Kashrut: Fact, Fiction and In Between part 7

Although I always advocate the study of sources in the original (where possible), the fact is that there are many words in the Bible and Talmud whose meanings have been lost. Translations are no more than an educated guess. Some editions will, mercifully, give a footnote stating "meaning unclear". Sometimes, the unknown word or phrase is crucial for the understanding of the text. Results? Huge debates. So is the case with the humble egg. Some heretical groups consider them completely non-kosher. However, the halachah is clear: the egg of a kosher bird is kosher. The fly in the ointment is the issue of blood spots. There is an expression (used only twice in the Talmud) that reads "Beitzah Muzarah". This is translated as either "a strange egg', or "an estranged egg". Close, but far enough apart to spark a debate that continues for over a thousand years, up to this very day. The Talmud states "a beitzah muzarah can be eaten by a baal nefesh" What is a baal nefesh? Literally, it means "One with a soul". Great, what does that mean? It can be understood as an extremely pious person, or, alternatively, as a very rough person who doesn't care about aesthetics. Now come the two interpretations, both of which are post-Talmudic. One interpretation is that it refers to an egg that has been fertilized, and has been incubated for a few days, and then abandoned (estranged). The egg is kosher, but will look disgusting; rather like snot. A rough person who doesn't care about disgusting may eat it. (I'll pass, thank you very much). The other interpretation is that it means an egg that was unfertilized (strange), which is the case with virtually all store-bought eggs today (other than organic). If blood is present in the egg, we know that it is not from an embryo, and hence not a baby chick, which would mean that it is an animal that needs shechitah, and hence is an animal that "died of itself" and thus completely unkosher. According to this view, the blood found in an unfertilized egg is not true blood, and it may be eaten.Even a strict person need have no compunctions. However, "for the appearance of the eye", we don't eat it if seen, but there is no need to check. This becomes more complicated when we see that in one case where the term is used (in the commandment to free the mother bird before taking the eggs from her nest. Deut. 22:7), most rabbis take the first interpretation of beitzah muzarah (that it means a partially incubated egg), while in the question of blood spots, most take the second interpretation (that it is either an embryo, or else meaningless). RAMBAM is consistent, using the first interpretation in all cases, that blood in an egg is blood. Period. Scientifically, after fertilization, a white (not red) patch forms on the yolk, This is known as the blastoderm, which, in three weeks, grows to be a chick.Once the embryo can be recognized, it may not be eaten.A blastoderm will never look like blood. A bloodspot forms from the hemorrhaging of a blood vessel that is feeding the yolk during its development inside the chicken. That means that the blood is actually arterial chicken blood, and Biblically forbidden. The white of the egg forms much later. Therefore, the ruling of the Talmud is that if we find blood on the yoke (Ashkenazim include in this the clear cord-like structure that connects the yolk to the white), the entire egg is forbidden, as the blood, there from the beginning, has imparted a taste to the entire egg. If the blood is found on the white, the egg is kosher, as the blood came at the end, and did not impart its taste to anything else. However, the blood must be removed. According to the one view, because it is actual blood, and according to the other view, it is not "true blood", but is nevertheless forbidden because of "the appearance of the eye", rabbis differ greatly as to the severity of the issue. Several major recent authorities have opined that even on the yolk, the blood is meaningless in an unfertilized egg, except for appearances. and therefore eggs do not need to be checked. Only if seen, must the blood be removed. If already mixed in with other foods, no problem. This is totally unscientific, as an embryo will not appear as blood, or even a red color. Rather, whether fertilized or unfertilized, eggs with blood on the yolk must be discarded, while on the white, only the blood need be removed.If the egg was already mixed in with other foods, or even other eggs, it becomes a severe problem if interpreted as true blood. In practice, in countries where eggs are cheap and plentiful, most people discard an egg with blood. But the halachah is clear that it is OK to remove blood from the white. Technically, one doesn't really need to check, as most eggs do not have bloodspots. But, like the third-century enactment to check the lungs of an animal, since checking is easy, and problems do exist, and in most cases we open up eggs anyway, they should be checked. If one didn't, or if the lighting is not good enough, we dispense with this requirement. In most kosher homes, the eggs are cracked into a clear cup or bowl, and carefully examined. In most homes, eggs are boiled at least three at a time, so that if one is found to contain blood, the others will be unaffected.I personally take the strict view that blood in an egg is Biblically forbidden, as it is the only view tenable from a scientific perspective, and whether the egg is fertile or not, is irrelevant. In my next post, I will deal with the most controversial aspect of Kashrut, which is taken more strictly year by year. The dreaded bug.