PARSHA-PIX Parshat Naso

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Parsha Pix
The fork lift stands for the work of the Gershon and mostly the Merari families of Leviyim. Only Kehat might have had a problem using a forklift, since they must carry the sacred vessels on their shoulders. Gershon and Merari were given wagons (also shown) to help in their tasks. A forklift would probably be acceptable for loading the wagons, and Merari would definitely have put one to the best use.

The calculator is for counting the Leviyim.

The Do Not Enter signs are for the three types of ritually defiled individuals who may not enter one camp of another - The Camp of the Sh'china, i.e. the Mishkan and its courtyard, the Camp of the Leviyim which surrounded the Mishkan area on four sides, three each for the family units of Levi and one side (east) for Moshe, Aharon and family.
The grapes, wine, and shaver are Xed out for the Nazir. Not shown: Becoming Tamei, but it too is forbidden to a Nazir.
The SOTA bottle holds the potion for the Sota to drink. The liquid is brown because of the ink and dust of the Mikdash floor that is mixed in.
The animals and golden spoon with Ketoret that are around the opened gift box are part of the gifts of the N'si'im .

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 (Bamidbar) TTriddles:
Note: ORDER of TTriddles has been changed
[1] And that would have made all 7 days this week, had Rosh Chodesh not been on Sunday
This TTriddle was altered to correct the mess-up with the haftara last week. Of course, had the correct haftara been there in the first place, this TTriddle would not have been asked.
Six days a week, boys from 13 years and up and men wear T'filin. Many (most) who say the different passages and p'sukim in addition to the brachot (or bracha), when they make the three winds of the strap (R'TZU'A) of the SHEL YAD around the middle finger, recite the p'sukim from HOSHE'A (2:21,22). Though T'filin are not worn on Shabbat, those p'sukim conclude the REGULAR haftara of Bamidbar, which was preempted by MACHAR CHODESH. Hence the out-of-place and convolutedly worded TTriddle.
[2] From those mentioned in the sedra, who's in the Wilderness Rock Band?
Here's a "normal" TTriddle for Bamidbar. Among the names of the tribal leaders (and their fathers) we find Reuven's leader Elitzur, the father of Shimon's leader, Tzurishadai, and the father of Menashe's leader, P'datzur. With TZUR in each of these three names, and with TZUR meaning ROCK, perhaps these three formed the Wilderness Rock Band in the Midbar.
[3] 10 times this week all over; once (sort of) in Chutz LaAretz next Shabbat; 4 times the following Shabbat here, 4 times the following Shabbat there. (prize)
The two-word phrase KOL B'CHOR, every firstborn, appears in Parshat Bamidbar 10 times. That's a very noticeable phrase in Bamidbar. Nowhere else do we find anywhere near that many occurrences. So this week, referring to Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar, we all read KOL B'CHOR ten times. Next Shabbat (referring to this coming Shabbat, our - in Israel - Parshat Naso, and the second day of Shavuot in Chutz LaAretz), the phrase KOL HAB'CHOR (which is at least sort of like KOL B'CHOR) is read in Chutz LaAretz as part of the Torah reading for the second day of Shavuot. In Israel, we read Naso, which does not have the phrase. But, the following Shabbat, B'haalotcha, the phrase occurs four times. Those will be read in Israel, but not in Chutz LaAretz, where Naso will be read. And the week after that, when we are reading Sh'lach, without any KOL B'CHORs, people in Chutz LaAretz with have the four times in their B'haalotcha. Get it?
[4] The MAZAL (Zodiac sign) TTriddle
The Word of the Month box is almost as old as Torah Tidbits (going on 14 years). The monthly inclusion of a graphic representing the Mazal of the month in the upper right corner of the box began with TT 531, Elul 5762. Until a little over a year ago, the graphic had been either the official Zodiac sign for the Mazal or some straightforward graphic of the sign. For more than a year, the graphic has been some play on the sign. Shavuot's mazal is T'OMIM, the Twins, Gemini. Last year, for the month of Sivan (we change the graphic with Shabbat M'vorchim), we had a picture of the baseball cap of the Minnesota Twins team. This year, we're going with the mathematical expression 6K±1 (6 times K plus and minus 1). This is the form that TWIN PRIMES (or PRIME TWINS) take. A prime number, if you remember (or even if you don't) is a whole number that can only be divided (without remainder) by 1 and itself. 23 is a prime because no number other than 1 and 23 can evenly divide 23. 39 is not prime, because in addition to 1 and 39, 3 and 13 will also divide 39 evenly. TWIN PRIMES are two consecutive odd numbers, both of which are prime. (Aside from 2 itself, no even number can be prime.) 5 and 7 are TWIN PRIMES. So are 11 and 13. 17 and 19. Besides 3 and 5, which are technically TWIN PRIMES,the number between all TWIN PRIMES is divisible by 6. [Pick an even number. Any even number. If it is not a multiple of 3 (i.e. divisible by 3), then either the number right before it or the one right after it will be a multiple of 3. So, only an even number that also is divisible by 3 (meaning a number divisible by 6)can possibly have a prime number before it and after it. It won't always be surrounded by PRIME TWINS, but it might be. Therefore, the formula for prime TWINS is 6K±1, where K is a whole number. Remember, not every 6K±1 will be twin primes, but every pair of prime TWINS will be 6K±1. The three pairs of TWINS mentioned earlier (not counting 3,5) correspond to K=1,2,3. If K=4. 6K±1 are 23 and 25, not twin primes. But for K=5, we have 29 and 31, twins. Next potential twins are not - 35 and 37. Next, 41,43 are. 49,51 are not. 53,55 are not. 59 and 61 are. Etc. Sorry (not really), the math teacher in me got carried away.

NachKwestion of the Week
The sun in Tanach:
For whom did the sun stop?
For whom did it regress?
Who got sunstroke?
Who got suntanned?
Yehoshua (Book of Yehoshua 10:13)
The sun regressed 10° in Yeshayahu 38:8 as a sign that Chizkiyahu HaMelech's life would be extended for an additional 15 years.
Yona got sunstroke when the KIKAYON that was shading him from the sun shriveled and died.
The subject of Shir HaShirim was suntanned. Actually, the word which is used in modern Hebrew for suntan, probably is better rendered in the context of Shir HaShirim as sunburned.

Concerning the previous NachKwestion:
HC writes that there is really another pasuk that ties for second most common pasuk in T'hilim. HODU LASHEM KI TOV KI L'OLAM CHASDO. It appears three times with HODU spelled HEI-VAV-DALET-VAV and once with HODU spelled HEI-DALET-VAV, the HEI being voweled by a CHOLAM CHASEIR. In addition, there is another pasuk that can be added to the list, but not quite: HALELUKA HODU LASHEM KI TOV KI L'OLAM CHASDO. If we count that one, which we won't, it would push HODU into undisputed second place. We'll leave it as a tie for second.
After the above paragraph was typed, we got an email from JS saying exactly the same thing. BARUCH SHEKIVANNU. Prizes due EB, HC, and JS.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] 23 times in some form or other within itself
[2] Wagon, Shabbat song, Torah enjoyment
[3] animals best suited to pull wagons
[4] What Biblical personality would call Shavuot with a slightly different name?
[5] Diminutives confuse tribes. Which?
[6] Major Seth Adams might have had a job with Gershon or Merari but not with Kehat

Not a TTR: Bonds may have passed Ruth, but (as of this writing) he still lags behind Torah Tidbits

NachKwestion of the Week
List names of people in Tanach whose fathers' names are the names of animals (or close to it).

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