PARSHA-PIX Parshat T'tzaveh

Click on image for enlargement

Parsha Pix
The sedra begins with the command to take pure olive oil and use it to light the Menora daily in the Mikdash, so that it will burn (at least) from evening until morning. (Upper-left and center.)
The shell in the upper right-hand corner is Murex Trunculus, the snail which is thought, by a growing number of scholars and rabbis, to be the source of T'CHEILET, mentioned often in our sedra in connection to the garments of the Kohen Gadol. (It might also be the source of ARGAMAN, the different colors resulting from the exposure to light and air during the dye-making process.)
The gemstones under MT are for the CHOSHEN. 3 of the 12 are shown here.
The chain is for connecting the CHOSHEN to the EIFOD.
Of course, that's the Kohen Gadol on the bottom-left. This is one of Davka's Judaica Graphics.
The silhouettes of the bull and two adult male sheep (a.k.a. rams) are the inaugural korbanot of the kohanim. The matza represents the Mincha offerings that accompanied the animal sacrifices. Most, but not all, Menachot were halachically matza.
At the bottom are two lambs for the twice-daily T'MIDIM. Although the mitzva to bring the T'midim is learned from Parshat Pinchas, the T'midim are also mentioned here in T'tzaveh.
Above the lambs is the Golden Altar, a.k.a. the Incense Mizbei'ach and the Inner Altar. The command to make this Mizbei'ach does not appear in T'rumah with the rest of the main items of the Mishkan, but rather in T'tzaveh.
The heart with the graduation cap represents the CHACHMEI LEIV, the skilled weavers, etc. who did the work on the garments and other Mikdash requirements.
The pomegranate and bell are for the bottom of the ME’IL of the Kohein Gadol.
Book 4 (of Shulchan Aruch) is CHOSHEN MISHPAT.
That leaves two unexplained items

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 (T'RUMA) TTriddles:
[1] In G'matriya, A is 374 more than B.In area, B is 200 more than A.
[2] What was the score of the Do-Panels game?
[3] It's also the Torah reading schedule
[4] P=3A+B What is AÇB?
[5] 8 times with gold; twice with copper
[6] Thunder & hail, people's favor, wisdom, voice, fear, great army
[7] Pair of pelvic fins and a pair of what for two similar sounding words
[8] Group 11's first three, bread, the Jordan
[9] One element in the ParshaPix

And the envelope, please...
[1] Two of the three coverings of the Mishkan were the MISHKAN and the OHEL, A and B respectively. G'matriya of MISHKAN is 410 (number of years the First Beit HaMikdash stood, by the way). Ohel is 36. A - B = 374. The MISHKAN was made of 10 panels measuring 4 x 28 amot each. Total area: 10x4x28= 1120 sq. amot. The OHEL was made of 11 panels, each measuring 4 x 30 amot. That's 1320 sq. amot - 200 more than the MISHKAN.
[2] This TTriddle was inspired by an old George Carlin routine. Plus the warped path that thoughts take sometimes, in the TTriddle-making process. The answer is 10-6. We know this from Sh'mot 26:1 which says ...TAASEH ESER Y'RI'OT SHEISH MOSHZOR... TAASEH 10, Y'RI'OT 6. DO vs. PANELS.
[3] The simple answer is the word ZAHAV, which is spelled ZAYIN (Shabbat) HEI (Thursday) BET (Monday) - the Torah reading schedule. A more elaborate version includes KESEF and NECHOSHET. KAF = (Yom) KIPPUR; SAMACH = SSUKKOT; PEI = PESACH and PURIM. NUN = NEIROT (Chanuka); CHET = CHODESH (Rosh Chodesh and Rosh HaShana, which is also a Rosh Chodesh); SHIN = SHAVUOT; TAV = TAANIT (fast days).
[4] P stands for PASUK, specifically Sh'mot 25:35, a most unusual pasuk. V'CHAFTOR TACHAT SH'NEI HAKANIM MIMENA, and a decorative orb at the bottom of two branches (of the Menora)... This phrase appears three times in a row (with different TROP, but identical words). Call the set of the words in this repeated phrase A. And the words of the rest of the pasuk is B. The intersection of set A and set B is the word that belongs to both sets, HAKANIM.
[5] V'TZIPITA and you shall plate it or them. The word appears 10 times in all of Tanach - all 10 in Sh'mot, describing the construction of the Mishkan. 8 times, the command is to plate with gold. Twice it is with copper.
[6] And G-d gave... VASHEM NATAN appears only 6 times in Tanach. The first in the TTriddle's list is from the plague of Hail. The second, when the Egyptians gave gifts to the Jews on their way out of Egypt. G-d gave Wisdom to Shlomo HaMelech (in the haftara of T'ruma - this TTriddle's connection), and so on (check a Concordance or computer database search.
[7] A shark - KARISH in Hebrew, has a pair of pelvic fins under its body. Each KERESH (wall board of the Mishkan) had a pair of silver ADANIM under it.
[8] Group 11 refers to the Periodic Table of Elements. The first three elements in this group are Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag), and Gold (Au). [In simpler days not that long gone, there were no other elements in Group 11. But that was when there were 103 elements total. Today there are 118 elements, and number 111 is the fourth element in Group 11. Roentgenium (Rg). It was discovered in 1994 and so far, only a few atoms of it have been made. And get this: "Isolation of an observable quantity has never been achieved, and may well never be."] In addition to ZAHAV, KESEF, and NECHOSHET, two other words are found in Tanach that follow the word KIKAR: LECHEM and HAYARDEIN, as in what Lot chose when Avraham offered him to choose a direction.
[9] Which brings us to one unexplained item in the ParshaPix. It is inside the frame. It's a mortarboard - graduation cap, a.k.a. in England as a trencher. It is a symbol of wisdom (despite the fact that a university education does not guarantee that the graduate will possess wisdom) and is a reference to the haftara - And G-d gave wisdom to Shlomo...

This week's TTriddles:
[1] HaB'gadim: 5-2, who & who?
[2] one of 12, one of 7, prophet's port
[3] Besides this week's sedra...who to whom and what?
[4] Three that share this unit of length
[5] A label on a pot you want to tovel is like what stone?
[6] plus two elements from the Parsha Pix

[The Parshat T'tzaveh Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
 [www.ou.org]