Parsha Pix The CALF was the first of the one-time special korbanot on opening day of the Mishkan (following the seven inauguration days). The RAM (to the left of the calf) was also part of those EIGHTH DAY korbanot. As was the goat (to the calf's right). All three animals are also referred to without being named (in Parshat R'ei they are named) as kosher animals. 8=8 means that the 8th day of SHMINI was the 8th day of Nissan. That is one opinion. The other opinion is that it was Rosh Chodesh, as in 8=1. The negation circle over the wine represents the "rules of conduct" for kohanim upon entering the Mikdash, which included not drinking wine on the day of their performing Avoda. And it also is forbidden for a posek to render a halachic decision "under the influence". The fire is the fire that was used by Nadav and Avihu... It is a strange fire (EISH ZARA) because the flames are blue and green. Each year we depict a kosher and non-kosher mammal, bird, and fish, under the check mark and the X respectively. This time we used more cryptic images to accomplish this. We suggest that if you are reading this (which you obviously are), then keep the answers to yourself for a while and see how well your family and Shabbat guests do. The first not kosher / kosher pair is for mammals. Both are football helmets of NFL teams. Chicago Bears represent the non-kosher mammals and the St. Louis Rams represent the kosher ones. Go through all the teams and see how many animals are included - and how many kosher ones. We'll present a run-down for all major US sports either elsewhere in this issue or in an upcoming issue. The results are interesting. Representing the non-kosher birds is a KITE, probably (possibly) the DA'AH, listed among the non-kosher types of birds. For the kosher birds, we have the emblem of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, an NHL hockey team. You might want to try the same search of other hockey teams for animals in general and kosher ones in particular. Fish are represented by the skate, which is a non-kosher sea animal. The spearhead pictured is called a pike, which is also a kosher fish. The big hook, in Hebrew, VAV, is for the big VAV of GACHON. The giraffe is pictured because it definitely has the correct signs of a kosher animal - it has split hooves and it chews it cud. We do not have a tradition that includes giraffe among kosher animals, but it is debated as to whether it would need a MASORET or not. Rav Aryeh Kaplan z"l identifies the ZEMER - listed in Parshat R'ei among the KOSHER CHAYOT (non-domesticated animals) as the giraffe. In the lower-left corner of the ParshaPix is a peacock (that's the male - the female is a peahen and the generic term is peafowl) is most probably a kosher bird. The fact is that peacocks look just like chickens after the feathers are removed (which does not mean that it is kosher like a chicken), and it is not on the non-kosher bird list (which does make a statement for its kashrut, IF we could be sure of all the names on the Torah's list). There is also evidence in a book by a shochet from 150 years ago which has a drawing of a peacock among the birds that were shechted. This points in the direction of MASORET. Whether it is enough or not is still being debated. Don't switch from chicken yet. Next to the peacock is a photo of a red locust. This issue, as mentioned in the Sedra Summary is also a matter of proper identification, which most of the Jewish community does not have the knowledge, experience, and/or tradition to come to any conclusions about kosher grasshoppers. Some Teimanim claim that they have the knowledge to identify the kosher types. French fried locust, anyone? The havdala candle represents the repeated theme in the sedra that a major purpose of many of the mitzvot presented is to distinguish - between sacred and profane, between tahor and tamei, etc. Before we get to Maftir of Parshat Para (see next three entries), we have a picture of Abraham Lincoln from a five dollar bill. A fiver (which is slang) is also called by another slang nickname - FIN. Above a pair of scales we get fins and scales, the signs of a kosher fish. Lower-right is a photo of a potential Para Aduma, found in Israel. Notice how close in color it is to the ground. Aduma, adama - definitely related words and related colors. The red heifer is not fire-engine red. It is much like a brownish-red color. May we be ZOCHEH to a successful Para Aduma and the purification it will facilitate. The flag of Denmark was an interesting discovery (thanks to the internet). In past years, we used a red cow with a Communist (Red) hammer and sickle. A couple of times we had the range of frequency of lightwaves that are in the red range, written on the cow. This time, it is a lot more obscure. The red background of the Danish flag is based on the skin of a red cow. Go figure. Equally obscure is the road sign for a roundabout in Ireland where the National Primary Route N7 intersects the M50 motorway. It is known as the Red Cow Roundabout. There are plenty of triggers for reviewing the sedra with family and guests. 