Parsha Pix Dvarim 8:8 describes Eretz Yisrael and presents us with the famous list of the Seven Species. Wheat in the upper left; barley between grenade and elephant. Grapes. Pomegranate is the hand grenade, known as a RIMON in Hebrew. The olive is in the martini glass, and there is a date (the 31st) on the calendar. And the fig is represented by FIGaro, Gepetto's pet cat. The Land is also described as being a land whose rocks are iron (Fe on the piece of rock), and from whose mountains you can extract copper. Penny on the hill. It is in Parshat Eikev that Moshe recounts for the people the story of the Golden Calf, the breaking of the Luchot, and the second Luchot. Pair of stone tablets and Davka Judaica ClipArt's scene of the Golden Calf. The second passage of the Sh'ma is in Eikev. It contains the mitzva of Mezuza and a reminder of the "deal" we have with G-d. If we listen to the Mitzvot (preserve them, keep them, practice them), then we will receive rainfall in its proper time. That's the cloud with drops of rain. But if we don't observe and preserve the mitzvot, then G-d will "lock" the heavens and there will not (G-d forbid) be rainfall, and the ground will not give up its bounty, and we will be lost... Elephant is a reminder of the many times (in this sedra and elsewhere) that the Torah commands us to remember and warns us never to forget. Yellow jacket (wasp) is the TZIR'A that G-d says He will send against our enemies. Loaf of bread and a key below it. The key is not on the loaf, KI LO AL HALECHEM... Baby and tomatoes. PRI VITN'CHA (the fruit of your womb), UFRI ADMATECHA, the fruit of your ground. XL is Roman numerals for 40. ARBA'IM appears 136 times in Tanach, referring to days and nights or to years. 12 times in Parshat Eikev. 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 (Va'etchanan) TTriddles: [1] before opening, before & after reading There are three Torah-reading related p'sukim in Parshat Va'etchanan - specifically, in perek 4 of D'varim. ATA HOR-EITA LADAAT... (D'varim 4:35) which is said before the Aron is opened prior to taking out the Torah. Nusach S'fard says that pasuk on Shabbat and Chag. Nusach Ashkenaz says it only on Simchat Torah - it being the first of the set of p'sukim we say before taking out the Torah's to do Hakafot and dance with them. V'ATEM HAD'VEIKIM... (4:5) is said as part of the "calling up" of the kohein for the first Aliya. It is said right before we begin Torah reading. When we finish Torah reading, the Torah is held aloft and we all say V'ZOT HATORAH... (4:44). Standard practice is to say more than this pasuk, adding AL PI HASHEM B'YAD MOSHE. This is a partial pasuk - and some authorities are opposed to quoting partial p'sukim from the Torah, and therefore either don't say this ending, or they continue the ending to the conclusion of the pasuk from which it comes. The problem with this is we are not sure where it comes from and therefore how to continue it. The words occur four times in Bamidbar and once in the book of Yehoshua. Most likely candidate from where the words are borrowed is Bamidbar 9:23. They thus camped at G-d's word (lit. on the mouth of G-d) and traveled at G-d's word, keeping their trust in G-d. [It was all done] according to G-d's word through Moses. Some people say this whole pasuk after V'ZOT HATORAH; most don't. Some leave out the AL PI HASHEM... Most say it. [2] The Torahís AZCHU is daveningís AMEN Let's start with AMEN. In addition to what the word means and when we say it, AMEN is also an acronym for KEIL MELECH NE'EMAN, which is said by people saying the SH'MA not in a minyan, right before saying SH'MA YISRAEL... So, davening's AMEN means what is right before SH'MA YISRAEL in the Siddur. The Torah's counterpart of AMEN would be an acronym for the words that immediately precede SH'MA YISRAEL in the Torah. And those words happen to be ERETZ ZAVAT CHALAV UDVASH, a land flowing with milk and honey. Rashei Teivot (acronym)? AZCHU. [3] Caponeís refuge Assuming that TTriddles are rarely silly, perhaps this one is. Al Capone fled the police of Chicago and took refuge in the nearby town of Cicero (pop. now of about 85,000). The areacode of Cicero is 708. So what is it doing as a Footer TTriddle for issue 773? Excellent question. Apparently it used to be in areacode 773 and the document we use for areacodes is apparently out of date. So there! [4] Israeli: you said to his garden A native born Israeli is called a Sabra - in Hebrew, TZABAR. You said is AMARTA. To his garden is L'GANO. Each of these words is an anagram for one of the three Cities of Refuge that were on the east side of the Jordan river. BETZER, RAMOT, and GOLAN. [5] Apparently,one must honor his parents even if it is expensive This is a play on words between languages, specifically, Aramaic and Hebrew. On the pasuk KABEID ET AVICHA... Honor your father and mother, Targum Onkeles is YAKAR YAT AVUCH... YAKAR in Hebrew is dear or expensive. Hence the implication that even if it is costly, one must honor his parents. The fact is that one must honor them but may use their money (assuming they have) to feed and clothe them, etc. and the child is not required to spend his own money. But a TTriddle is a TTriddle. [6] Wise or generic child? This was not an either or question. It has to do with the words AVADIM HAYINU L'FAR'O B'MITZRAYIM... we were slaves to Par'o in Egypt... In Parshat Va'etchanan, the pasuk is our response to a child who asks MA HA-EIDOT V'HACHUKIM V'HAMISHPA- TIM... That is the Wise Child's question, from the Hagada. So AVADIM HAYINU is the CHACHAM's answer. However, in the Hagada, the CHACHAM (Wise child) gets a different response and AVADIM HAYINU is considered to be the beginning of the answer to the MA NISHTANA, which we can consider to be the generic child's question(s). Ashkenazim from Amsterdam use it in lieu of our POTEI'ACH ET YADECHA. Real question. We (some of we) use the 7-word pasuk POTEI'ACH ET YADECHA to count the 7 winds of the T'filin straps around our arm. Minhag Amsterdam (Ashkenaz) is to count with V'ATEM HAD'VEIKIM... This weeks TTriddles: [1] Between Golf Point and Lida Road [2] WHAT is the answer! [3] Sheep first, then people. Sheep first, then people. People first, then sheep. People first, then sheep. Explain. [4] last week, their cities... [5] Ashkenazic homophones - cause and effect [6] probably no one in Dor HaMidbar named Kravitz or Schuster [7] 75% of 6 = 2 [8] Yaakov, Bilíam, Moshe, Yona, Yirmiyahi, Shaíul [9] Jerusalem forever! [10] 6555111 [11] which includes goobers? "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper", the old saying goes. And if you are still hungry at midnight, pretend that you are a king who has taken to dressing like a pauper so as to get to know your subjects better. And then make yourself a snack. from 1001 Smiles by Marion Kaplinsky [The Parshat Eikev Homepage] |
