PARSHA-PIX Parshat Sh'mot
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Parsha Pix
Pyramids, of course, represent our descent into Egypt.
The head of lettuce is MAROR from the Seder table. It relates to the pasuk
in the beginning of the sedra which describes the Egyptian’s embittering the
lives of Bnei Yisrael. Lettuce, explains the Yerushalmi, is a kind of
vegetable that is tasty when picked ripe. The longer it stays in the ground,
the more bitter it becomes. Lettuce, therefore, is very appropriate for the
Seder table, even more so than horseradish, which is only bitter and misses
the extra commemorative feature that lettuce has.
That pasuk continues to specify the work with bricks (see the trowel and
bricks) and the field work (see the planting of the seedling).
The ball and chain represents enslavement in Egypt.
Davka Graphics of baby Moshe floating on the Nile with sister Miriam
watching over him.
Another Davka Graphics of Moshe at the Bush.
Point the sheep out to your children and ask them if they know any of the
stories about sheep. Don’t restrict the discussion to Moshe; extend it back
to the Avot.
Along the left side of the Pix is the MATEH, Moshe’s staff.
In the middle of the top of the ParshaPix, you find the three signs that G-d
gave Moshe to catch Paro’s attention.
The snake, the hand that turned leprous like snow (represented by the
snowman), and the turning of water into blood (symbolized by the 4 common
bloodtypes: A, B, AB, and O).
The goal of the Exodus: the land flowing with milk and honey (lower-right of
the Pix.
This leaves one unexplained item - a visual TTriddle.
 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 (VAI-CHI) TTriddles:
[1] taxicab fleece euro • start 5/4/3
[2] cold water, dishwashing liquid, club soda will help
[3] Yitzchak's and the Rabbis' sons
[4] Did he bless the major in charge of the squadron or the one who uses
creative activity to rehabilitate disabled people?
NachKay Jewish Trivia Question:
CD from Noam Productions to the FIRST correct answer received. Duplicate
prizes at the discretion of the NKJTQ committee
Looking for a bracha that is said at most once in a lifetime
And the envelope, please...
[1] This is a TTriddle for serious puzzle solvers. Start 5/4/3 tells you
where to start reading each word. Ignore the first 4 letters and read from
the 5th letter, from the 4th letter and 3rd letter respectively. This gives
you CAB, ECE, and RO. Put them together and you get CABECERO, which, as
everybody - all right, not everybody, but most Spanish speakers - is Spanish
for HEADBOARD, as in Rosh HaMita from the beginning of the sedra.
[2] This one's a nicer TTriddle than [1]. These three liquids should be
identifiable as useful in the field of stain removal, in general, and
recommended specifically for wine stains. If one were to take a phrase in
Yehuda's bracha literally - KIBEIS BAYAYIN L'VUSHO... he washes his clothes
in wine, then these stain removers would greatly help. What it he bracha
might mean - there are different opinions - is that vineyards will be so
lush and extensive in his territory that he could wash his clothes in the
wine produced. Or something like that.
[3] This is a TTriddle, unfortunately, was based on erroneous information.
The solution was supposed to be HAMALACH HAGO'EL OTI... first said by
Yitzchak's son (Yaakov) and then sung (many years later) by the Rabbi's
sons. Except, it seems, that HaMalach was not one of the songs of the
Rabbi's Sons. If, in fact, it was introduced or made popular by D'veykus
(it's on vol. 4), and not the Rabbi's Sons, then at least the TTriddle holds
a semblance of truth in that one of the Rabbi's Sons sings the D'veykus
songs - Rabbi L.S.
[4] This one works. The major (the common rank for this position) in charge
of a squadron (in the British Army) is the OC, officer in charge. (Similar
to the CO, commanding officer in the American Army.) The professional who
uses creative activities to help rehabilitate physically or mentally
disabled people is the Occupational Therapist, known as an OT. This TTriddle
is based upon the Ashkenazic and S'fardic pronunciation of Yaakov's
statement - VAIVARECH OTI (or OSI).
