Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Rabbi Kaganoff
It’s for the Birds part II
By Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
Question #1: The Chicken or the Egg?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In other words, may I eat a bird relying that the egg it lays has a kosher shaped shell?
Question #2: Mom and Pop Shop
Can a non-kosher species of bird and a kosher species of bird produce viable offspring together?
Foreword:
In the first part of this article, we learned that Hashem taught Noach the halachos of how to identify kosher animals, so that he could fulfill: “From each of the kosher animals you shall take seven, male and female, and from the non-kosher animals two, male and female. Also, from the birds of the heavens you shall take seven, male and female” (Bereishis 7:2-3). We also learned that the Torah teaches which varieties of birds are non-kosher (Vayikra 11:13- 19; Devarim 14:11- 19). We also learned that Chazal figured out some simanim of the kosher birds, but that we rely only on mesorah to know which birds are kosher.
Walking on egg shells
At this point, I have a different question. There seems to be a simpler criterion by which we can prove whether a bird is kosher or not. The Gemara mentions that the eggs of kosher species have a definitive appearance. They possess an elliptical shape: the eggs are oval on opposite ends, but one end is considerably wider than the other. Eggs that are either pointed on both ends or wide on both ends are all laid by non-kosher species. Why don’t we use the shape of the egg, often called an “egg shape,” as a siman that the bird mom who laid these eggs is kosher?
The answer is that, in addition to all kosher birds, there are also non-kosher bird species that produce egg-shaped eggs (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 86:1). Therefore, the shape of the egg cannot be used as a sign that the egg is kosher, only that it is non-kosher if it is the “wrong” shape.
Mom and pop shop
Regarding mammalian species, the Gemara (Bechoros 7a) rules that a kosher species and a non-kosher species cannot reproduce together. Therefore, even if we cannot determine whether a specific animal chews it cud or has split hooves (for example, we find an animal that chews its cud but its feet are damaged in a way that we cannot determine if it has split hooves) but we know that it reproduced with a kosher species, we can conclude that the unknown species is also kosher. Logically, this same concept should hold true regarding avian species – if a variety of bird for which we have no mesorah crossbreeds with a kosher bird, the new variety has been determined to be kosher.
However, the Chasam Sofer is uncertain whether this rule is true germane to birds. In other words, it is possible that a kosher species of bird and a non-kosher species of bird can produce viable young together. Although the Chasam Sofer is inclined to the view that this should determine that the unknown species is kosher, he is wary to conclude that way halachically. However, the Sochachover concludes that the rule that a kosher and a non-kosher animal will not produce viable young together applies to birds also. In his opinion, if we are certain that two varieties of bird produce a viable offspring together, and we know that one variety is kosher, we can assume that the other, heretofore unknown species is also kosher (Shu’t Avnei Neizer, Yoreh Deah #75).
In this context, there is a very interesting responsum written by the Maharam Shick, one of the most renowned disciples of the Chasam Sofer, in answer to a question posed by the Chasam Sofer’s oldest son and successor as rav and rosh yeshiva in Pressburg (today Bratislava, Slovakia), the Kesav Sofer. The Kesav Sofer asked about birds that have no mesorah as to their kashrus but are now crossbreeding with regular chicken hens and producing both eggs and chicks that are being raised for meat. Can one consume these eggs and the new crossbred birds?
The Maharam Shick divides the question into four shaylos:
1. May one eat a new bird variety of unknown kashrus once it has crossbred with a regular domestic chicken?
2. May one eat a crossbred offspring whose father is of a new variety and whose mother is a domestic chicken?
3. May one eat a crossbred offspring whose father is a domestic rooster and whose mother is of a new variety?
4. May one eat the eggs of this crossbreed? (Shu’t Maharam Shick, Yoreh Deah #100. I rearranged his order of questions to present his answers more clearly.)
The Maharam Shick concludes:
1. Since the Chasam Sofer ruled that crossbreeding a kosher species with a non-kosher variety does not prove that the other parent is kosher, we cannot permit the newly available bird variety. The Maharam Shick adds additional considerations to this aspect of the question, based on the fact that Ashkenazim follow the approach of Rashi that we eat birds only when we have a mesorah that they are kosher.
