It’s the Pits
A group of citizens in the town of Chelm were busily engaged in digging a foundation for the new synagogue when a disturbing thought occurred to one of the laborers.
“What are we going to do with all this earth we’re digging up?” he asked. “We certainly can’t just leave it here where our temple will be built.”
There was a hubbub of excitement as the men rested on their spades and pondered the question. Suggestions were made and just as quickly rejected.
Suddenly one of the Chelmites smiled and held his hand up for silence. “I have the solution,” he proclaimed. “We will make a deep pit, and into it we’ll shovel all this earth we’re digging up for the synagogue!”
A round of applause greeted this proposal, until another Chelmite raised his voice in protest. “That won’t work at all! What will we do with the earth from the pit?”
There was a stunned silence as the men tried to cope with this new problem, but the first Chelmite soon provided the answer.
“It is all very simple,” he said. “We’ll dig another pit, and into that one we’ll shovel all the earth we’re digging now, and all the earth we take out of the first pit. The only thing we must be careful about is to make the second pit twice as large as the first one.”
There was no arguing with this example of Chelmic wisdom, and the workers returned to their digging.
