PARSHA-PIX Parshat Balak

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Parsha Pix
Upper left is from one of the first ParshaPixPuzzles. There is a BLOCK (sounds like BALAK) in a nest, which makes it BLOCK BEN TZIPOR.
Moving to the right, we find a globe wearing an eye patch. Balak said that Israel was so numerous that we covered EIN HAARETZ, the eye of the Earth (as does the patch).
Next, the messengers from Moav came to Bil'am with K'SAMIM B'YADAM, represented by the magic trick in the hand.
Bil'am's donkey saw the sword drawn in the angel's hand; Bil'am did not see it at first (or second or third). Second row, left. When the donkey talks to Bil'am, she asks him why he has hit her these three REGALIM, three times. Commentaries point out that it doesn't say P'AMIM, three times, but rather uses the word that refers to our cycle of holidays and to the People who observe them. The angel repeats the reference to SHALOSH REGALIM. The speech- bubble for the donkey contains the question (mark) about the three festivals, represented by the Lulav, Matza, and Torah.
To the right we find a Chicago basketball player, one of the BULLS and a St. Louis football player, one of the RAMS. Bulls and rams , 7 of each, (hence the large numeral 7) were repeatedly offered as sacrifices by Bil’am and Balak.
The lion cub was one of the ways that Bil'am described the Jewish People.
Below the donkey are Clapping hands - a representation of Balak striking his hands together in disgust at Bil’am’s repeated failure to do as requested. VAYISPOK. A unique word in Tanach, appearing nowhere else.
The Xed out snake is also from Bil'am's words, that there is no NACHASH in Yaakov. His meaning is that we do not rely on omens.
Below the snake is a "house filled with money" - sort of what Balak told Bil'am that he missed out on by not uttering one teensy weeny curse.
The shul in the lower-left corner reminds us of the famous MA TOVU OHALECHA YAAKOV...
Lying across the bottom of the ParshaPix is the ROMACH, the spear that Pinchas used to protect G-d’s honor.
The river of oil from the pitcher is mentioned in the haftara.
On the reverse side of a US dollar bill is a picture of the Great Seal: A pyramid with an all-seeing eye on top. Sometimes called the enlightened eye. Bil'am calls himself the man with SH'TUM HA-AYIN. Living Torah brings these translations: enlightened, future-seeing, seeing, open, true-sighted, sleepless, evil, dislocated,blinded.
Worthy of repetition is something Zev Frank of Arutz-7 discovered. ROMACH, spelled in the Torah REISH-MEM-CHET is numerically equivalent to 248, which immediately brings to mind the number of positive mitzvot in the Torah. Pinchas armed himself with the RAMACH (248) mitzvot in his righteous defense of G-d's honor. But Zev did not stop there. What about the prohibitions in the Torah? There are 365 of them. If we count just the prohibitions, starting from GID HANASHEH, B'reishit's sole prohibition (among the 613) and follow the count of the Sefer HaChinuch through the sedras, we come to an amazing discovery. The 248th prohibition in the Torah is at the end of Va'etchanan, and it is the prohibition of intermarriage and of taking a woman from another nation. Exactly the sin that Zimri was guilty of. Pinchas not only armed himself with a physical weapon, and not only did he have the 248 positive mitzvot guiding him, but he also had a numeric match to the specific prohibition at issue, and that was the weapon that did the job.

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 (CHUKAT) TTriddles:
WHAT?!? Only 3 TTriddles. It happens...
[1] Moti Brill? Not quite
VAYISHMA HAK'NAANI MELECH ARAD YOSHEIV HANEGEV... When the Canaanite king of Arad (or the Canaanite king Arad), dweller of the Negev, heard that Aharon had died... Focus on the phrase MELECH ARAD. The closest we have today is the mayor of Arad, Dr. Moti Brill. A nuclear engineer by training and profession, Dr. Brill decided to do something to improve his town and won the mayoralty running as an independent. Although Arad has literally been on the map for a long time, this dynamic mayor continues his efforts to really "put Arad on the map".
[2] Concerning this person <flip> was he one?
Another TTriddles version of a Cryptic Crossword Puzzle clue. Concerning = RE. This person is OG, as in OG MELECH HABASHAN. <flip> means to exchange the two words and combine them, resulting in OGRE. Was he one? Was OG and OGRE? Well, at least he was a giant, which is the beginning of the definition of ogre. And we do see him as a bad guy, so ogre kind of fits.
Speaking of OG...
The Midrash says that OG survived the MABUL by sitting on a ladder rung on the outside of the TEIVA. Further, it says that No'ach made a hole in the side of the TEIVA and gave OG food every day, through the hole. He is the PALIT that told Avraham of Lot's capture. For this deed, OG was rewarded with exceptional longevity...so that his reward would be only in this world... OG was Eliezer, Avraham's servant, or a member of Avraham's household... as such, he was circumcised... G-d had to reassure Moshe that Israel would prevail over OG, since Moshe feared that OG had merit that would protect and help him.
[3] This time without the choir master
Moshe Rabeinu, as the preeminent Levi, was - or could have been - the choir master of the Levi-choir. Back in B'shalach, we find, AZ YASHIR MOSHE UVNEI YISRAEL... then Moshe and the people of Israel sang (will sing)... In Chukat, we find AZ YASHIR YISRAEL... where this time, the Song of the Well, Moshe's name is not mentioned. In both instances, by the way, the phrase ET HASHIRA HAZOT occurs. These two water- related songs, of the Sea and of the Well, are the only two occurrences of the words AZ YASHIR in all of Tanach.
And that's it for this week's TTriddles Report. Again, I appeal to TTreaders who think that TTriddles are not for them, or who get frustrated in fruitless attempts at solving TTriddles, to read the reports each week anyway. There are always "tidbits" of Torah and other pieces of information to add to your personal reservoir of knowledge. Also, people who are owed prizes should call us. (02) 566-7787 ext. 207.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] Jordan & Grier
[2] Wording would link nicely 13 sedras from now
[3] Alnath & Sharatan
[4] with eld he might have gone to northern England

NachKwestion of the Week:
Find people and places in Tanach who have a former name also mentioned in Tanach, E.g. Avraham (Avram), Beit El (Luz)

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