24 Nov TURKEY AND THANKSGIVING

Much has
been discussed
over the years
r e g a r d i n g
Thanksgiving
dinner. We will
discuss whether
such a party is
allowed, and
if turkey may
be served. The
underlying point of the debate is
whether Thanksgiving is considered a
religious or secular holiday. In order
to determine this, we need to know
the history of the Thanksgiving holiday. In addition, we will discuss the
kashrus of birds in general and turkey
specifically.
Halachic Considerations
In order to determine if eating turkey
at a Thanksgiving dinner is permitted,
we need some background into the
halachos of following in the ways of
the non-Jews.
The Torah forbids following the ways
of the non-Jews. The Rambam writes
that one should be different than the
non-Jews in his actions, knowledge
and in his understanding. The Chinuch says the reason for this mitzvah
is to distance the Jews from the nonJews. There is a major dispute among
the Rishonim and Achronim as to the
parameters of this issur. A practice
which the non-Jews do for their avodah zarah is forbidden for a Jew, even
if the Torah says it is a Jewish custom.
The Maharik writes that non-Jewish
practices whose reasons and origins
cannot be found are still forbidden
to Jews, since it can possibly stem
from avodah zarah. Furthermore, all
immodest practices of the non-Jews
are forbidden to a Jew. Most poskim
agree with the guidelines of the Maharik. However, the G’ra says that
we may only imitate a practice which
possibly originated in Jewish circles,
and was then adopted by the nonJews.
According to the lenient approach
(which the halacha follows), foolish
but secular customs are permissible
so long as they have a reasonable explanation and are not immodest.
The Opinion of Harav Moshe
Feinstein zt”l
In one teshuva, Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l maintains the following:
“Concerning the question of celebrating any event on a holiday of
non-Jews, if the holiday is based on
religious beliefs by the non-Jews,
such celebrations are prohibited if
deliberately scheduled on that day;
even without intent, it is prohibited
because of maris ayin. . . The first
day of year for them [January 1]
and Thanksgiving are not prohibited
according to law, but pious people
should be stringent.” Therefore, one
should preferably not schedule a chasuna or a Bar Mitzvah on the night of
Thanksgiving, since it may be maris
ayin. However, a seuda for a Pidyon
Haben or a Bris Milah is permitted,
since it is obvious that the seuda is
a seudas mitzvah. Nevertheless, one
may schedule a chasuna on Thanksgiving because many people are off
from work that day.
In another teshuva he writes (paraphrased), “In regards to joining a
Thanksgiving party, since this is not
brought down in the non-Jewish writings as a holiday, and it is just a remembrance of those who lived here,
there is no issur to make a meal and
eat turkey at the meal. However, it
is forbidden to make this a required
act, but it should be voluntary, which
means not all the time – each year. In
addition, there is also a problem of
adding mitzvos . . . even though one
can question the source, it is still a
real prohibition.”
Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l says the
following in regard to the non-Jews
doing something they enjoy (this was
said in regard to going without a head
covering). “Therefore, it is obvious,
that even in a case where something
would be considered a prohibited
non-Jewish custom, if many people
do it for reasons unrelated to their religion or law, but rather because it is
pleasurable to them, there is no prohibition of imitating non-Jewish customs. So too, it is obvious that if nonJews were to make a religious law to
eat a particular item that is good to
eat, halacha would not prohibit eating that item. Any item of pleasure
in the world cannot be ossur because
non-Jews do it out of religious observance.”
According to this, if a non-Jew eats
turkey because he enjoys it then there
is no need for a Jew to refrain from
eating it either.
In yet another teshuva Harav Moshe
Feinstein zt”l seems to take issue
with celebrating Thanksgiving. He
says the following: “The reason why
it is forbidden to make a party on this
day is because one is going in the
ways of the non-Jews, even if this is
not a religious holiday. The non-Jews
do it for no reason. Nonetheless, eating turkey is permitted.
Clearly, Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l
does not agree to Thanksgiving celebrations, but places no restrictions
on eating turkey on this day.
