[Purim Torah] Green eggs and ham

[magid]

R. 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].

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

That is so funny!

[magid.livejournal.com]

*grin*

Thank you.

(I was inspired by the memory of a Talmud discussion of the first Mishnah in Tractate Mother Goose, the one that starts "Humpty Dumpty". :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Hee!

Is there a machloket rishonim on the "here or there" vs. "in a house" verses, thus explaining the appearance of both in our text?

[magid.livejournal.com]

The Rif discusses this, saying that "in a house" applies to any person's dwelling, while "here or there" includes other buildings, such as restaurants, synagogues, or libraries.

The Rosh opines that "in a house" refers to a house, while "here or there" applies to apartment buildings or other locations one may live that is not a house (see also the discussion of RVs in the commentary by R. Joseph Albo).

[fairdice.livejournal.com]

There must be a reason why both boats and trains are mentioned. The RabBlog says, When on a long journey by ship, it is presumed possible to fish and catch ones with fins and scales, so kosher food is available, but perhaps it requires considerable effort to obtain it. On a train in motion, kosher food may be unavailable entirely, requiring a fast until the next significant station is reached. From this we learn that the hardship one might be forced to endure takes on various forms.

[cellio]

Rashi notes (as does your note 3) that "here or there" covers the Jew in any location. "In a house" is necessary to show that green eggs and ham are fundamentally repugnant, even for gentiles eating in their own homes. The pig is singled out among treif species for this designation, v'ne'emar: "a people who continually provoke me, who eat the flesh of pigs".

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

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.

One notes the resemblance to Sam-i-el, the tempter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samiel)

[fj.livejournal.com]

Well, I am glad this has been settled, then. But does it follow from this the Green Eggs are ok?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've already eaten green (deviled) eggs, so I hope so!

Wasabi in the egg yolk part. Yum

[magid.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent! So non-kosher food leads to mixed dancing.

L and M are proximate in both English and Hebrew alphabets... (OK, lamed and mem in Hebrew, but they have the same sounds.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

So we don't need three forms of travel to learn that ideally, one ought not to travel?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Ah. And here I'd thought "in a house" only referred to Jews in any house, whether owned by Jews or non-Jews.