Gemara Clarity

Chullin 64a

חולין ס״ד ע״א

Learn Chullin 64a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 64a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Signs of kosher eggs: how far they can be trusted, and what the 'mixed egg is a שרץ egg' rule teaches

Overview

The amud opens with the last words of an earlier ברייתא listing foods we may get from a non-Jew: 'fish embryos.' The גמרא then quotes a ברייתא giving signs of a kosher egg: one round end and one pointed end, with the white around the yolk. If eggs have their own signs, why rely on the seller? The answers that the eggs were cut, or beaten in a bowl, are rejected, because beaten eggs may not be bought from a non-Jew at all. רבי זירא then says the egg signs are not reliable by Torah law, and proves it from רב אסי's eight birds of doubtful status. So the ברייתא is re-read: bad signs alone prove an egg is non-kosher, but good signs count only when the seller names a kosher bird, since some crow eggs look like pigeon eggs. Next the גמרא asks why the ברייתא says a mixed egg is a שרץ egg. רב עוקבא בר חמא says it matters for טומאה, but רבינא objects that it may be a snake's egg, so רבא says it matters for מלקות if someone eats a formed embryo. The גמרא challenges רבא, since a formed embryo in a kosher egg should also bring מלקות, and starts quoting a ברייתא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

עוּבְּרֵי דָּגִים.

Fish embryos.

וְתַנְיָא גַּבֵּי בֵיצִים:

And it is taught regarding eggs:

אֵלּוּ הֵן סִימָנֵי בֵיצִים –

These are the signs of eggs:

כָּל שֶׁכּוֹדֶרֶת וַעֲגוּלְגּוֹלֶת,

Any that narrows and is rounded,

The steps (16)

  1. StatementEnd of the earlier list: fish embryos
  2. ChallengeEggs have their own kosher signs
  3. ResolutionThe eggs were cut
  4. ChallengeThen check the yolk and white
  5. ResolutionThe eggs were beaten in a bowl
  6. ChallengeWe may not buy beaten eggs from a non-Jew
  7. Resolutionרבי זירא: egg signs are not reliable by Torah law
  8. ProofProof from רב אסי's eight doubtful birds
  9. ChallengeThen what are the signs in the ברייתא for?
  10. ResolutionBad signs prove non-kosher; good signs need the seller's word
  11. QuestionWhy does the ברייתא say a mixed egg is a שרץ egg?
  12. Responseרב עוקבא בר חמא: it matters for טומאה
  13. Challengeרבינא: maybe it's a snake's egg
  14. Resolutionרבא: it matters for מלקות if eaten
  15. ChallengeWhy only the egg of a non-kosher creature?
  16. ProofSource that an embryo in a kosher egg is also forbidden