PARSHA-PIX Parshat Vai-chi

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Parsha Pix
Lock and chain in upper left is for the "super-closed" nature of the beginning of VAYCHI.
The bed is mentioned more than once at the beginning of the sedra.
The crossed hands are Yaakov's, as he put his right hand on Efrayim's head and his left on Menashe's.
It should not escape our attention that the Book of B'reishit is FILLED with firstborn-second child issues (not just problems). Kayin and Hevel. Yishmael and Yitzchak, Yaakov and Eisav, Yosef and his brothers. Reuven on the one hand and Levi, Yehuda, and Yosef on the other. Peretz and Zerach. Efrayim and Menashe.
The crowned lion is for Yehuda, as is the lion cub. Yehuda's bracha refers to him as a GUR (cub), ARYEI and LAVI (lions at different stages of their lives). Yehuda Leib is a common name-pair based on this bracha.
The wolf is Binyamin. Binyamin Ze’ev Volf is also a common combination of names.
The faucet is for Reuven (based on what Yaakov said to him).
The Israel Postal Authority emblem is for Naftali. Naftali Tzvi Hirsh, or two of those three names often come together.
The snake is for Dan.
The donkey is for Yissachar.
The ship is for Zevulun.
The bread is Asher.
The math-like statement stands for Efrayim and Menashe are like (approx. equal to) Reuven and Shimon. Numerically, this is so too. E&M = 732 and R&S = 731.
There is a Davka graphic of a father blessing his son (the words of the bracha come from Vai-chi).
The Pyramids in the hot desert sun remind us where the sedra takes place and where the end of B'reishit finds us. In Mitzrayim.
Chazak is for the conclusion of the book of B'reishit.
The hard-to-make-out photo between the donkey's nose and the boy being blessed is a picture of Kever David and refers to the haftara.

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 (VAYEISHEV) TTriddles:
[1] Name of more different people in the Chumash than any other name
[2] Sad contrast of first and last of Sedra-trio
[3] number/word play mammal-bird link (A11-D3)
[4] Useful, strong, reliable, square (in Vayigash); fool's variation (in Mishlei)
[5] What's the haftara's choice for a snack?
[6] first cousins • king and successor's father
[7] plus one element from the ParshaPix

NachKup's Jewish Trivia Question:
24 words in a row in one of our T'filot ending with the same letter - hint: monthly

And the envelope, please...
[1] This was more a straightforward riddle than the usual devious, warped TTriddles. There are many names in Tanach that are shared by several different people. It is not that common in the Chumash. The following answers are not final, because an exhaustive search has yet to be conducted by the TTriddles research team. But here are our first guesses. We found two names that each apply to four people. CHANOCH is the first son of KAYIN (B'reishit 4:17). So too is CHANOCH the son of YERED and father of M'TUSHELACH (5:18). CHANOCH is a grandson of Avraham and Ketura (25:4). And, in Vayigash (which is why this TTriddle was asked last week), we have CHANOCH, son of Reuven. Not only are these four CHANOCHs from the Chumash - they are all from the book of B'reishit. The other name is ZERACH. Eisav's son with Ba-s'mat is R'U'EL. One of his sons was ZERACH (36:13). Further in Vayishlach, another ZERACH (unless they are the same person) is mentioned as the father of YOVAV, one of the Edomite kings who "reigned before a king reigned for Bnei Yisrael" (36:33). One of Yehuda's twins from Tamar was ZERACH. And one of Shimon's sons was also called ZERACH. There are other ZERACHs further in Tanach, but the question was restricted to Chumash, and so far, CHANOCH and ZERACH - both mentioned in Vayigash - tie for top Chumash honors with four different people each.
[2] The sedra-trio is Vayeishev, Mikeitz, and Vayigash. They are the sedras associated with Chanuka. They are the sedras whose main theme is Yosef and his Brothers. The beginning is VAYEISHEV YAAKOV... Yaakov dwelt in Eretz Yisrael. The last pasuk (of Vayigash), again VAYEISHEV YAAKOV, finds Yaakov and family in Egypt. What a sad contrast.
[3] The letters A-E are for the five books of the Torah. The numbers are for the sedras within each book. So A11 is Vayigash (11th sedra of B'reishit) and D3 is for B'ha'a'lo't'cha. This was found by accident, but made a good oddball TTriddle. ASARA CHAMORIM, 10 donkeys, part of what Yaakov sent down to Egypt (along with 10 ATONOT). Putting ASARA CHAMORIM in a search of Tanach revealed only one other occurrence, but not 10 donkeys as expected. The word CHAMORIM is spelled without a VAV. The other result is ASARA CHOMARIM, 10 measures of the quail. (Kaplan in the Living Torah calculates that 10 CHOMARIM was over 450 kilo of meat.) So we have a number (10) /word (CHAMORIM, CHOMARIM) play mammal (donkey) bird (quail) link.
[4] V'NAFSHO K'SHURA V'NAFSHO. well-known description by Yehuda to Yosef of the soul-connection between Yaakov and Binyamin. That KESHER, knot, we will say was strong and reliable, like a SQUARE KNOT. There is a similar knot to the square knot, known as a fool's knot. It is similar but easily comes undone. The word K'SHURA, tied, appears only one other time in Tanach - Mishlei 21:15 - Foolishness is K'SHURA (tied) to the heart of the young...
[5] The haftara speaks of the two sticks that Yechezkeil was asked to take and write on them the names Yehuda and Yosef/Efrayim. The sticks will fuse into one, representing the prophecy of the reunification and complete reconciliation of the Tribes of Israel. Rather than fusing into one, let's freeze the two sticks together in a block of flavored ice, and call the haftara's snack of choice, a POPSICLE.
[6] This one uses a name mentioned earlier in [1]. ZERACH was the father of YOVAV, who successed BELA to the throne of EDOM. BELA was also a son of Binyamin's, making him a first cousin of ZERACH, son of Yehuda.
[7] 25.6 fl. oz. was also in last year's ParshaPix for Vayigash, but it seems that it was never explained. So it became a TTriddle. 25.6 fl. oz. one fifth of a gallon. Fifths are the common quantity of whiskey. Fifth (CHAMISHIT, CHOMESH - both terms are used) is also the tax imposed on Egypt by Yosef on behalf of Par'o, for grain given to the people after all their land (except for that of the clergy) was turned over.

And now... the NachKup Jewish Trivia Question
First best answer each week wins a CD from Noam Productions.
Before the hint - nothing. Since the hint, we received a deluge of correct answers to the 24 words in a row in one of our prayers that all end with the same letter. The answer is from Kiddush L'vana.
BARUCH YOTZRECHA, BARUCH OSECH, BARUCH KONECH, BARUCH BORECH.
Since this sentence is said three times, there are 24 words in a row that end with CHAF-SOFIT.
First phoned in solution was Shimi Belen. He gets a CD from Noam. First 2 email solutions also gets a CD - since they came before the phone call but were read after it. Mike Bazelon and Graham Lewis. Winners, please be in touch. Thank you to the many others who submitted answers. Maybe next time.

This week's 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

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