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 (TZAV-Purim) TTriddles: [1] Chatat/Asham; born-Jew/Ger The expression TORA ACHAT, there is one Torah or one law for... occurs four times in the Chusha. Three times it is referring to the equal application of the Torah to GERIM (converts) and born Jews. The other time is in Parshat Tzav, when the Torah tells us that the Korban Chatat and the Korban Asham have one set of rules. [2] Different readings - common thread This refers to the haftaras of Parshat Tzav this year. As we wrote in the haftara section of the Sedra Summary, Tzav has an interesting haftara variety. It has its own haftara, just like every sedra does. But it is rarely read. 12 of every 19 year - the 12-month years of each 19-year cycle, Tzav is Shabbat HaGadol and we read the haftara for Shabbat HaGadol rather than Tzav's. Actually, the haftara of HaGadol has a greater claim of being Tzav's haftara as Tzav's haftara does. Of the remaining 7 year-types (which account for 36.8% of years) - they don't occur each with the same frequency as the others and not all within any specific 19-year cycle - Tzav is Shabbat Parshat Zachor (1 - 6.7%), Parshat Para (3 - 16.3%), regular (meaning no special Shabbat - 13.8%). Except that this year's type, Tzav is Purim in Yerushalayim, thereby dropping the frequency of Tzav having its regular haftara to slightly below 10% of the time. Now for this TTriddle: Both the regular haftara of Tzav (read all over Israel and the world) and the haftara of Shabbat-Purim (same as Zachor) contain G-d's expressed "distaste" for korbanot when those who bring them don't listen to Him. That's the common thread. [3] 414 big, 707 small This refers to the letters in Megilat Esther for which there are Scribal Traditions to write them extra large or extra small. The large letters are a CHET in CHEIL PARAS UMADAI, a VAV in VAIZATA, and a TAV in VATICHTOV ESTEIR HAMALKA. There total numeric value is 414. The small letters are TAV of PARSHANDATA, SHIN of PARMASHTA, and a ZAYIN of VAIZATA, totalling 707. Most fascinating is the observation made by someone linking the hanging of Haman's ten sons with the Nazi war criminals hanged in Nuremberg. From November '45 to October '46, 24 high ranking Nazi leaders were put on trial for crimes against humanity. Of the 24, three were acquitted, nine were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life, and 12 were condemned to death by hanging. One of those 12 was not in custody and Goering committed suicide before he could be executed, leaving ten "sons" of Haman who were hanged on October 16th, 1946 - which was Hashana Rabba - the culmination of the Judgment period which begins on Rosh HaShana, in the year 5707, which is TASHA"Z in Hebrew letters - TAV, SHIN, ZAYIN - the three letters that are written small in the list of the names of Haman's sons. [4] Could Mordechai's great-grandfather have been the original owner? This was not a fair TTriddle for those without a hard copy of Torah Tidbits, since it appeared on the same page as an ad for QUICHE Catering. Mordechai's great-grandfather was KISH, which is what led to that TTriddle. Gadi S. - who read the Megila at the Center on Thursday night and did a terrific job of it - pointed out that KISH was really Mordechai's great-great-grandfather, since the lineage in the Megila seems to skip one generation. Mordechai ben Yair ben Shim'i (who was either the son of Sha'ul HaMelech or possibly the son of Geira) be Kish... If, in fact, Mordechai was a descendant of Sha'ul, Shaul's name might have been left out because Shaul failed in carrying out the complete destruction of Amalek, which resulted in the existence of Haman... [5] First three, last, first Of the ALEF-BET. If you take the first three letters, ALEF, BET, GIMMEL, and add the last, TAV, and the first, ALEF, you get AVAGTA, one of the king's advisors mentioned early in the Megila. [6] Who was r-ready? M'MUCHAN. Just a play on words which sound a little like a stutter (or like a Breslaver slogan in the making). [7] What was the Persian credit card of choice? This was one of the fun questions from our pre-Purim Shabbaton. Before these questions were asked, people were requested to refrain from groaning, no matter how corny or punny the questions would be. We ask the same of you, dear TTreader, but if you really want to groan - go ahead, we can't hear you. VISA-TA (VAISATA). MORE... On page 5 in last week's issue (805) there were some Purim questions for which we gave answers, but in a difficult-to-read way. Davka writer has a feature that can reverse text. It is primarily made for Hebrew which comes in backwards - this happens between different computer programs because of different ways to handle Hebrew. We found that the feature works for English characters too, and we took the whole set of answers and reversed them. For those who were able to read the answers, we say - KOL HAKAVOD. For those who couldn't - and wanted to - here are the answers to last week's Purim questions: 1. When Esther tells the king that someone is plotting to kill her people, the king demands to know MI HU ZEH... The Hebrew word MI (pronounced as the English word me) means WHO, so you find in the Megila two consecutive words - a word and its translation. 