PARSHA-PIX Parshat Mishpatim

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Parsha Pix
Busy ParshaPix for a busy sedra.
Upper-left is really the starting point, the scales representing JUSTICE. In this case, MISHPATIM. In addition to the broad idea of justice, see what else can be found in the sedra, for which the scales of justice would be an appropriate representation. This is a good challenge to your children and Shabbat guests that can lead to long and involved discussions on Parshat HaShavua.
Upper-right is the "fist" referred to as one of the weapons that can injure or kill.
An eye for an eye, literally, an eye UNDER (TACHAT) an eye, is depicted here as money under an eye, based on Rashi and all other commentaries. The Vilna Gaon pointed out that the letters of the word AYIN are each followed in the ALEF-BET by the letters of the word KESEF. AYIN-PEI, YUD-KAF, NUN-SAMACH. A very nice graphical representation of the fact that monetary compensation on several levels is the correct understanding of an Eye for an Eye.
The bull and the fire are two potential causes of damages - one of the many key topics of the sedra. See Rabbi Quint's column of the last many weeks. The pit is missing from this ParshaPix. But we have the bull with horns, the tooth, the feet of the bull, the fire.
The sneaking thief was caught in the cellar. Under what circumstances is one held blameless for killing him? Under what circumstances would one be held accountable? And how much does the caught thief pay to the victim?
The guard at his post represents the whole topic of the FOUR SHOMRIM.
The hands pulling the money out of the wallet are about to lend money at 0% interest.
Or, perhaps, they are about to offer a bribe. Which will blind the judge receiving it, as in the image of the blindfolded head.
The witch on the broomstick stands for the 3-word pasuk which requires Sanhedrin to rid society of witches.
Down the lower-left side are images of the Three Regalim, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
The Har Sinai pix for Shavuot also corresponds to the end of Mishpatim where the events of Matan Torah are presented with other details not presented in Yitro.
The quill and scroll is for Moshe writing down "all of G-d's words" (Shmot 24:4).
There is milk & meat for the first of the three occurrences of LO T'VASHEIL G’DI...
Below the piles of bills and coins and to the right of the thief is is the TZIR'A (wasp) that G-d will send into the Land to help slowly drive out some of the nations there.
The cloud is covering Har Sinai (end of the sedra).
The tooth is referred to in the mitzvot related to injuring an EVED K'NAANI and being required to free him. It is also one of the forms of damages. Also, there is a tooth for a tooth.
The knitting reminds us of the prohibitions of Shabbat, as commanded with a positive mitzva in Mishpatim. In other words, not just "DO NOT KNIT", but forgo your knitting in honor of the Shabbat and G-d's commands.
There is a happy dog, happy to receive our TREIF meat, as expressly stated in Sh'mot 22:30.
See the sparrow? Now ignore it. It's a hold-over from last year's ParshaPix and it referred to the haftara of Mishpatim which was read because 5765 was a 2-Adar year and Mishpatim was not one of the Special Parshiyot.
That leaves two unexplained elements in the Parsha- Pix which become 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 (YITRO) TTriddles:
[1] All of ours in general, hers in particular
KABEID ET AVICHA V'ET IMECHA... Honor your father and mother. This command, of course, refers to the father and mother of each of us. All of ours in general. A search in Tanach for ET AVICHA V'ET IMECHA returned one other find - a pasuk in Yehoshua (2:18) that tells us of the promise Yehoshua's two spies (Kalev and Pinchas)made to Rachav, that her father and mother (and sister and her father's house) would be saved when Bnei Yisrael came back to capture Yericho.
[2] In the year that who what?
This one is from the haftara. BISHNAT MOT HAMELECH... In the year that the king died - that's the what. The who in the haftara is UZIYAHU. Later in Yeshayahu (14:8) it is ACHAZ. The phrase BISHNAT MOT HAMELECH appears in Tanach only these two times in Yeshayahu.
[3] G-d, Yitro, Micha, David HaMelech
ATA YADATI - Now I know! This phrase appears four times in Tanach. G-d said it through an angel to Avraham Avinu at the Akeida. Yitro said it when he heard all that Moshe told him. In Shoftim, there is a story of a man named Micha from Har Efrayim who hired a Levi from Beit Lechem Yehuda... it's a complicated story. Checkout perek 7. David HaMelech said it in T'hilim 20, which we say between Ashrei and Uva L'tzion on most weekdays.
[4] The others are Naomi, Machlon and Kilyon
USH'NEI VANEHA, and her two sons. Yitro tells Moshe that he brought with him, "Your wife and her two sons (Gershom and Eliezer). The only other place the term USH'NEI VANEHA appears is in Megilat Ruth, referring to Naomi, and her two sons, Machlon and Kilyon.
[5] There are two visual TTriddles from ParshaPix
We'll take the easier one first. The picture in the lower right corner of the ParshaPix is Max Baer Jr. He was the son of Max Baer, a famous boxer from the 1930s, onetime heavyweight champion of the world. Not Jewish, but considered himself close enough because of his paternal grandfather, to wear a Magen David on his trunks.He has nothing to do with the TTriddle. His son, Max Baer Jr. was an actor whose main successful role was 9 years on the Beverly Hillbillies, on which he played the part of Jethro Bodine. That's Jethro, as in Yitro. He later wrote and produced several feature films. Only Baby Boomers were expected to recognize Jed's nephew.
[6] And this is the other one
This visual TTriddle was made up of three pieces. 1-18, we'll get back to that part in a moment. A tea bag. and a saw. The TEA and the SAW combine to TISA (works better in Ashkenazish), as in the third commandment which forbids taking G-d's name in vain. The word that precedes TISA is LO (low), which is what 1-18 is on a roulette wheel, 19-36 being high.
[7] There is a hidden TTriddle hiding in plain sight at the end of one of the TT features
The TTriddle that was hiding in plain sight was at the end (or sde) of the Towards better Davening and Torah Reading column. The column focused on a phrase from a pasuk that allowed us to review three different topics in correct pronunciation of Hebrew. The pasuk that helps us see these things clearly is SH'MOT 20:20 (Get it? 20-20 vision.)

