PARSHA-PIX Parshat Lech L'cha

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ParshaPix
Arrow from the birthday stuff into Eretz Yisrael is Lech L'cha... MiMoladt'cha - go from your birthplace to the Land..
Arrows from Eretz Yisrael to the south-west and back again is the round trip to & from Egypt
The compass on the outline of the map is G-d’s instructions to Avraham to walk the Land, its length and breadth, and in all directions.
The arrows branching in opposite directions was Avraham’s offered choice to Lot when they separated. If you go left, I'll go right. If you go to the right, I'll go to the left
Avraham’s oath before the king of S’dom, that he would not even take a thread of a shoelace.
Telescope and stars stand for G-d’s taking Avraham outside to see the stars and to promise that his descendants will be as countless as the stars of the heavens.
The crowns represent the war of the five kings against the four.
The father with his little son represents Brit Mila, the only mitzva of Taryag in the sedra. By the way, BRIT is numerically 612, making it equal to all the other mitzvot (besides itself).
There is the tent that Avraham pitched a few times in the sedra (not really a good representation, because it seems to have only one entrance.)
Representation of Brit Bein HaB’tarim, with each split animal accompanied by a triangle, standing for the adjective M’SHULASH or M’SHULESHET. The bird at the top was not cut. See the Sedra Summary for details
Which leaves two unexplained items, which are Visual TTriddles.

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 (NO'ACH) TTriddles:
[1] None and far too much on the same date
[2] two years before and after
[3] 7th a.k.a 3rd
[4] 600 = 1047 = 756 = Washington's final initials
[5] Right! What's a cubit?
[6] yak, divi, tatu, patru, pet, vets, yedi, otto, ni, deset - Appropriate for whom?
[7] plus the TTriddles-Zodiac symbol for the hopefully wet month of Marcheshvan

And the envelope, please..
[1] According to the mishna in Taanit, if it didn't rain by the 17th of Cheshvan, individuals would accept three fasts (Monday, Thursday, Monday) upon themselves... [NONE]. The Torah tells us that on the 17th of Cheshvan (one opinion as to what the Torah means by the second month) the Flood began... [FAR TOO MUCH]. Samedate.

[2] The Torah tells us that Sheim bore Arpachshad two years (SH'NATAYIM) after the Flood. Baal HaTurim points out that the phrase SH'NATAYIM ACHAR... appears twice in Tanach. It doesn't; the one in Parshat No'ach is the only one. What Baal HaTurim was referring to was a similar phrase, SH'NATAYIM LIFNEI... Two years BEFORE. There is only one of those. Two years after the Flood and two years before the RAASH - earthquake.

[3] The Ark rested on Mt. Ararat on the 17th of the 7th month. Rashi says that it is Sivan that is referred to here as the 7th month, counting Kislev as the first month, for in Kislev, the rain stopped. So the 10th month (Sivan) is also known as the 3rd month, in the way we count months.

[4] And No'ach was SHEISH MEI'OT years when the Flood came. The g'matriya of SHEISH MEI'OT is 300+300 + 40+1+6+400 = 1047. In Targum (Aramaic) 600 is SHIN-YUD-TAV MEM-ALEF-HEI = 300+10+400 + 40+1+6 = 756. In Roman numerals, 600 is DC, the final initials of Washington, as in Washington DC.

[5] Bill Cosby, back in his stand-up comic days, had a routine called "Noah and the Lord", which was not only funny, but was surprisingly insightful at times. When told to build an ark, and that it should measure 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits, Noah's response was, "Right! What's a cubit?" The reason I considered this worthy of a TTriddle was to be able to take the opportunity in this TTriddles report to share one of the more profound of Cosby/Noah's comments. When told to remove one of the hippopotamuses (hippopotami is acceptable, but seems to be the less preferred plural of river horses) and bring in another, the exhausted and frustrated Noah asks why he has to do such a difficult and seemingly senseless thing. The response is, "because they are both male". "So change one of them", Noah suggests. Cosby as the Lord answers, "You know I don't work like that!" And the fact is, that G-d does not (generally) do that kind of thing, although definitely capable of it. EIZEHU CHACHAM, HALOMEID MIKOL ADAM.

[6] This is a variation on a theme we've used in TTriddles and ParshaPix to represent DOR HAP'LAGA, the generation of the Tower of Babel. The TTriddle consists of a mixed up (language-wise, not numerically) counting of one to ten. This might be an appropriate way for PELEG (great-great-great- grandson of No'ach and great-great-great-grand-father of Avraham Avinu, putting Peleg right in the middle of the generations from No'ach to Avraham) who was named for the event that NIFLIGA HAARETZ in his time. The languages of Peleg's one to ten are (in order, obviously): yak (Farsi), divi (Latvian), tatu (Swahili), patru (Romanian), pet (Bulgarian), vets (Armenian), yedi (Turkish), otto (Italian), ni (Sino-Japanese), deset (Czech)

[7] And, as several TTreaders correctly observed, the symbol for Cheshvan in the Word of the Month box on page two is a picture of the home built scorpion helicopter.

Kol HaKavod to MM/Bklyn for his faithful participation in solving TTriddles (and sending his solutions to us). We hope you enjoy the latest CDs your brother and fellow TTriddle-solver brought to you on his recent visit and look forward to more TTriddles solutions from you.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] Bera can be bad for the eyes if you don't spell or pronounce words accurately
[2] He lived in Shreveport?
[3] The Anti-Lebanon Mountains
[4] Avram-Sarai; Adoniyahu-BatSheva
[5] plus 2 elements from the ParshaPix

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