Brainripples

A few days ago, cellio asked why in today's parsha the half-tribe of Efraim is identified the same as the other tribes, but the half-tribe of Menashe is identified as a subset of the tribe of Joseph. Today I found an answer. ( Cut for length )

Yesterday I noticed that Lev 17:5 contained a passage using zarka-zarka-segol (ignoring the fourth-level te'amim of munach and mercha). I was really surprised by this, since I always thought a zarka had to be followed directly by a segol (again disregarding munach and mercha). I would have expected the first zarka to be a revia instead. I'm wondering if this sequence is unique and if anyone has written about it. ( Cut because it's gotten long after an additional edit )

I was struck this morning by the fact that there were five explicitly named colors in today's Torah reading -- white, black, yellow, reddish, and greenish. (Yes, we were reading about different kinds of rashes and skin diseases. Per our community's custom, a dermatologist read the portion. But I digress.) ( Cut for length )

Color   tzeva     Total    Tazria-Metzora    Notes
---------------------------------------------------
Blue*   techelet    49        0   Refers to a blue dye. Paired with argaman 15 times.
Purple* argaman     38        0   Refers to a purple dye. Sagol never appears.
White   lavan       29       18   A sizable total, and over half are in Lev. 13-14!
Red     adom        21        6
Black   shachor      6        2
Yellow  tzahov       4        3   The 4th is a verb, "to cause to turn yellow", in Ezra 8
Green   yarok        4        2   3 of the 4, including both Lev., are y'rakrak, "greenish"
Brown   chum         4        0   All four are in Gen 30
Blue    kachol       1        0   A hapax legomenon, in Ezekiel 23,
                                  in an inflected construct form meaning "blue-eyed"
Orange  katom        0        0
Purple  sagol        0        0

This past Shabbat we read Ki Tavo, the Torah portion that includes the tochacha, the section (Deut. 28) describing the horrible things that will happen if the people return to idolatry. ( Some observations about the practices surrounding this reading, cut for length. )

On the other hand, the reading ends with a beautiful passage that was made all the more resonant by the occasion. "Until today, God did not grant you a mind to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear: I have led you for forty years through the wilderness. The clothes on your back did not tatter, nor did the sandals on your feet; you ate not bread nor drank wine nor strong drink. Thus you have learned that I, Hashem, am your God."

The verb "I have led you" in the passage just quoted could also be read "I have walked with you through forty years of wilderness." My parents have, for forty years, created a home in which the shechinah, the Divine presence, was welcome. They established a bayit ne'eman b'Yisrael, a house of faith in Israel. Through the wilderness that is life, through the oases of happy occasions and the brambles of difficult times, they have walked together and set a standard of shared strength which is a model to Heather and me.

May they continue to grow from strength to strength.