NachKwestion of the Week
Find 3 consecutive different words in our davening all with the same root
Most solvers found MELECH MALCHEI HAM'LACHIM from ALEINU (and Shalom Aleichem, if we consider it part of davening).
Then there is L'ALEM U'L'OLMEI AL'MAYA from Kaddish (and elsewhere).
And what about V'TALMIDEIHEM V'TALMIDEI TALMIDEIHEM from the Y'HI RATZONs after Torah reading on Monday and Thursday?
HAYA, HOVEH, V'YIHYEH - not from the 13 principles of the Rambam, since we won't call that davening either, but rather from KAH KELI before Musaf of Chag. That is davening, even if many shuls don't say it.
And in AHAVA RABA, Shacharit bracha before the Sh'ma, we find the request to G-d, AVINA, HA'AV HARACHAMAN, HA'MEREACHEM, RACHEM ALEINU which has three consecutive different words with the same root.
Look in Ashrei - this one is a little tricky because it is part of two p'sukim, but the words are different and they are consecutive. MALCHUTO, MALCHUTCHA, MALCHUT
And we have one more for you - it's a tetra-word phrase, FOUR words in a row, all different, all from the same root. In NISHMAT. MEI'ELEF ELEF ALFEI ALAFIM - We think that's it. Any more, let us know.
At this point, prizes are hereby awarded to Hadar Crown and Rosalie Kuptsow. We might yet give out some more CDs from Noam, if we get more solid answers by tomorrow.
More on Last Week's NachKwestion: Several solutions included VE'TZ'E'TZAEINU V'TZ'E'TZAEI TZ'E'TZAEINU from some versions of Birchot HaTorah, as well as some prayers for Yom Kippur. (BTW, if TZE'ETZA'IM are offspring, what are TZE'ETZA'EI TZE'ETZA'EINU?) Someone found GAD G'DUD YIGODNU in a version of K'ri'at Sh'ma al HaMita. And Shmaya (the Kwestion poser) called with another answer in the Ashrei-style split sentences, but consecutive words, nonetheless. Hallel: End of bracha, and continue - ...HA'HALEL. HALELU-YAH HALELU...
We included HAYA, HOVEH, V'YIHYEH from KAH KELI before Musaf of Chag. We were going to disqualify it because the phrase in that prayer is HAYA V'YI-HEH. HAYA V'HOVE, and the words are not all different. And them Shmaya called back and suggested we reinstate it without the first HAYA.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] This one can be taken literally
[2] Change your plans for the Seder BBA
[3] Warning: Groaner TTriddle (we don't often warn you): Perhaps the Torah's generic name for the Galway, Blackface Mountain, Wicklow Cheviot, and specific other breeds of sheep
[4] That's twice he partnered with his uncle; what are his mother's three names?

NachKwestion of the Week:
We say these words daily, weekly, and monthly (one varies slightly from the others). Daily, we quote the Torah. Weekly we quote Navi. Monthly we quote K'tuvim.

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