The  Basur  IS  Asur

What’ s a Kosher Bird?

by Lisa Zelmanovic

The source for Kashrut on Birds is found in Vayikra:11:13-19 and Devarim:14:11-20. The following  are the twenty-four non-Kosher birds listed in the Torah according to the Rambam:

Nesher (eagle), Peres (osprey), Ozniah (hawk), Da’ah/Ra’ah (vulture), Ayah , Min-Ayah, Orev (raven), Zarzir (starling), Ya’aneh , Tachmas (falcon), Shachaf (seagull), Naitz (falcon), Shrankae, Kos (owl), Shlach, Yansuf (buzzard), Tinshemet (chameleon), Ka’as, (pelican), Rachama, Chasida (stork), Anafa (heron), Min-Anafa,  Atlaif (bat), Dochifat (hoopoe)

The Torah lists the signs for Kosher animals but NOT for birds.  Instead, the Torah has listed for us the twenty-four non-Kosher birds.  Why in this fashion? Because there are fewer non-Kosher birds than Kosher birds and  for an expert on birds it is no problem to identify any bird other than those listed.  However, because most of us are not baki, experts, we are required to know the simanim (or signs) which define a bird Kosher.

The Gemara explains that there are two components in determining the kashrut status of a bird. 

The first category to be examined is whether or not the bird is a Dores.  The sefer HaChinuch explains Dores as a bird that sticks its claws into other birds. (ex: falcon)

The second category to be examined is a list of “The Three Positive Simanim (or Signs)” This includes:

·        An Etzbah Yisseirah, an extra, elongated finger

·        A Zefek, a crop or an expansion of the birds gullet (or windpipe?) making it a larger storage area

·        A Korkavon Niklaf, a special grinding apparatus which has skin that peels easily

 Also, according to the Sefer HaChinuch, the following general rules apply and are very practical for easy determination on the status of birds:

·        A bird that is found to be only Dores is NOT KOSHER

·        A bird with only the three Positive Simanim are KOSHER.

·        Any bird found that is only Ayno Dores (meaning, it DOES NOT claw its prey) is automatically Kosher with the exception of the two Torah given cases of Peres and Ozniah.  Though these two birds are not found in places of civilization so that they do not constitute a problem.

·        If a bird is Ayno Dores and it, as well, possesses one of the Three Positive Simanim then it is automatically Kosher  with the exception  of an Oraiv, raven, because this bird matches the case but it specifically written in the Torah as NOT KOSHER.

·        If a bird is Ayno Dores and, as well, possesses two of the Three Positive Simanim then it is questionable as to whether or not it is Kosher because some NOT KOSHER birds do have these qualities.

·        If one only recognizes one or two of the Three Positive Simanim in a bird (for example, only Korkavon Niklaf, or only Zefek, or only Etzbah Yesseirah) then the Kashrut is questionable because  apparently it is unknown what its Dores status is, so it is assumed NOT KOSHER.

·        And finally, when we are not sure about a bird’s identity, we follow the given Mesorah. (This topic will be discussed later)

The Rambam in Hilchot Maachalot Assurot explains similarly to the Sefer HaChinuch: As long as we are aware of all the the listed non-Kosher birds in the Torah, we may eat all other birds that we find. Unfortunately, we don’t know of all the birds listed in the Torah .  The following are Rambam’s layout of general rules:

·         A Dores is a predator that actually eats the birds it attacks.

·         The Three Positive Simanim are the same as those previously listed

·         An Ayno Doresbird that possesses, as well, only one of the Three Positive Qualities (for example: Ayno Dores and Korkavon) is always Kosher. This rule applies with the exception of Peres and Oznia- which are exclusively written in the Torah as non-Kosher. Again, such are birds that do not dwell in civilization and therefore would not regularly be problematic.  Note (above) the difference in the Chinuch’s opinion that the exceptions in such a case is Oraiv, not Peres and Oznia.

·        We may eat a bird from Mesorah.  The Rambam goes into more detail than the Chinuch on the definition of Mesorah  is , teaching that it would be something widely known to be Kosher.  One may rely on the local Tzayad, , hunter, as long as he has a chazakah of reliability for this Mesorah.

The Gaonim  are more machmir and decreed that there are only limited circumstances of an Ayno Dores bird that possesses only one of the Three Positive Qualities being Kosher, implying that there are a share of such cases which are NOT KOSHER.

            The Shulchan Aruch: Yoreh Dayah  agrees with Rambam and the Sefer HaChinuch on many points, such as:

·        If we are aware of the twenty-four birds listed in the Torah, we may eat all others without question. 

·        If we are unsure of a birds status we should follow our local Mesorah – by way of relying on our local Tzayad who has an assurance from a reliable source.

·        Like Rambam and unlike Sefer HaChinuch a Dores is a bird that claws, as well as eats its prey. And, like most poskim, it is automatically NOT KOSHER.

·        The issue of an Ayno Dores bird possessing some of the Three Positive Simanim being Kosher, except, it is not mentioned  which simanim or how many are needed to declare the bird Kosher.

·        The Yoreh Dayah concludes saying that even if a bird possesses all Three Positive Simanim, and we are unsure if it is Kosher or not, we do not eat it unless we have a Mesorah.

The Ramah is much more concise in his explanation.  He simply states: "We are not to eat any bird unless we have found a Mesorah that declares it Kosher". Because we are Ashkenazi, we follow the Ashkenazic ruling of the Ramah and strictly follow Mesorah.

What should we know about a Mesorah?

The RJJ Journal discusses this topic and explains that the most positive aspect of a Mesorah is that we rely upon it almost immediately.  The only exception would be if a bird is actually found to be  a Dores and a mistake was made in determining the birds’ status, thus the Mesorah is disregarded. 

When following a Mesorah one must be sure it is a reliable one.  The source for the Mesorah must be trustworthy.  When the Rosh was approached with a question on Mesorah he explained that the most reliable of all Mesorahs are those that can be traced back to our leaders of Ashkenazic Jewry.  Unfortunately, today we do not know of many people with enough authority to introduce a Mesorah.

            Many Gedolim rely on the ruling of the Aruch HaShulchan who says that if persons from one region wish to adopt the Mesorah from another region, they may do so as long as the Mesorah is of recognizable authority. The Mei Be’er, however, disagrees with this opinion and rules that its prohibited to take upon oneself an unfamiliar Mesorah.

            With our vernacular we are unsure as to whether we can consider the birds listed in the Torah to be the same birds with those names today.  The final analysis is that most poskim declared that direct translation is faulty, thus it is advised against.