Chullin 58 · Parenting voice, Bite-sized

Insight: The Beauty of "Joint Causation"

In Chullin 58, the Sages discuss whether eggs laid by a bird that has become a tereifa (non-kosher due to injury) remain forbidden. The core debate hinges on "joint causation" (zeh v'zeh gorem). If the egg was already inside the bird when it became injured, it’s considered a part of the "broken" mother and is forbidden. But if the egg was formed later, with the input of a healthy male bird, the "joint effort" of the kosher male and the injured female renders the result permitted.

As parents, we often feel like our "broken" parts—our stress, our fatigue, our bad days—define our parenting. But this text offers a beautiful, realistic reframing: even when we aren't at our best, our children are shaped by "joint causation." They are influenced by our challenges and by our partners, our community, their own resilience, and the goodness they find elsewhere. You don't have to be perfect for the outcome to be holy.