• סימנים of kosher and nonkosher eggs, purchasing eggs from idolators

A Baraisa permits purchasing eggs from idolators, but Shmuel’s father clarified that the idolator must have identified which kosher bird they are from. The Gemara asks that the buyer should simply examine the eggs, because a Baraisa details the signs of kosher eggs: כל שכודרת ועגולגולת – any egg which is spherical and round, ראשה אחד כד וראשה אחד חד – with one of its ends rounded and one of its ends tapered, is kosher. But if both ends were rounded, or both were tapered, it is not kosher. חלבון מבחוץ וחלמון מבפנים – If the white is on the outside and the yolk on the inside, it is kosher, but the reverse is not kosher. If the yolk and white are מעורבין זה בזה – mixed together, it is certainly the egg of a שרץ. Why, then, should a purchaser require the idolator’s testimony? Rebbe Zeira eventually concludes: סימנין לאו דאורייתא – the signs of kosher eggs are not Biblically reliable. The usefulness of these סימנים is that if both ends are rounded or tapered, the eggs are prohibited even if the idolator claims they came from a kosher bird, but if one end is rounded and the other tapered, one may rely on the idolator’s testimony that it came from a specific kosher bird.

• One may not purchase eggs beaten in a dish from idolators

Earlier, the Gemara suggested that the reason one purchasing eggs from an idolator required his testimony, and could not examine the shape of the eggs himself, was because they were חתוכות – cut open, and their shape could not be determined. The Gemara asked that even so, וליבדוק בחלמון וחלבון – let him examine the yolk and the white, whose relative positions can also demonstrate an egg’s kashrus!? It answered: בטרופות בקערה – the case is where [the eggs] were beaten in a dish, and their original positions cannot be determined. To this, the Gemara objects that such eggs may not be purchased from an idolator altogether, as a Baraisa states: אין מוכרין ביצת טרפה לעובד כוכבים – one may not sell the egg of a tereifah [bird] to an idolator (who may in turn sell it to a Jew), אלא אם כן טרופה בקערה – unless it is beaten in a dish, where no Jew will purchase the egg from an idolator. לפיכך אין לוקחין מהם ביצים טרופות בקערה – Therefore, we may not purchase from them eggs beaten in a dish (since they may be from a tereifah bird).

• Finding a blood spot on an egg

A Baraisa states: גיעולי ביצים מותרות – [flavors] which exude from (nonkosher) eggs are permitted (i.e., kosher eggs which were cooked together with nonkosher eggs do not become prohibited on account of forbidden flavor imparted to the kosher eggs). Unfertilized eggs may be eaten by one who is not squeamish, even if a hen sat on them for many days. נמצא עליה קורט דם – If a blood spot was found on [a fertilized egg], זורק את הדם ואוכל את השאר – he may throw away the blood and eat the rest of the egg. Rebbe Yirmiyah says this only applies where the blood spot was found on the קשר – “attachment” of the egg, i.e., where the rooster’s sperm attaches to the egg and the embryo begins to form. If the blood spot is found there, we assume the embryo had only begun to form, and did not spread to other parts of the egg, so the rest of the egg remains permitted. A Baraisa teaches that it is only permitted if the blood spot was found in the white of the egg, but if it was found in the yolk, the entire egg is forbidden, דשדא תכלא בכולה – because the corruption is suspected to have spread through the entire [egg].