[Purim Torah] Green eggs and ham
Mar. 14th, 2006 09:24 amR. Yankovic rewrote the original mishnah by R. Seuss, condensing Tractate Breakfast Foods into a shorter, more easily remembered gloss.
I do not like Green Eggs and Ham1
I do not like them
Sam, I am2
I do not like them here or there3
I do not like them anywhere
I do not like them in a boat4
I would not, could not, with a goat5
I will not eat them in the rain6
I do not like them on a train7
I do not like them in a box8
I will not eat them with a fox9
I do not like them in a house10
I would not, could not, with a mouse11
I do not like Green Eggs and Ham
I do not like them
Sam, I am
Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham
Don't like Green Eggs and Ham
1 Ham, being a product of a nonkosher animal, is not kosher.
2 "Sam I am" is obviously not a name, but a reference; it is an anagram of miasma, which is a noxious influence. Here, obviously, a tempter to eat non-kosher food.
3 Here, in the kosher house, it is not permissible. There, outside the house, it is also not permissible. The mitzvah is incumbent upon the eater, not the location.
4 The difficulties of obtaining kosher food while traveling do not invalidate the requirement for kosher food. Rav says, this is to avoid seasickness [since it is obvious that kosher food must be eaten].
5 Eating with domesticated animals is not for those who are isthenis [particular, finicky], and people today are all isthenis.
6 As we learn from Tractate Sukkot, one must go inside for a meal if it is raining.
7 As with boats, a form of travel.
8 A box does not have the minimum requirements for a room, being less than an amah cubed. One may not eat in such a constrained space, lest one injure one's health.
9 [See note 5.] If not with a domesticated, kosher animal, how much more so should we avoid eating with a wild [and nonkosher] beast.
10 Replacing one's dishes after ham has been eaten from them leads to great replacement expense.
11 Some gearsa'ot [variants] have "louse," which is why Rashi notes that this discusses the prohibition on eating with shratzim [bugs].
I do not like Green Eggs and Ham1
I do not like them
Sam, I am2
I do not like them here or there3
I do not like them anywhere
I do not like them in a boat4
I would not, could not, with a goat5
I will not eat them in the rain6
I do not like them on a train7
I do not like them in a box8
I will not eat them with a fox9
I do not like them in a house10
I would not, could not, with a mouse11
I do not like Green Eggs and Ham
I do not like them
Sam, I am
Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham
Don't like Green Eggs and Ham
1 Ham, being a product of a nonkosher animal, is not kosher.
2 "Sam I am" is obviously not a name, but a reference; it is an anagram of miasma, which is a noxious influence. Here, obviously, a tempter to eat non-kosher food.
3 Here, in the kosher house, it is not permissible. There, outside the house, it is also not permissible. The mitzvah is incumbent upon the eater, not the location.
4 The difficulties of obtaining kosher food while traveling do not invalidate the requirement for kosher food. Rav says, this is to avoid seasickness [since it is obvious that kosher food must be eaten].
5 Eating with domesticated animals is not for those who are isthenis [particular, finicky], and people today are all isthenis.
6 As we learn from Tractate Sukkot, one must go inside for a meal if it is raining.
7 As with boats, a form of travel.
8 A box does not have the minimum requirements for a room, being less than an amah cubed. One may not eat in such a constrained space, lest one injure one's health.
9 [See note 5.] If not with a domesticated, kosher animal, how much more so should we avoid eating with a wild [and nonkosher] beast.
10 Replacing one's dishes after ham has been eaten from them leads to great replacement expense.
11 Some gearsa'ot [variants] have "louse," which is why Rashi notes that this discusses the prohibition on eating with shratzim [bugs].