2. A crossbred offspring whose mother is a domestic chicken is permitted, a ruling that requires an explanation. Here are some of the reasons why the offspring may be permitted even if its father is not:
Ein choshashin le’zera ha’av
A. The early tanna’im, Chananyah and the Sages, dispute whether halacha is concerned about paternal lineage of an animal, called choshashin le’zera ha’av (Chullin 79a), which is the position of Chananyah, or ein choshashin le’zera ha’av, we can ignore the paternal lineage. The halachic conclusion is that it is a safek whether we are concerned. Therefore, when the issue relates to a rabbinic prohibition, we may rule leniently that ein choshashin le’zera ha’av, whereas when it relates to an issue that is min haTorah we rule choshashin le’zera ha’av and are strict. However, even when the prohibition is min haTorah, we can be lenient when there is another safek so that we now have a sefek sefeika, two different possibilities why something is permitted.
In our current shaylah, we know that Mom’s side of the family is kosher, but we are uncertain whether Dad’s family is a kosher breed. Indeed Dad’s breed might be kosher and we also have another halachic reason – ein choshashin le’zera ha’av – that allows us to ignore Dad’s family. This makes the newly developed breed permitted because of sefek sefeika, perhaps the father’s breed is permitted, and even if it is not, we can ignore it because of the rule of ein choshashin le’zera ha’av.
Zeh ve’zeh goreim
B. Food or other benefits produced by two contributing factors, one forbidden and the other permitted, are called zeh ve’zeh gorem. The tanna’im dispute whether zeh ve’zeh gorem is permitted or not. The halachic conclusion is that we are not permitted to create a product that is zeh ve’zeh gorem, but, bedei’evid, the item is permitted. (However, see Shu’t Tuv Taam Vada’as, Yoreh Deah #151.) Thus, even if the newly developed breed’s father was prohibited, it can be permitted because of the mother.
3. Although both explanations I just provided are reasons why one may eat a crossbred offspring whose mother is a domestic chicken, in shaylah #3 of the Maharam Shick, in which father is a domestic rooster and mother is of a new variety, the first reason I provided, ein choshashin le’zera ha’av, does not apply because mother’s side, the more important side, is from the unknown new variety. However, the second reason, zeh ve’zeh gorem, is a basis to rule leniently.
Egg decomposition
Here is another reason why we might be able to permit these cases: The Gemara (Temurah 31a) states that there is a halachic difference between the development of birds’ eggs into chicks and the development of mammals. During the development of an egg into a chick, the living material decomposes and, as a result, is no longer a kashrus issue. According to some authorities, this means that we are not concerned with the species of the parents of a new breed, but simply examine whether the bird that emerges from the shell appears similar enough to a breed that we already know to be kosher. According to this approach, in all cases of crossbreeding bird species, the only consideration might be to what extent the new crossbreed looks like the previously known species.
4. At this point, we should address the fourth of the Maharam Shick’s shaylos: May one eat the eggs that are created from this crossbreed?
If we know that the hen that laid the egg is a domestic chicken, this egg is permitted. If we find an egg and do not know which hen laid it, the halacha is that if the egg appears with a typical egg shape, we may consume the egg (Shu’t Chasam Sofer, Yoreh Deah #74; Shu’t Maharam Shick, Yoreh Deah #100; Shu’t Tuv Taam Vada’as, Yoreh Deah #151).
Conclusion: turkey vs. eagle
Did Benjamin Franklin really want the turkey to be the symbol of the United States of America? Well, this is what he wrote in a letter:
“For my own part I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly... He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest… The turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America… He is… a bird of courage and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat.”
To reinforce good old Ben’s argument, we note that whereas the turkey has all four simanim of a kosher bird, the eagle has none. The Ramban explains that the Torah forbade the non-kosher birds because the Torah wants us to avoid the bad midos that they exhibit. One could assume that the kosher species may exhibit admirable traits that the Torah wants us to emulate. Certainly, the courage to observe mitzvos in times of adversity is a tremendous virtue worth thinking about the next time we eat turkey.
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