TTriddles "Report"

TTriddles - Parashat No'ach

Last issue’s (B’reishit) TTriddles:

[1] When did they do this in 1977 - Indians (13) & Redsox (6)?
When Parshat B’reishit comes around, an old joke or riddle comes to mind and won’t go away until it is formed into a TTriddle. In a game in 1977, the Indians and Redsox combined to set a record in MLB history by scoring the most runs in a single inning. Three other times, a single team has scored 18 runs its half of an inning, setting that record. But taking both halves of an inning, the top honor goes to this Cleveland-Boston collaboration. This feat, then, was accomplished IN THE BIG INNING (which is the pun - pow (play on words) of IN THE BEGINNING, as in B’REISHIT.
[2] The anagram kings are m’chutanim
This is a particularly good TTriddle - if we do say so ourselves. And the M brothers (DM/J’lem and MM/Bklyn both got the solution. The term anagram king was meant to be misleading, as if it referred to people particularly skilled and anagrams. Rather, if means to take the word for king - MELECH, and rearrange its letters to get an anagram of king, namely LEMECH. The Torah mentions two LEMECHs, both in Parshat B’reishit. The first mentioned LEMECH is a descendant of KAYIN. Specifically, KAYIN’s son was CHANOCH. To CHANOCH was born (the Torah’s unusual language) IRAD, and IRAD fathered M’CHUYA’EIL. M’CHIYA’EIL (his variant name) was the father of M’TUSHA’EIL and M’TUSHA’EIL “begot” LEMECH. LEMECH took two wives - ADA and TZILA. His children included YAVAL, YUVAL (from ADA), TUVAL-KAYIN and his sister NAAMA (from TZILA). Point we need: LEMECH is the fatehr of NAAMA. The other LEMECH is the great (x6)-grandson of Adam HaRishon, son of M’TU- SHELACH. Point here is that he is the father of NO’ACH. According to our tradition, NO’ACH’s wife was NAAMA, making the two LEMECHs (the two anagram kings) M’CHUTANIM.
[3] Adam, Mahalaleil, Avraham, Yaakov
We decided not to give the solution to this one but rather to challenge TTreaders (especially the TTriddler types) to solve this. It now is not one of several TTriddles; it is a stand-alone challenge. The first person to submit a correct solution will win CDs (plural) from Noam Productions.
[4] Initial preview of Name switch
The Name switch referred to here is ELOKIM, which the Torah calls G-d from B’REISHIT BARA, to the YUD, HEI, VAV and HEI name, which is first introduced in B’reishit 2:4, the 35th pasuk in the Torah. Over the first 34 p’sukim, the name ELOKIM occurs 35 times. At first, HASHEM is part of the two-word name, HASHEM ELOKIM. There are 20 of those before we find a HASHEM by itself, in 4:1. The “score” in Parshat B’reishit is 65 ELOKIMs and 42 HASHEMs, with the 20 pairs, as mentioned above. That means 45 ELOKIMs by themselves and 22 HASHEMs. Over the whole Torah, HASHEM is used far more times than ELOKIM. (Over 1800 HASHEMs to just over 300 ELOKIMs, but not counting other forms of ELOKIM.) Okay, but what about the TTriddle? The INITIAL (read RASHEI TEIVOT) preview of the Name (uppercase N for HaShem’s name), of the YUD… name is in the words we say in Kiddush on Friday night: Yom Hashishi Vaychulu Hashamayim. Some have the custom to pause briefly before and after this four word sequence to highlight G-d’s name in Rashei Teivot.
[5] 7, 3, 3, 3 or 5, 7 - What?
The Troah reading of the days of Creation. One Simchat Torah, we read - in the morning for the Chatan B’reishit - the account of all 7 days. This year at Mincha of Simchat Torah, we read the first 3 days of Creation. Then on Monday morning, we also read the first 3 days. On Thursday, there are two practices. Some read the same 3 day portion; others add day 4 and 5 to finish with Yom Chamishi (i.e. Thursday). And then on Shabbat B’reishit, we, of course, read about all 7 days again.
[6] MazalPic
Scorpio, the scorpion. AKRAV in Hebrew. Pictured are Herb Score, an oldtime pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, a fairly good pitcher. His fame, however, was due to his having been hit in the eye by a line drive. He recovered from his injuries and continued to play. We’re just interested in his last name, SCORE. Next to him is the famous android robot from Star Wars, C3PO. Assuming his first name is C3, we’re again only interested in his last name, PO - giving us SCORE-P-O.
[7] ParshaPix
Once again, we ran out of space in TT, having to cut several ads and the ParshaPix explanations. First, there were the “regular” elements which represent the Seven Days of Creation: Light switches for day one; ocean and cloud for the 2nd day; grass and trees for the 3rd day; Sun, Moon, and stars for 4th day; fish, octopus, eagle, ladybug for 5th day; hippo, beaver, cat, kangaroo, people for 6th day; and candle sticks for Shabbat. There was a (candy) cane for Cain (KAYIN) and Abraham Lincoln (that is Abe L.) for HEVEL. The flute is both a musical instrument and something made from metal, indicating a joint project of the half-brothers YUVAL and TUVAL-KAYIN, the former being the “father” of musical instruments and the latter being the pioneer of working with metals. The Hamantash is for “HAMAN from the Torah, where?” The answer is in G-d’s challenge to Adam (in 3:11) - ...did you eat from the tree I commanded you not to eat from? HAMIN (spelled HEI-MEM-NUN, as is the name HAMAN) HA’EITZ… This is not just a play on words. One commentary explains it this way: One of Haman’s negative characteristics was his inability to be satisfied with having so much, because he didn’t have everything. He had wealth, power, honor, status, family… but he declared to his wife and loved ones: And all this is not worth anything to me, when I see Mordechai… To want even Mordechai to bow to him is one thing. Understandable. But to say that nothing he has is worth anything because of Mordechai - this is truly a negative characteristic. This is what G-d was asking Adam. Are you Haman-like (so to speak) in that you could not be satisfied with having every other tree in the GAN to eat from; you needed to eat from this one tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The 29 is for the date of Erev Rosh Chodesh and of MACHAR CHODESH. The three arrows are from the haftara of Machar Chodesh.

This week’s TTriddles:

[1] go out and see - what?
[2] This time, read it the way it is
[3] GF/GS namesakes
[4] What No’ach found can be found where?
[5] No’ach can say that his sons are, “from my family” in more ways than one. Count them.
[6] He started with the end and ended with callo
[7] The TEIVA and two in the TEIVA
[8] 7th gen worked with 10th & 2nd
[9] Adam, Mahalaleil, Avraham, Yaakov
[10] Street on which the Nigerian Institute of Management is located

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