[Avodah] Is Turkey Kosher?

[Prof. Levine]

The national American turkey day (Thanksgiving) is almost upon 
us.  Please see  Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky's article on this topic at

http://www.kashrut.com/articles/turkey/

He ends his article with the following:

Conclusion: The near universal acceptance of turkey as a kosher 
species, given the halachic quandary it presents, would indicate that 
the Jewish people have either accepted the possibility of originating 
mesorahs where none existed before or of accepting birds without the 
need for a mesorah. It is very possible that had the turkey question 
been posed when it was first introduced in the early 16th century, 
Jewish gastronomic history might have been different. It seems that 
many authorities may have initially come out against turkey because 
of its obvious lack of a mesorah. For some reason "bird 
controversies" erupted in the 18th and 19th centuries and when the 
turkey question was posed it often took the form of "why is it 
eaten?" rather than "may it be eaten?".

As has been shown, despite the fundamental difficulty with permitting 
turkey virtually all of the responsa are permissive, and it is 
unlikely that will (or should) change in the future. It seems that 
unless one has a specific family custom to refrain from turkey, to 
adopt such a behavior is morally wrong. The turkey is no longer new 
and its kosher status has been addressed by both the great and 
not-so-great Jewish minds over the during 250 years and has received 
near-universal endorsement. To call it into question now is to impugn 
the dozens of responsa, and more so, the millions of honorable Jews, 
who have eaten turkey for almost half a millennium. That is not the 
Jewish way.

Rabbi Dr. Zivotofsky is a man with many interests. Just do a google 
search with his name and you will see what I mean.

YL

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