
PARSHA-PIX Parshat Sh'mot

Parsha Pix
Pyramids = descent into Egypt
Lettuce is MAROR from the Sedertable. It relates to the pasuk 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 MAROR
That pasuk continues to specify the work with bricks (see the trowel and bricks) and the field work (the planting of the seedling)
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
See the MATEH, Moshe’s staff?
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
Letter with 57.6cm is a pun for Bat Par'o sending her AMA.
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 (VAICHI) TTriddles:
[1] Yehuda’s head is a capital
Yehuda's head is the first letter of his name, namely YUD. That YUD (and the rest of the name too, of course) is traditionally written at the top of a column in a Torah scroll, even though - again, by tradition - almost all columns begin with a VAV. There are 5 exceptions, one of which is the YEHUDA in B'reishit 49:8, in the middle of Yaakov's brachot for his sons. The top of a column (true, it is in classic architecture, not safrut - but a TTriddle is a TTriddle, and it wouldn't be without these twists and curves) is called a capital.
[2] sounds like the doctors get the parking spaces
After Yaakov died, Yosef commanded his servants LACHANOT ET AVIV, to embalm his father. The pasuk continues, And the ROF'IM (doctors) enbalmed Yisrael. LACHANOT ending with a TET, is to enbalm; LACHANOT ending with a TAV is to park. In the s'fardic pronunciation, the words are indistinguish- able. So it is the doctors that seem to get to park their cars. Groan...
[3] Aside from G-d 5 times in B'reishit, who else saw what?
Five times in the opening part of B'reishit, we find the phrase, VAYAR ELOKIM KI TOV, And G-d saw that it was good. But we'll TTriddlize that to, G-d saw KI TOV. So we are looking for other occurrences of VAYAR ______ KI TOV. Exactly like that. There are variations, but we'll leave them out of this TTriddle. The "what" in the TTriddle is KI TOV. The who else is MENUCHA (see B'reishit 49:15), part of Yaakov's bracha to Yissachar. Which is what this TTriddle is doing in the Parshat Vaichi issue. And Bil'am (see Bamidbar 24:1). We'll have to include Sar HaOfim too (see B'reishit 40:16).
[4] The original Tax Man
Yissachar is the answer again. ...VAIHI L'MAS OVEID, "and he became a servant to tribute". Which roughly makes him a tax man. Or maybe the labor tax itself.
[5] Related Numbers: 400, 524, 567/913
When people noticed that we were coming up to Torah Tidbits issue 747, they expected some footer TTriddle to relate to the Boeing 747, "commonly called a Jumbo Jet, one of the most recognizable of all jet airliners and the largest passenger airliner currently in service. First flown commercially in 1970, it held the size record for more than 35 years until surpassed by the Airbus A380 (due to enter service in 2007)... In fact, there was a hidden footer TTriddle on page 31, where the word JUMBO appeared in the footer. But this TTriddle refers to the 747 plane too. 747-400 is the popular model of the jet plane, the only model currently in service. It can seat 524 passengers and fly at a top speed of 567mph which is equivalent to 913km per hour.
[6] Early Friday night and later
Early Friday night, week in and week out, parents (and grandparents) throughout the Jewish world bless their sons with the words supplied by Yaakov Avinu: Y'SI-M'CHA ELOKIM K'EFRAYIM V'CHIMNASHE. Later that night (and every night) Jews of all ages say the bedtime Sh'ma which includes the words HAMAL'ACH HAGO'EL OTI... Both these p'sukim come from Parshat Vaichi. And, if some time during Friday night, a person sneezes, then he is supposed to say another pasuk from Vaichi: LISHU'AT'CHA KIVITI HASHEM. That last part wasn't in the TTriddle, but it definitely fits the sedra.
This week's TTriddles:
[1] His shoes, his shoe?
[2] She ran backwards
[3] king, house, song, heart, name...and?
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