PARSHA-PIX Parshat Vayeishev

Click on image for enlargement

ParshaPix
Lower-left is the Davka Graphic of Yosef’s dreams.
The snake and the scorpion are what was in the pit into which Yosef was thrown.
The animals at the bottom-right are the sheep, as in the sheep that were being tended by Yosef’s brothers when he was sent by Yaakov to inquire about their well-being. The camel represents the passing caravans, and the goat is, of course, for the goat that the brothers slaughtered to cover-up their terrible deed. It also represents the goat that Yehuda sent to Tamar.
Speaking of whom, we have the staff (close, it's a cane), the seal (play on words), and the hooded coat, which is close to the meaning of p’tilecha, that Yehuda gave to Tamar as security for the payment of the goat.
See the wine and bread, representing the Wine Steward and the Baker, whose dreams were similar, but their interpretations and results were so different.
The snow flake in the upper-left corner: Twice, once after the brothers saw that Yaakov loved Yosef the most, and once after he told them his dream, the Torah tells us, VAYOSIFU OD SNOW OTO, and they further hated him. (These happen to be the only SNOWs in Tanach. Shoftim 15:2 is close.)
The birthday cake is for Par'o (end of the sedra).
The insignia below the cake is that of the Israel Prison Service. The one who wears this insignia can represent SAR BEIT HASOHAR.
That's a butcher in the upper-right. He stands for the SAR HATABACHIM.
That leaves three unexplained elements. Kind of simple ones, but TTriddles are to be enjoyed.

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 (Vayishlach) TTriddles:
[1] Yaakov twice; Bnei Yisrael once - different
[2] 32 of the 48 occurrences are in Vayishlach. The word can be described as 1006 (how?)
[3] Battle of Pampeluna antagonists make an appearance this week
[4] Twins had grandsons with the same name
[5] He gets this regardless of his son's behavior
[6] This week's connection to the 44th
[7] Yaakov __ __ Beit El; who __ __ whom?
[8] Avraham, Eliezer, 2 Lavan, Eisav, ? Gershom, Aharon
[9] 20 in the first; 7700 in the last
[10] G-d, Rivka, and Yaakov
[11] plus two elements from the ParshaPix

And the envelope, please...
[1] VAYALEN - With Yaakov, it means "he slept", which he did twice, once in the beginning of Vayeitzei and once in Vayishlach, the night before his reunion with Eisav. The third time the word appears in the Torah, it means "complained", as when Bnei Yisrael were thirsty, after crossing the Sea.
[2] ALUF. Amazing. 32 of the 48 occurrences are in Vayishlach. ALUF can be seen as ELEF (1000) with a VAV (6) added into it (1006).
[3] That battle took place in 1521 during the War between France and Spain. Tzorfat and S'farad are mentioned in the Haftara of Vayishlach.
[4] Yaakov - Yehuda - Zerach; Eisav - R'u'el - Zerach
[5] Most people get NACHAT from their children when the behave in a way to make their parents proud. Eisav's son R'u'el was named NACHAT (brother of Zerach). So R'u'el gets NACHAT regardless of how NACHAT behaves.
[6] Both Vayishlach and the 44th sedra, Va'etchanan have haftaras of CHAZON.
[7] The phrase KUM ALEH, arise and go up, appears twice in Tanach. G-d tells Yaakov to KUM ALEH Beit EL. An angel of G-d tells Eliyahu HaTishbi to KUM ALEH the messengers of the king of Shomron.
[8] VAYAROTZ, and he ran, appears 19 times in Tanach, 7 of which are in the Torah and the subject of this TTriddle. Avraham did it towards the angels; Eliezer to Rivka; Lavan twice, to Eliezer and Yaakov; Eisav to Yaakov; HaNaar, the lad, to Moshe to tell him about Eldad & Medad, Rashi says "some say it was suggests it was Gershon; Aharon ran with K'TORET among the people to stop the plague that claimed 14,700 lives.
[9] T'YASHIM, male goats. In the first book, B'reishit (Parshat Vayishlach), there are 20 in the gift to Eisav. In Divrei HaYamim there is mention of 7700 male goats in the gift from Plishtim to Yehoshafat.
[10] LAMA ZEH - why this? is asked 23 times in Tanach, including 9 times in the Torah. Three of those are in B'reishit: G-d asked Avraham why Sara laughed; Rivka question her pregnancy in light of the trouble she was experiencing; Yaakov was asked by the guardian angel of Eisav why he wanted to know his name.
[11] The two unexplained elements from the ParshaPix (not everyone had them) were part of one TTriddle. There was a can (irrelevant) with a straw (relevant) and a cutting knife with a blade (relevant). Play on the Hebrew words for KASH and LEHAVA, representing Beit Eisav and Beit Yosef respectively, in the haftara.
Believe it or not, both EB and YYW did admirable jobs on this week's TTriddles and will share the honors this week.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] The scrambled moon is his friend
[2] The two who could have been called Yosef
[3] Rivka, Tamar, Rachav, Mrs. Shimshon
[4] The "CHEF" switch can be accomplished by dropping the initial T in English
[5] CCDCFE, CCDCGF...
[6] Gelukkig rusten-Y
[7] children, stars, days... and what?
[8] plus three unexplained items in the ParshaPix

[The Parshat Vayeishev Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
 [www.ou.org]