A tag line from a popular TV commercial provides me the entre to my article this week. The National Egg Council sponsored the commercial, and the lyrics of the closing line, sung by a small group said, "The incredible, edible egg."

The lowly chicken delivers them to us in reasonably small quantities on an almost daily basis by, in their own waterproof packages, ready for us to mix into other foods, to be hard boiled, soft boiled, baked, fried, basted and smoked; this list is seemingly endless. The egg is a perfect, absolutely kosher food. Consumed in small quantities, the egg provides us with a host of nutritious substances. Once boiled and left in its shell, it can be safely stored for a fairly long time. The egg is used in science to grow various medicines. Eggshells are pulverized and used in many fertilizers. As a food, the egg is pareve meaning it can be used in either kosher meat or milk dishes. The list goes on and on.

There are many Jewish traditions that involve the egg. I suspect the most popular is the roasted egg we find on the Passover Seder plate each spring symbolizing the festival sacrifice during Temple times and the hope for a fresh start to life. Since the egg has no sharp corners, it is often used as a symbol of the continuation of life. This shows most clearly when hardboiled eggs are served at a meal of condolence after a funeral. Eggs in all forms play a prominent role in our diets during Shavuot when we are supposed to eat dairy meals as part of the observance.

The egg wash brushed on a Challah just before we put it in to bake gives the resultant bread its glowing, shiny coat. And what would our Shabbat Oneg be without Deviled Eggs? I cannot begin to count the number of "egg" stories in our tradition. The Rabbis fully recognized not only the nutritional value of the egg but also the poetic possibilities of eggs in their stories and lessons.

Jewish traditions have a high value in our lives. They help keep us anchored ot our past and give us great reasons for lessons we offer to our children and grandchildren. I find nothing wrong breaking with tradition once in a while but we need to keep everything in focus. No, I don't think a deviled egg is appropriate on the Seder Plate but they might be used during dinner. A cool, gentle egg salad might be just right as part of a light, post Shabbat dinner.

For this article, I have focused on the chicken egg but any egg from a kosher bird meets all the criteria for proper kashrut so let us eat and enjoy!

The jingle is right; the egg is incredible!

Rabbi