Mishna:
An egg which is laid on Yom Tov: Beis Shammai: It may be eaten. Beis Hillel: It may not be eaten.
Gemara:
Question: What is the case here? If it is a hen standing to be slaughtered, why would Beis Hillel forbid it? The egg is like a small piece of bread that was removed from a loaf [since the hen is considered food, Tosfos].
Response: The hen is standing to produce eggs and is not considered a food; it is thus muktzeh.
Challenge: If that’s the case, what is Beis Shammai’s reasoning? It is muktzeh!
Question: It may be that Beis Shammai does not hold of muktzeh?
Response: But surely they hold Nolad [something that was newly created seems to be more muktzeh]?
Rav Nachman: The opinion that rejects the principle of muktzeh also rejects nolad. So Beis Shammai does not hold of either muktzeh or nolad and that is why they permit the egg laid by a muktzeh chicken.
Beis Shammai’s opinion is not unheard of and is paralleled by other Tannaim: Beis Shammai is in agreement with Rabbi Shimon and Beis Hillel is in agreement with Rabbi Yehuda.
Challenge: Did Rav Nachman make such a statement?
We learned a Mishna [in masichta Shabbos]: Beis Shammai permits lifting unfit remnants of food (peels and bones) off the table, Beis Hillel: One can lift the table board so that they will fall but you cannot handle the muktzeh*.
Rav Nachman: We don’t have this version, the opposite is true: Beis Shammai is in agreement with Rabbi Yehuda and Beis Hillel is in agreement with Rabbi Shimon.
So we see that Rav Nachman in Shabbos emended a Mishna to read that Beis Shammai is stringent with muktzeh while Beis Hillel is lenient, how can it be that here he explains the Mishna in the opposite way?
________________________________* Tosfos: Why is the table board not forbidden as a Basis? [The bones were placed on the table intentionally and it should be considered a Basis?]
According to Rabeinu Tam this is understandable; he explains that a Basis is only formed when one intended to leave the muktzeh there for the entire day.
Another explanation: Since there is food on the table as well, it is not considered a Basis L’davar Ha’Assur, rather L’davar Hamuttar as well.
Another explanation: He has no interest for the bones to be on the table at all, he wouldn’t mind if it fell on the floor either, so it cannot be considered “placed on the table”.
