[Avodah] Is Turkey Kosher

[Rich Wolberg]

In response to:
> The person who pointed me to this wrote, "According to R' Hamburger
> [author of Sheirushei Minhag Ashkenaz], Turkey has a valid mesorah."

Someone wrote (with such certainty):
> But we know beyond doubt that that isn't true.

In response to "But we know beyond doubt that that isn't true", I quote
from the end of the excellent, informative and scholarly article Is
Turkey Kosher?  by Rabbi Ari Z. Zivotofsky, Ph.D., 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 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.