PARSHA-PIX Parshat Mishpatim

Parsha Pix
Busy ParshaPix for a busy sedra
Upper-left is 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 (by yourself, your children, Shabbat guests...) for which the scales of justice would be an appropriate representation
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, according to our Oral Tradition. 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. We have the bull with horns, the tooth, the feet of the bull, the fire, and the pit (peach) representing the hole-in-the-ground meaning of the word
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 Three Regalim, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, are pictorially represented. The witch on the broomstick stands for the 3-word pasuk which requires Sanhedrin to rid society of witches
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...
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
The mortar & pestle is for V'RAPO Y'RAPEI
On the right edge of the ParshaPix is half of the word HASHEKEL, represeting the mitzva of MACHATZIT HASHEKEL, as in Parshat Sh'kalim
That leaves two new 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] 2 the same, 2 almost, all in B’reishit
Baruch HaShem - such a common phrase from the lips of many, many Jews. But let's see who said it in the Torah. In Parshat Yitro, it was, of course Yitro. That's what this TTriddle is doing here in the first place. We say that Yitro came to convert and become part of Bnei Yisrael. But, at least when he said B"H, we can say he was a non-Jew. Two more people - both non-Jews, said Baruch HaShaem. Both are found in the book of B'reishit. No'ach said it when he was blessing SHEIM and YEFET and doing the opposite for his other son. Eliezer said it in thanking G-d for not abandoning his master in the quest for a proper wife for Yitzchak. Two other people - also non-Jews, said something almost like Baruch HaShem - B'ruch HaShem, not Blessed is G-d, but blessed of G-d. Lavan said it in describing Eliezer. Avimelech said it of Yitzchak. That's it. 5 occurrences in the Chumash of Baruch HaShem or the similar B'ruch HaShem. In the rest of Tanach, by the way, there are 21 more BARUCH HASHEMs, and those were uttered by Jews.
[2] HaTorah: Significant theme of Yitro, and what else?
HaTorah - the Torah - is obviously the significant theme in Parshat Yitro, with its account of Maamad Har Sinai and Matan Torah. What else? HaTorah has a g'matriya of 616, as does YITRO. It's really closer than a numeric value match. Both words have TAV, VAV and REISH, one has a YUD and the other has 2 HEIs. Side point: R' Nisim Paniri in SHAAREI NISIM points out in support of the notion - EIN LECHEM ELA TORAH, equating bread and Torah (this statement exists in sources and is based on a pasuk in Mishlei; it is, however, less known than the comparison of water to Torah), that the g'matria of HAMOTZI LECHEM MIN HAARETZ is 616.
[3] Rav Yitzchok Summers' place
No, not Yitzchak's summer place. Cong. Anshe Emes is described as a 'haimish' Orthodox shul in the heart of LA's Pico-Robertson neighborhood. Rav Yitzchok Summers is its rabbi. Anshei Emet was one of the qualifications that Yitro suggested Moshe look for in his selection of judges for the people.
[4] Moshe & Yitro, each of us & others
When Yitro and Moshe met, they bowed, kissed, and greeted each other. The term for the mutual greetings is ISH L'REI'EIHU. That phrase, of course, is quite familiar to us in the context of MISHLO'ACH MANOT on Purim. The phrase appears several other times in different parts of Tanach. The time with Yitro and Moshe is the only time in the Torah. There are 8 more times in NACH.
And that brings us to the visual TTriddles from the ParshaPix.
This is the way these visual TTriddles were presented in last week's ParshaPix explanation:
If you number the images on the right of the PP 1-6 from top to bottom, you have the following visual TTriddles: 1, 1-2, 3, 4&6, 5.
[1] was quite easy. It represents G-d's promise to carry us on the wings of eagles, KANFEI NESHARIM. Whether a NESHER is an eagle is debated, but that's besides the point.
[1-2] Pic 2 is of four members of the hockey team, the Detroit Redwings. And these four "wings" to the two of the eagle in Pic 1, and you get six wings, as in Yeshayahu's vision of the heavenly angels, as we read in the haftara of Parshat Yitro.
[3] is a picture of the building of Mt. Sinai hospital in Manhattan. One of many hospitals so named.
[4&6] are each symbols for UV, ultra-violet light or radiation. In Hebrew, there are different ways of translating UV, one of which is AL-SEGOLI. SEGOL, the color violet, especially in its feminine form, SEGULA, is a sound alike word for G-d's promise that we will be for Him the AM SEGULA, the Chosen People or the Treasured Nation, SEGULA, above all other nations - hence, ULTRA-SEGULA.
[5] Hard to figure out picture - but it would have been impossible in the old black and white format for ParshaPix - was correctly identified as being a montage of characters from the Scholastic Press's Goosebumps series, a formerly popular series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by R. L. Stine. 62 books were published under the Goosebumps umbrella title in the 90s... When Yitro came to Moshe, having heard about the Splitting of the Sea and the battle against Amalek (and maybe about Matan Torah), Moshe detailed all that had happened to Bnei Yisrael. The Torah describes Yitro's reaction with the words VAYICHAD YITRO. Rashi says that the plain meaning of the word is that Yitro rejoiced because of all the things he heard. Rashi gives a second possible explanation of the word VAYICHAD. That Yitro's skin erupted in goose bumps. A nervous or frightened reaction, perhaps, to what happened to the Egyptians, to whom he had been allied and with whom he possibly identified. From here, our Sages teach us, we learn to be extremely sensitive to the convert, who has changed his life completely by becoming Jewish, but still has memories and feelings about his former life. The Goosebumps series, by the way, was translated into many languages, including Hebrew as ,TZMARMORET. (One can combine Rashi's two explanations if one is describing goose bumps of joyful excitement.)

This week's TTriddles:
[1] Age Trumps Thing
[2] sounds like we’re exempt from them on Pesach - au contraire
[3] It has its own built-in gavel
[4] results in rotating head 90º
[5] plus 2 visual TTriddles from the ParshaPix

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