mls@wxlvax.UUCP (02/29/84)
In answer to some of the questions about chicken, eggs, and meat the concept of a fence around the Torah is observed. We know that the eating of meat and milk is not allowed. But, chickens do not have milk; thus we can eat them with milk - right? No. The meat of a chicken can look very much like veal. Thus, if one were to eat chicken with milk two things could happen: 1) since we sometimes call chicken meat, we might say that we are allowed to eat meat and milk together and 2) we might eat meat with milk, thinking it was chicken. Thus to protect us from violating the law, we are not allowed to eat chicken and milk. Well, what about eggs? It is hard to confuse eggs with any form of meat, thus we are allowed to eat eggs with either meat or milk. There is an exception to this rule. If an egg is taken from the inside of a chicken (it was not laid) or, I think, if it has a blood spot on it (that it why we check eggs before using them), the egg is considered meat and can not be eaten with milk. This discussion of chicken, eggs, and meat brings to mind the question of fish. As was pointed out, we do not eat fish and meat on the same plate. The reason given in the Talmud is that of a bone getting stuck, as was pointed out by others. However, other reasons were also given. It is important to understand where Jewish "Laws" come from. First, they come from the Torah, either written or oral. Second, they come from the Rabbis who built a fence around the laws expressed in the Torah. Lastly are the "laws" that are not laws: minhag, custom. These customs may be centered around a family, a community, a country, or even a branch (such as the oriental Jews). Whenever we look at a problem, we must take care in understanding the source of the "Law." Mike Schneider
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (03/04/84)
~| From: mls@wxlvax.UUCP
~| If an egg is taken from the inside of a chicken
~| (it was not laid) or, I think, if it has a blood spot on it (that it why we
~| check eggs before using them), the egg is considered meat and can not be
~| eaten with milk.
If an egg has a blood spot, it is treif (not kosher).
Because of this, we break eggs one by one into a separate glass
(preferably a dispoable plastic cup, just in case). If you break an
egg into a bowl of six other eggs, and the one you just broke turns
out to have a blood spot, you have to throw out the whole batch.
Dave Sherman
Toronto
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{allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!dave