#limerick

Aneruv that’s made with demai
Is acceptable. Want to know why?
Cause you might give away
All you own on this day,
And such produce befits a poor guy.

If one vowed, “I will not eat this bread.
Make an eruvfor me.” Go ahead.
Since some folks can partake,
With that bread you can make,
But not if “I’ll not gain…” had he said.

One ate onions, and then was found dead,
The cause should be clear in your head.
Not the bulb; That’s just swell,
But the leaves, not grown well,
Are the culprits of which this is said.

“Don’t make eruvs with unripened grain.
No one eats that. I have to explain?”
This is what Rav would tell,
Till he went to Bavel.
Since they eat it, he’s had to refrain.

Make an eruv chatzeirot with salt
Or with water you think? Oy gevalt!
(That’s considered apart.)
But together? That’s smart!
In your seltzvaser mix, there’s no fault.

When King Chizkiya sickened, Yeshaia
Brought a yeshiva e'en nigher,
So their studies might save
The good king from the grave.
Might that not raise the death angel’s ire?

“Is yourkarpeftoo big? Here’s a trick:
Go and plaster the walls really thick;
Apply layer on layer.
The goal? Two beit se'ah.
Getting down this far might not be quick.

Acompletely walled-off storage space
Behind houses? A no-carry place.
If the wall had a break,
Then through there you can take,
If ‘twere there ere the wall did encase.

“Akarpef, walled off, must be square,
Else on Shabbos, you can’t carry there,”
Eliezer would say,
“But if square, then you may,
Even if it be 200 ares.”

“If the public parades through, concerted,
A well’s space, they must be diverted,”
Rav Yehuda contended,
But the rabbis defended
Their stance that it needn’t be skirted.

Akiva in prison – each day,
HaGarsi brought water his way.
When the guard spilled out half
(“No escape!” he would laugh),
“I must wash, so no drinks, then. Okay.  ‍♂️”

If a pole-enclosed cistern goes dry,
You can’t carry there, don’t even try.
This is true even when
The rains fill it again
(Both events on Shabbat, chaverai.)

A Jew, Dan,  won’t descend into Hell
Unless Avraham our father can’t tell
That this guy is a Jew,
Which he just cannot do
If a gentile Dan (Biblically) “knew”.

A man used to frequent a lady
(A merchant), and when she got paid, he
Put the coins in her grip
Just to gaze at her lip.
Said the rabbis, “It seems a bit shady.”

When at war, skip the wash before eating;
You may take dried-out kindling for heating;
Eruv building? Say “Bye!”;
Bypass tithingdemai.
Lives at risk if your force takes a beating!

If you want to camp out on the slopes,
Make some “walls” for yourself from three ropes,
With the space between cords,
Less than three hands (like boards).
Ten hands high, and no “goat gaps”, one hopes.

Rav’s attendant  goes off to retrieve
A small pitcher, but while taking leave,
Whoops! Thelechi’s a toppler.
“Why not just use that poplar?”
“Had we done so beforeShabboseve?”

The sages declared that the stick
‘Cross the the top must support half a brick.
(That is, able to take
The weight with no break,
And side-to-side one tefach thick.)

“When writing a Torah, I think
It is best to use hard-setting ink.
Rav Yishmael agreed,
But Akiva decreed,
‘Pour that fixative out in the sink!’ ”

In a courtyard, the sea’s broken through.
Want the water? Well, here’s what you do:
To the break’s side, apply
A small wall, ten hands high.
Now the inlet’s a courtyard part, too.