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The national American turkey day (Thanksgiving) is almost upon us.
Please see Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky's article on this topic at
<br><br>
<a href="http://www.kashrut.com/articles/turkey/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.kashrut.com/articles/turkey/</a><br><br>
He ends his article with the following:<br><br>
<font size=3>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 <i>mesorah</i>s where none existed before or of accepting
birds without the need for a <i>mesorah</i>. 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 <i>mesorah</i>. 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?". <br><br>
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. <br><br>
Rabbi Dr. Zivotofsky is a man with many interests. Just do a google
search with his name and you will see what I mean. <br><br>
YL<br>
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