2. A candle kugel translates to NER PASHTIDA. If you mix up the Hebrew letters that make up these two words, they can rearrange to spell PARSHANDATA, one of Haman's sons. (That is, provided you slightly misspell PASHTIDA.) 3. In going through the Megila, the following sedras can be found: NO'ACH, VAYEITZEI, VAYISHLACH, MIKEITZ, VAYIKRA, EMOR, B'HAR (as in B'HAR'OTO - this was the sneaky one), D'VARIM. (There might be more.) Near sedras include SH'LACH (SHALACH) and KI TEITZEI (KI YEITZEI). 4. TERESH (male) co-conspired with BIGTAN to poison the king. Mordechai overheard them... but you know all that. ZERESH, Haman's wife, was his co-conspiritor, giving him "invaluable" suggestions which just got him into deeper trouble - B"H. 5. The turtle-dove in Hebrew is the TOR. The Megila tell us about TOR NAARA V'NAARA, indicating that not only Esther (TOR ESTEIR BAT AVICHAYIL...) but all the maidens had a TOR. PURIM SHTIK GUIDE from last week's TT This review does not include the Purim items in the ParshaPix; these were explained on p.16 last week; nor Purim-related TTriddles - see page 13 for the TTriddles Review. Front page: OU Israel logo was upside-down, our token V'NAHAFOCH HU. Parsha name and date of issue was in a triangle - for Purim M'shulash, rather than in its usual rectangle. Issue number, 805, was presented as a mathematical expression which totals 805. It used the numbers 1 thru 9 thusly: 1x23+4x5!/6+78x9 5! is read "5 factorial" and is the result of multiplying all the numbers from 5 down to 1, i.e. 5x4x3x2x1 = 120. (any whole number can stand in 5's place: 4! = 4x3x2x1 = 24, etc.) Next, we do the multiplications and divisions: 1x23=23. 4x120/6 =80. 78x9 = 702. Then we add: 23+80+ 702 = 805. Flanking the Title Triangle are two people - one associated with triangles and the other with triples - both obviously connected to the theme of Trippple Purim and Purim M'shulash. The fellow on the left is Pythagoras, a mathematician and philosopher who lived during the reign in Israel of Chizkiyahu HaMelech and Menashe. He was around at the time of the exile of the Ten Tribes. He lived about 200 years before the Purim story. He is most famous for finding the relationship between the two sides of a right triangle and the hypotenuse, namely a+b=c And on the right side is a baseball player from the early 20th century who played for the Cinncinati Redlegs (their name was shortened to the Reds much after his time) and the Detroit Tigers. His name is Sam Crawford and he holds (to this day) the career record for most triples (309). In addition, he also hit more inside-the-park home runs than any other player ever (51). In the box with the usual "this is the 192nd day and 28th Shabbat of 5768, we added that this Shabbat (referring to Shabbat Tzav - Purim) is the 2363rd Purim and that [L], March 21st marked 18 years since Namibian independence. Namibia is a country of southwest Africa on the Atlantic Ocean... It is a little larger than New Mexico. Population: just over 2 million. Windhoek is the capital. The AD D'LO YADA TESTER replaced the usual notice about the Shabbat afternoon shiur, was purposely done in hard-to-read red on green with a font called BLUR. Finishing off the front page is a picture of a TRIODE (TRI for triple Purim). A triode is "a type of vacuum tube used in audio and radio amplifiers and oscillator circuits. It is like a diode with the addition of a wire mesh control grid between the cathode and plate (anode) that controls current flow. A filament heats the cathode enabling it to release electrons. When a small voltage is applied to the grid, the current flow between the cathode and plate is changed accordingly. Page 19: The Candle by Day feature, based on the work by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein - which we continue to thank him for sharing his concise insights and observations - was replaced for Purim by three quotes from Steven Wright. (He does not have S'micha.) Page 32: We had an ad for a fake TIYUL TO NOWHERE. Our Travel Desk informs us that it is fully booked but you can call to be waitlisted. Page 33: The MA RABU MAASECHA HASHEM column was about the Unicorn. The turtle from the column's regular logo was replaced by his fun-loving cousin on ice skates. Page 35: There was a fake ad. Go back and find it if you missed it the first time around. Page 36: How many of these graphic elements can you identify? we put together a collection of pieces of different ads and features from Torah Tidbits current and recent past as a challenge to your