Torah tidbits
PARSHA-PIX Parshat Yitro

Parsha Pix
Hearing ear of VAYISHMA YITRO, and Yitro heard
B"H was said by Yitro when he heard all the things that G-d had done for Israel. From that we are taught that one makes a bracha on miracles
The scales represent the justice system, Yitro's suggestions, Moshe's response, etc.
Yitro's advice included the assignment of "captains" of groups of 1000, 100, 50, and 10 - represented by the Roman numerals M,C,L,X
Bnei Yisrael's arrival at Har Sinai is described by the word VAYICHAN, as Rashi puts it, we were like one person with one heart. That's the graphic under the ear.
The Shofar is one of the symbols of the Sinai experience, as we more than mention on Rosh HaShana.
The washing machine is for the people to clean their clothes during the preparatory days for Matan Torah
Wine cup is for Kiddush (ZACHOR) and the negation circle is for the prohibition of Melacha, including writing, watering plants, digging, sewing, building.
Do not steal (the Xed out thief) and do not go up to the Mizbei'ach with steps (the negated ladder) are two other prohibitions in the sedra.
Volcano represents Har Sinai smoking from the fire of G-d’s presence “upon” it.
Tongs are from the haftara. An angel flew to the Heavenly Mizbei'ach and picked up a glowing coal in a pair of tongs. He then touched the coal to Yeshayahu's lips, representing a purifying process that would allow the prophet to speak on behalf of G-d
MEM SOFIT, which is better called a "Closed" MEM, appears in the haftara in the middle of a word, rather than at the end, where we are used to seeing that kind of MEM
Three dots and a short vertical line are the difference in the 4-commandment pasuk between the TAAMEI TACHTON form and the TAAMEI ELYON
Max Baer Jr. played Jethro (Yitro) for 9 years on the Beverly Hillbillies
1-18 is LOW on a roulette wheel, tea, saw as in LO TISA, commandment #3
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.

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 (B'shalach) TTriddles:
[1] aside from 5 2s, there are 4 5s, a 3, and another 2
This is a description of the last pasuk in B'shalach, the one with five consecutive words of two letters each. KI YAD AL KEIS KAH. Aside from those five words, the pasuk has four 5-letter words, one 3- letter word and another 2-letter word.
[2] only twice in Tanach - this week's sedra and haftara
In creating TTriddles, we often pick a word in the sedra and search Tanach to see how many times the same word occurs. The word this time was VAYAHOM (or VAYAwHAwM in Ashkenazic pronunciation), describing the reaction of the Egyptian camp to the experience of their chariot wheels bogging down and falling off in the seabed. The word seemed on the rare side, and so it proved. One other occurrence - in the haftara of Parshat B'shalach, from the book of Shoftim. G-d caused that same confounding and confusion with Sisra, his charioteers, and his whole army, causing them to flee from Barak and his army. They were pursued to the last man and killed by sword, except for Sisra (correctly pronounced SI- S'RA, not Sis-ra), who was killed by the tent peg wielded by Yael.
[3] Had he been Jewish, where might Sisra's funeral have been?
This was a TTriddle born from its answer, Jeopardy style. The answer is a word in the haftara - SHAMGAR. The TTriddle is the question.
[4] They are in the coccyx position
The coccyx is "a small triangular bone at the base of the spinal column" of humans and tailless apes. Being at the bottom of a column, it makes it the location of CHEIL PAR'O (Par'o's army), which are the last words at the bottom of the column in a Sefer Torah. The next column is the SHIRA column, headed by the word HABA'IM.
[5] baked bean curd - when?
Friday. Erev Shabbat, that is. On that day each year during the wandering in the Midbar, the MN (mahn, manna) fell in double amounts, and the people were told to eat on that day what they needed and the rest was to be prepared for Shabbat. Cook what you cook and bake what you bake - EIT ASHER TOFU EIFU... Tofu? Yes, baked bean curd. Friday.
[6] Bob Dylan’s featured number from Bringing it All Back Home (f)
The Dylan song referred to in the TTriddle is Mr. Tambourine Man. (f) means female, so that would be Mrs. Tambourine Woman, viz. Miriam.
[7] The Ramón José Trilogy
Come to think of it, most TTriddles are created with the answer coming first. Sometimes, the resulting TTriddle is cute and easily solvable. Sometimes it stretches even the most warped (meant in a good, positive way) minds. But we try. This one started from the fact that B'SHALACH has the same root in its name as two other sedras, VAYISHLACH and SH'LACH. The three sedras make up a SENDER TRILOGY. Ramon Jose Sender (1902-82) was a Spanish novelist, essayist, and educator whose works deal with Spanish history and social issues.
[8] twice in the AM, once in the PM
Sh'mot 15:11, MI CHAMOCHA... MI KAMOCHA... is a pasuk that we say twice in Shacharit - once in AZ YASHIR (where it comes from in the first place) and then again in the GEULA bracha after SH'MA (and juxtaposed to the AMIDA. In the evening, we say it once in Maariv in the first of the two post-Sh'ma brachot, GA'AL YISRA'EL.
[9] Yosef was Yocheved’s alter ego?
This TTriddle was a twist of a "Bible riddle" found on www.anvari.org/fun/Ethnic_Jewish/Bible_Riddles.html
It's corny, but it lent itself to this TTriddle. At the beginning of B'shalach, the Torah tells us that Moshe took Yosef's remains with him out of Egypt in fulfillment of promises Yosef extracted from Bnei Yisrael. The words in the pasuk are: VAYIKACH MOSHE (and Moshe took) ET ATZMOT (the bones of) YOSEF IMO (correct reading: YOSEF with him); TTriddle mis-reading: YOSEF HIS MOTHER. If Yoesf was Moshe's mother, as was Yocheved, that makes Yosef the alter ego of Yocheved. The question mark at the end of the TTriddle says: Not really.

This week's TTriddles:
[1] 2 the same, 2 almost, all in B’reishit
[2] HaTorah: Significant theme of Yitro, and what else?
[3] Rav Yitzchok Summer’s place
[4] Moshe & Yitro, each of us & others


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