rosh HaShana. The Shofar, you will notice, is Xed out. Ask your children and guests why they think that was done. The answer is that in Emor, the term used for Rosh HaShana is Zichron T'ru'a, which is considered a reference to Shabbat when we don't blow the Shofar, we only remember it. Yom Kippur is represented by the scales, tipped, hopefully, towards Good Life. Sukkot is represented in three ways: In the parsha, it is first called Chag HaAsif, the harvest festival, without reference to its mitzvot. That's the fellow in the lower-right; he's bringing in the harvest. Then the topic of Sukkot is brought up again, this time in the context of the Four Species, lower-left, and the Sukka, bottom-center. The Torah open on the top of the PP is right-side heavy, indicating V'zot HaBracha (hold it up to a mirror and you'll see the B'reishit Torah). And finally, Migdal David represents the city of Jerusalem, mentioned prominently in the haftara of the first day of Sukkot. Remember, ParshaPix is a good generation-gap closer for reviewing Parsha.

Parsha Pix for Parshat B'reisht
This ParshaPix for B'reishit is straightforward, a pictorial representation of the seven days of Creation.
The ON and OFF switches are for day 1 - Let there be light (and darkness).
The cloud over the sea represents the upper and lower waters of day 2.
The trees and grass are for day 3.
Sun, Moon, and stars for day 4.
Ladybug, bird, octopus and fish represent the creations of day 5.
Kangaroo, beaver, cat, hippo, and the two people represnt G-d's handiwork of day 6.
Candlesticks represent the first Shabbat of Creation.

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 (Yom Kippur) TTriddles:
[1] What does a train whistle have to do with YK?
[2] 150, or at least 4
[3] 16:34am - 18:30pm
[4] No p'sukim of Maftir fit well (with one dot)

And the envelope, please...
[1] A major feature of the Yom Kippur Avoda in the Beit HaMikdash is the "two goats". The Targum on SH'NEI HA-S'IRIM is TREIN TZ'FIRIN, which sounded a lot like a train whistle.
[2] This refers to the minhag of reciting all of T'hilim on Yom Kippur (i.e. all 150 chapters) or at least to say the first four chapters, after davening on Yom Kippur eve.
[3] This was an easy one, especially if you read Torah Tidbits - the answer was staring you in the face. But it was cute, so it became a TTriddle. It translates to: We read the 34 p'sukim of perek 16 in Vayikra in the morning (am) of Yom Kippur and we read the 30 p'sukim of chapter 18 in the afternoon (pm). That's it. Just a shorthand summary of the Torah reading of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the only day of the year that we read from the same sedra for Shacharit and Mincha... where each reading is different. On fast days (except for Tish'a b'Av) we read from the same sedra at Shacharit and Mincha, but the two are the same portion.
[4] This was a sneaky one. Couldn't resist. Don't read the first word as "No", meaning negation, but rather as "Number (No. as clued by the "with one dot" in parentheses). Number of p'sukim in the Maftir of Yom Kippur is 5, an appropriate number in light of the 5 INUYIM of Yom Kippur and the 5 davenings of Yom Kippur.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] Its name sounds like something we cannot use to cover it
[2] Followed by Kaddish, Kaddish, Kiddush
[3] The two 2-parters, the tall one, the last one
[4] 31.1T if you get around to it
[5] it was immediately, not 6 months later
[6] The 7 on the 7 minus the 7

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