observational skills and trivia retention. Starting in the upper-left: The family is from the Nefesh b'Nefesh logo. The TZADI- SOFIT from Otzar HaAretz. Part of the Pardes logo. A piece of the Touro logo. The guy with the file under is arm is from the OU's Job Counseling Service ads. Top-right is part of an ad for a dentist. Next row: The frog from IZEVEL, the keep Jerusalem clean folks. Top of a saltshaker is from one of the American Registry ads. Bottom of the ReMax hot-air balloon. Next row: Part of the Yeshurun Synagogue logo. Tiny piece of American Registry logo. Bottom of the Pink Panther, our longtime (until recently) mascot of the ParshaPix explanations column. Hillel Gluch's foot, the Locksmith. Next rows: Furniture Doctor's chair. Butterfly from the Portion of the Portion Dvar Torah and food column. Part of the Darche Noam logo. Smiley guy talking on cellphone from the older MSM Netphone ads. Eddie's Travel logo. The O from One Israel (with the map in it). A flower from the Davidman wedding planner ads. Piece of Intersystem logo. Next row: Machon Puah logo. Icon from the LAK ads. Logo from Regina Tours ads. Pendant saying Hineni from the photo of Rebbitzen Esther Jungreis's photo on the Hineni ads. Last row: Logo from Noam Productions ads. Top of the Off the Wall Comedy Empire Logo. Piece of FiRN (Financial Resource Network) ads. And a part of a table setting from the Renaissance banquet ads. Page 44: Announcement of Torah Tidbits Olfactory, the new Scratch 'n Sniff version of Torah Tidbits. In answer to several inquiries - no, it cannot be used for Havdala! Inside back page were two different visual TTriddles for the Megila. Celery is KARPAS. Percent is ACHUZ and the % symbol was colored sky blue. Together you get ...KARPAS UT'CHELET ACHUZ... right out of the Megila. And then there is a French cow and a golf tee. Together they "spell" VACHE-TEE. (Knowing that cow in French is vache is thanks to my HS French teacher, M. Mashal, who would "compliment" us by saying that we spoke French like a VACHE ESPAOL. And then there were the signs posted in and near the Center's elevator that gave some people a laugh and some people a moment of ephemeral and false joy. We trust that everyone eventually took our elevator gag in the Purim spirit it was meant to be in. The sign read: The elevator now goes down to the cafe level Until the company replaces the button panel to include a button for the lower floor, it has rewired the existing panel and you can access the lower floor by pushing the button above 3, the one marked with a bell. In honor of the new improved elevator, the first 10 people to use it to go to the cafe will receive a free hamantash and drink of choice. Notes for Purim 5769 - Do you ever do this? Make notes of something to remember for next Chanuka, Pesach, Sukkot whenever - right after its over, so that you'll remember beforehand next time around. Could be the location of your dreidel collection, your favorite wine cup, special decoration, whatever. So here is a Torah Tidbits note for next year, being written at the conclusion of our Trippple Purim in Jerusalem. This is not a note specifically for Purim M'shulash - it is for every Purim. Remember to write a scathing anti- drinking piece in some TT before next Purim. Remember to include that the "command" of the Gemara cannot possibly be meant to produce disgustingly drunk yeshiva boys who throw up all over the streets. It cannot possibly be meant to condone throwing firecrackers and empty beer bottles out of apartment windows. It certainly wasn't meant to create a tremendous Chilul HaShem and exacerbate anti-religious feelings among our fellow Jews. Let's even say that a small (very small) percentage of the "frum" world that drinks in excess on Purim (and the day before and the night after) actually can succeed in doing it L'SHEIM SHAMAYIM and L'SHEIM MITZVA. Highly doubtful if this is talking about 1-2% of drinking Jews. But even that small minority must help redefine and enforce the concept of CHAYAV INISH L'V'SUMEI... G'dolim and Rashei Yeshivot, Rabbei'im, teachers, and parents MUST take a sober view of Purim that will put the Mitzva back into Simchat Mitzva. If it takes a total ban on drinking on Purim to accomplish this, then so be it. Our Sages have imposed widespread across the board bans in order to avoid an extremely rare possible violation. The obvious situations that come to mind are the Rabbinic ban on blowing Shofar, taking the Lulav & Etrog, reading the Megila on Shabbat. With proper education and leadership, a more responsible and truly enjoyable Purim can be achieved. But our religious leaders cannot just shrug a shoulder and dismiss the problem. This week's TTriddles: [1] Starts and ends with a KAPARA for this [2] The ostrich and stork have an S in their names. What is the only bird without an S? [3] the 1st of the 8th followed the 3rd of 3 [4] like when the president goes to the airport [The Parshat Sh'mini Homepage] |
