Mesorah of Turkey

In this week's Parsha, Parshas Shemini, we read about the different kosher species of animals. The Torah tells us that any animal that has split hooves and chews its cud is kosher. Fish are kosher if they have fins and scales. However, when it comes to birds there are no signs of Kashrus. Rather the Torah lists 24 species of bird that are not kosher, thus allowing us to eat every other type of bird. The problem though, is that thousands of years ago there was no Artscoll, and the definition of the 24 species is unknown. So the modern Rabbis ruled that one can only eat species of bird for which there is a Mesorah- an oral tradition of being Kosher. If, however, a species did not have such an oral tradition one must err on the side of caution and avoiding eating that species out of fear that that species of bird is one of the 24 forbidden species. Warning: If you love Thanksgiving stop reading now. The question becomes how can a Jew eat turkey? Any biologist knows turkey is indigenous to North America, and the Jewish people were indigenous to the Eastern Hemisphere until the early 20th century. So clearly there is no Mesorah for turkey? No Mesorah = No Turkey???? I was privileged to read this week an in-depth comprehensive 15 page essay written by WEST HEMPSTEAD's own Rav Ari Zivotofsky, in which he deals with this issue. Due to the my confined space, and more importantly, my lack of understanding of big words (especially science words) I will provide a brief answer. If you would like further information on this fascinating topic, please go to : http://www.kashrut.com/articles/turk_intro/ (it's in English, although if your like me, it looks more like Latin) or you can enroll me in the Harvard Grad School for Big Fancy Words and when I graduate I will gladly explain this issue in greater detail. Rav Zivotofsky writes that prior to this idea of Mesorah there was a Mishnah which lists 4 characteristics of kosher birds. The bird must 1. not be a predator, 2. have an extra toe, 3. have a crop, 4. and have a gizzard that can be peeled. The idea of Mesorah only resulted because characteristic #1, the bird can't be a predator, was vague and undefined. Since the Torah didn't give us any guidelines and the Mishna's guidelines were unclear the Rabbis had no choice but to rely on Mesorah. To clarify for those of you who never took Turkey 101: Turkeys for sure have the latter three characteristics, but we can not tell if it has number one because that characteristic is unclear. The Rambi (Rav Moshe ben Yosef) ruled that any bird that possesses all the later three signs, for sure does not have sign one and thus turkey is kosher. However, the Rema (Rav Moshe Isserles born in 1540 and posek of Ashkenazic Jewry) ruled that any bird requires all four signs and one is not allowed to rely on the latter three. Further, since the 4 guidelines are vague one can not eat a bird unless there is a Mesorah. Based on this, Rav Zivotofsky posits that America was found in 1492, and immediately there-after the export of turkey began. The Europeans enjoyed turkey so much that by 1540 ( a mere 48 years after Columbus) the majority of Jews held like the Rambi (the Rema was not born yet) and said turkey was kosher based on the three latter characteristics it had. This ruling became so popular that 48 years later turkey had already developed a Mesorah. Thus, when the Rema came to write his ruling turkey was already viewed as a bird with a Mesorah, to the point that the Rema allowed it. The irony of it all: had the Rema been born 50 years earlier, or Columbus got stuck in traffic for 50 years, turkey would be assur. Again, this is only to whet your appetite, for a more comprehensive understanding see the article. Of course, there are those Rabbis who forbid turkey but all major kashrus organizations treat the loveable bird as kosher.