The  Basur  IS  Asur

Is Turkey Kosher???

by Shoshana Eleff and Chava Fisch er

When Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World", a group of new unknown species of plants and animals were discovered. Included in these newly founded species were turkeys. The discovery of the turkey brought about many halachic debates to determine whether this bird is kosher or not. In order to understand the reason for this question, it is necessary to comprehend what determines whether a bird is kosher or not and why the turkey is such a unique halachic question.

There are many factors and ways by which we distinguish between kosher and non-kosher poultry. Rather than tell us what makes a bird kosher, the Torah lists the twenty-four non-kosher birds that exist in the world (Shulchan Aruch- 82). Therefore, at first glance, it may seem easy to figure out which birds are kosher: if a certain bird is not one of the twenty-four listed, it should be kosher. Unfortunately, as time went on our chachamim were no longer able to identify all of the twenty-four species from the Torah and therefore determining the Halachic status of birds turned into a much more complicated issue.

We learn from the Gemara Chulin that any bird that has three defining characteristics is kosher. These characteristics are: an extra toe, a zefele (which is a crop on the head according to the Torah) and a Korkuvan (pupik) that can be peeled (Gemara Chulin- 65a). However, if the bird in question can be defined as a Dores, a predator, it is immediately considered Assur.

Defining what makes a bird a Dores is a complicated issue. Firstly, there is a big machloket on the actual definition of a Dores. The Gemara says that a Dores is a bird that eats another animal. However, many rabbanim disagree on the method by which a bird must seize and eat its food that would entitle it a Dores. Some mephorshim, including Rashi and Rambam, state that a Dores holds down its prey with its claws and tears off little pieces to eat (Rambam- Perush Hamishnayot 3:6). On the contrary, Rav Ovadiah Mibartenura explains that that a Dores picks up its food from the ground with its claws and eats it.

Another complexity in the topic of dores is that it is not always so obvious if a bird is a Dores or not. The Talmud relates a story that there once was a bird called the Tarnugulsa D’agma, which was accepted by many as kosher. The chachamim later found out that it was in fact a Dores. It is obvious from this story that the halachic status of birds can sometimes be very questionable and intricate as it is with the subject of turkey.

In addition, there is a machloket of whether a bird that has all three defining characteristics must still be checked for whether it is a Dores or not. Rashi says that this extra precaution is necessary. However, the majority of the Rabbanim, including the Rambam, Rashban, Ran and the Maharshal, say that if a species has all three characteristics that make it kosher then it is not a Dores and it is mutar to eat. The Aruch Hashulchan is more lenient by saying that if a bird has two out of three signs and one of them is the peelable kurkuvan, this is enough to declare the bird kosher. The Rambam himself only requires the bird to have one of the signs to be mutar (Rambam- Perush Hamishnayot 3:6). We follow the majority and therefore we do not require a bird known to have the three kosher characteristics to be checked if it is a predator or not.

Many poskim, like the Ramban, are willing to use the above physical definitions in order to differentiate between kosher and non-kosher birds. However, since this may not always be totally accurate, as it is apparent from the story of the Tarnugulsa D’agma, many Poskim do not want to rely only on these provisions. These Poskim require that in order for any bird to be declared kosher it must have a mesorah or a tradition, which testifies that the species is mutar. The Rosh states that one must know where the mesorah for the bird originated to know whether or not it is reliable. Our Rabbanim nowadays are not competent enough to start a mesorah. Furthermore, many names of species are the same as in the time of the Talmud, yet the actual species has changed and therefore we cannot just rely on the name to accept a mesorah. This concept is illustrated with birds like the orev and the nesher. Chazals desciptions of these birds are very different from the species we have around today. The whole issue of mesorah is extremely in depth and detailed. However, it is a major component in the issue of turkeys due to the fact that it is impossible for turkeys to have a mesorah since turkeys are a New World bird.

There are additional ways of determining whether a bird is kosher in addition to the physical signs and mesorah. If a bird lives with and resembles a kosher bird it is kosher and the same holds true for a questionable bird living with a non-kosher bird (it will be Assur). Furthermore, if the eggs of a species are very similar to the eggs of a kosher species then it is kosher as well. However, this rule cannot be applied to the comparison between turkey eggs and chicken eggs (chicken is a universally accepted kosher bird) since they are not similar enough. The turkey's eggs shell texture is different from chicken eggs and turkey eggs are notably larger than chicken eggs. Using all of these different methods of paskaning the Halachic status of a species, Chachamim were faced with the question of whether Turkey was kosher when it was discovered in America at the end of the fifteenth Century.

The type of turkey that is being discussed is the species called Meleagris Gallopauo, which is from Mexico and the Unites States. When the explorers came to the United States they brought turkeys back to Europe with them, where it became a delicacy. Jews somehow assumed that turkeys were mutar to eat and so they started eating them like everyone else on Europe. Moreover, when they asked their Rabbis if this was mutar most of the Rabbis said it was okay. How did the Rabbanim come to this conclusion?

          Firstly, there is a big arguement that can be made as to why the turkey should not be declared as kosher. Chazal were originally able to identify all twenty-four non- kosher birds and they did not know about the American birds since they were not yet discovered. So how is it possible that turkey could be rendered as not kosher when the only birds that are assur are the twenty-four species listed in the Torah? This leads to an even broader question- how could there be any non-kosher American Birds? Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan explains very simply that the list actually does include the American birds and the twenty-four birds belong to families that include other non-kosher birds. Consequently, it is possible for the turkey to be not kosher.

Turkey has all three physical characteristics that make it kosher. However, the turkey does not have a mesorah and therefore even if it has the three qualifications that make it kosher, some Chachamim, like Rabbi Shlomo Kluger say that we do not eat any bird that does not have a mesorah, in which case the turkey is Assur. According to this opinion, no American birds are kosher. Therefore this is difficult since R’ Kluger does differentiates between turkeys and other American birds by permitting other American birds but not the turkey. The Shoel U Meshiv argues that a mesorah is not needed if a species has the three physical signs. Similarly, Rashi and the Ramo hold that as long as a bird has the three signs and is not a Dores, it is kosher and so the turkey is mutar.

On the other hand, many rabbanim explain that the turkey does in fact have a mesorah. Many rabbanim were under the assumption that the turkey came from India since its actual origin is Mexico which was called The Spanish Indies or the West Indies. The Netziv recorded that there was a bird called the indik that was brought from India. It seems to be that this is a turkey. On this basis, the Shut Mei Be'er permits the turkey because it was eaten in India with permission from the Rivash. The Kaf Hachaim declares the turkey kosher because of its mesorah in England, Germany, and Russia, where the Turkey was brought from India. The Arugot Habosem settles these seemingly contradictory opinions. He says that the turkey originated in Mexico and therefore it does not have a mesorah. However, he takes the view of Rashi and the Ramo and says that since the bird was accepted for so long and it has the 3 kosher characteristics and it is not a dores, a mesorah is not necessary and it is permissible.

Another way of proving that the turkey is kosher is the hybridization test. This test is used in the case of a questionable bird- if it can be mated with an accepted kosher bird it is kosher. If it cannot be mated with such a bird, it is declared to be a not kosher bird. Since there have been instances when turkey-chickens have been produced, and the chicken is accepted as a kosher bird, we therefore accept the turkey as kosher as well.