Is Turkey Kosher? (original) (raw)

Is Turkey Kosher?

By: Rabbi Ari Z. Zivotofsky,** Ph.D.

INTRODUCTION: KASHRUT OF BIRDS - THE BIBLICAL STORY: KASHRUT OF BIRDS - THE RABBINIC STORY:

KASHRUT OF BIRDS - THE NEED FOR A MESORAH:

With all the confusion, what is the normative halacha? Some Rishonim, such as the Ramban (Chullin 62) who describes examining many birds to identify the kosher traits, were willing to trust their understanding of the Talmud and to rely on the physical characteristics. The Shulchan Aruch (YD 82:3) narrowed the use of physical signs and required a priori knowledge that the bird is not a dores. The _Shulchan Aruch_also provided some means, to be discussed below, of ascertaining that a bird is not a dores.

Rashi (Chullin 62a), based on the incident of the tarnugulsa d'agma in which people ate a non-kosher bird as a consequence of applying physical characteristics 19as a criterion, opines that we can never be sure that a bird is not a _dores_and hence rules that birds may be eaten only if there is a _mesorah_- a tradition attesting to the acceptability of this particular species.

The Ramo (YD 82:3), the principal authority for all Ashkenazic lands, followed the lead of Rashi and the Levush and ruled that the only applicable principle as far as he is concerned is that "no bird should be eaten unless there is a mesorah that it is a kosher species."20

This is based on accepting two different rulings of Rashi. First, Rashi's opinion that the three physical indicia do not prove that the bird is not a dores. Second, his assertion, agreed to by the Gra (YD 82:7), that we can never be sure through any means that a bird is not dores. 21Putting these two opinions of Rashi together yields the result that a _mesorah_is always required in order to permit a bird. Harsh languages has beens used in analyzing this opinion of the Ramo. The Kreisi U'plasi expresses wonderment at the origin of this concept, and the Minchat Yitzchak (2:85) obligingly points out the sources. The Aruch Hashulchan (YD 82:29) writes that although some have voiced surprise at the Ramo's stringency, he can show that it is firmly rooted in halacha, and that this stringency should not be violated. The Chachmat Adam (36:6) similarly states that no signs in the world would permit a bird, only a mesorah could do so. This ruling of the Ramo, 22that there is an absolute requirement for a mesorah motivates the question regarding turkey, a New World species, and will be the launching platform for what follows. If "no bird should be eaten in the absence of a mesorah" how is it possible for a New World species to be kosher?_MESORAH_S: TRANSMITTING, MAKING, APPLYING, AND AMENDING: KASHRUT OF THE TURKEY