Review Answers Shiur 8 (9/29/05)

1) An issur is never batel if it falls into one of four categories:
1. Davar Chashuv. This includes bria, chaticha ha'r'uyah l'hitkaved, and ba'alei chaim.
2. Davar sheyeish lo matirin.
3. "Things that change the nature of the food even if only a small quantity is added." This includes chazuta (like food coloring), davar ha'ma'amid (like cheese enzymes), and yeast.
4. Issurei hana'ah that have a punishment of karet.

2) Whether or not chazuta alone is enough to ossur food is a machloket brought in the Mishbetzot Zahav. The Minchat Cohen holds that if the issur was added for the benefit of its appearance than it is not botel so long as you can discern its appearance. (an example would be food coloring). The Pri Chadash agrees to the Minchas Cohen but only by issurai d'oraissa. The Minchat Ya'akov says that taste is the determining factor, not appearance; thus it is botel b'shishim even if you can see it.

3) To be called a bria, an issur must...
1. Be ossur from when it was created. (ossur m'briato)
2. Be whole. (shalem)
3. Have one name that will no longer apply if it is divided.
4. Have been (part of) a living animal. (chiut)
5. The Pri Megadim adds a 5th condition, that the bria must be ossur in and of itself and not be ossur because of a din that is placed upon it. His example is a chicken that is born with a wound that renders it unkosher -- this is not a bria because the din makes it unkosher; it (as a chicken) is not inherently unkosher.

4) Kilai hakerem is not a bria because it never had chiut. (It was never part of a living animal.)

5) Everyone agrees that eiver min hachia is a bria if the eiver is greater than a k'zayit in size. Whether an eiver smaller than a kazayit is a bria is a machloket brought in the Pri Megadim.

6) Whether or not the part of the gid hanashe which is ossur d'rabbanan is a bria is a machloket. Most hold that it is not a bria because bria only applies to issurei d'oraita. The Kraiti u'Plaiti hold that it is a bria nonetheless.

7) An egg with a blood spot on the yoke is definitely not a bria. First, the egg never had chiut. Second, the egg is not ossur in and of itself; it is ossur because of the blood on it.