And now... the NachKup Jewish Trivia Question
First, we realized that people who get the email version of TT or download
from the website will usually see the TTriddles (and everything else) before
most readers of the hard copy. Hence, awarding prizes to the first solvers
is unfair. IY"H beginning next week, prizes will be awarded to the winner of
a drawing from among correct solvers whose answers we receive by email, fax,
phone, owl, or in person, by Monday at noon. Solutions after that time will
not be included in the drawing. If late solutions are the only correct ones
submitted, they will qualify for the prize(s).
The NKJTQ in the Vai-chi
issue of TT was:
Looking for a bracha that is said at most once in a lifetime
There has been a steady flow of solutions since soon after release of TT
699. There seems to be three possible answers - brachot that are said at
most only once in a person's lifetime. This implies that most people never
say them, but no one legitimately says it more than once.
Pidyon Haben was the first
received answer, but - as was pointed out by several subsequently received
solutions - a man can have two firstborns (or more) if each of two wives
give birth to their first child. These two wives can be concurrent or
successive. The point is that Pidyon Haben status depends on the first issue
of the womb of the mother. A man can have several B'CHORIM, each requiring a
bracha for their Pidyon. (For inheritance purposes, a man has only one
B'CHOR - his first child, if it is male.) How- ever, Pidyon HaBen is not far
off the mark. A firstborn who was not redeemed as a baby, is required to
redeem himself when he reaches the age of mitzvot. In that case, the bracha
is different from AL PIDYON HABEN. There are two opinions as to what the
self-redeemer says: AL PIDYON HAB'CHOR or LIFDOT HAB'CHOR. In either case,
it is a bracha that can be said at most once in a lifetime.
Another correct answer is AL
T'VILAT GEIRIM, for the ritual immersion of a convert, said by the convert
after he emerges from the Mikve. This too can be said at most, once in a
lifetime. The possible wrinkle for this solution is whether a bracha is said
for the immersion (and conversion) of a baby, who says the bracha, and if
the text is the same. Depending upon the answers to these questions, this
bracha might be able to be said more than once in a person's lifetime. The
jury is still out on this one.
The third possible bracha that
can be said at most once in a lifetime is the one for giving up one's life
to sanctify G-d's name. ...L'KADEISH SH'MO BARABIM. The wrinkle in this
bracha is that if a person survives the situation at the last moment, the
bracha can be said subsequently if there is another situation of Kidush
HaShem. So it might be possible to say this bracha more than once in a
lifetime. So, you might argue, if a GER makes his Mikve bracha on a
non-kosher Mikve or a person redeems himself inadvertently from a non-kohein,
they too will make their once in a lifetime brachot a second time. Different
- their first brachot are null.
One more possibility for the at
most once-in-a- lifetime bracha - maybe. Does one who circumcises himself
have a unique bracha?
One further suggestion for last
week's NKJTQ (max. once in a lifetime bracha) was for building the Beit
HaMikdash. This would have been a good answer, except for the fact that
there is no bracha for that mitzva - several reasons why not
Winners of the NKJTQ: Gitta
Neufeld for T'vilat Ger, Jan Meisler for Self-Pidyon,and Gil Reich for
Kiddush HaShem (and living to see the Cubs win a WS)
This week's TTriddles:
[1] 34 to 4 but it means they're equal
[2] For openers, who (female) and what?
[3] Father-in-law, son and grandson of Y's son and brother, and whose
father?
[4] all of a sudden it's a supply center
[5] 5th and then first
[6] ma, mama, mama
[7] one visual TTriddle in the ParshaPix
[8] Special visual TTriddle, Separate prize for its correct solution,
Personal challenge to the great PPP solvers of the past (including MS) or
anyone wanting to join their ranks (see hard copy of TT, or website)
NachKay Jewish Trivia Question
Tanach names in the regular weekday Amida - CDs for the best lists
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