Opinion of Harav Yisroel Belsky
Shlita
Harav Yisroel Belsky Shlita adds the
following: “If such parties were made
as a sign of patriotism to the United
States, it would be acceptable for
Jews to make them as well as a sign
of loyalty to their host country. This
does not seem to be the case however, and there is no reason that a Jew
should make them.”
Approaches of Other Gedolim
Harav (J.B.) Soloveitchik zt”l permitted
turkey on Thanksgiving. The following
are the words written by Harav Herschel Schachter Shlita in his sefer on
the rulings of Harav (J.B.) Soloveitchik
zt”l: “It was the opinion of Harav Soloveitchik that it was permissible to eat
turkey at the end of November, on the
day of Thanksgiving. We understood
that, in his opinion, there was no problem that turkey did not lack a tradition
of kashrus (see later on in this article)
and that eating it on Thanksgiving was
not a problem of imitating gentile customs. We also heard that this was the
opinion of his father, Harav Moshe Soloveitchik zt”l.”
The opinion of Harav Dovid Cohen
Shlita is that to eat turkey for the sake
of a holiday is prohibited by the rule
of Tosfas in Meseches Avodah Zarah
since it is improper to follow an irrational rule of the non-Jews. Nonetheless, there is no prohibition for a
family to get together on a day when
people do not go to work and to eat together. They may eat turkey because
they enjoy it, but not for the sake of
thanks. Nevertheless, the spirit of the
Chachomim does not approve of such
conduct, since it appears as if they are
following the ways of the non-Jews.
Conclusion
There are some who felt that Thanksgiving dinner should be avoided.
However, the custom of many people
in Klal Yisroel is to eat turkey on
Thanksgiving (see below regarding
the kashrus of turkey). As mentioned
above, one should not have a party.
Davening Later on Thanksgiving
Some poskim maintain that one
should not change the regular time for
davening to a later time even though it
is a not a work day. However, making
a later minyan is permitted if it is not
at that time on a regular (non-holiday)
day. Others maintain that since we all
know that the reason for davening later is because everyone is home from
work and they may wish to sleep later
they do not focus on the cause of why
they are off from work. Harav Yisroel Belsky Shlita says if one normally
davens late when he has no work (i.e.
Sunday) then he may do so on a legal
holiday such as Thanksgiving as well.
Attending a Thanksgiving Parade
The question of observing or attending a Thanksgiving Day parade is an
interesting one. It depends on the following definition: If Thanksgiving
is a non-Jewish holiday, it would be
prohibited to participate or benefit in
any way from the parade honoring the
day. If one concludes that Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, there would
seem to be no problem in attending a
parade, as a Thanksgiving Day parade
is no different from an Independence
Day parade. Although it may be permitted to go to a Thanksgiving parade it is not with the spirit of a Jew
to attend such parades. One who has
young children who insist on going to
the parade do not have to refuse.
Kashrus of Turkey
As mentioned above, many people
have the custom to eat turkey on
Thanksgiving. However, the kashrus
of turkey is a complicated issue.
Kosher Signs – Birds
There is a discussion in the poskim if there is a mitzvah d’raisa or
d’rabannan to check birds for signs in
order to maintain if the bird if kosher
or not.
The Torah identifies twenty-four classes of birds
which are not
kosher. If a bird
is not one of the
twenty-four it is
kosher. However, we cannot
clearly identify these nonkosher birds.
Therefore, in
order for a bird to be kosher it has
to have certain simonim. The Torah
does not give any identifying signs.
However, the Chachamim provided
us with a way to tell if a bird is kosher
or not. Any bird which is a dores, a
predator, is not kosher. Kosher birds
have the following signs: an extra finger, a crop, and the inner layer of
the bird’s gizzard can be peeled off by
hand. It should be stated that not all
kosher birds have all
four signs. There is a discussion in the
poskim if a kosher bird needs all four
signs or if one or a couple or a few are
enough. If one knows that a specific
bird is a dores then even if it has any
of the kosher simonim the bird is not
kosher.
Mesora
A number of poskim maintain that a
bird with the correct simonim is kosher even if there is no mesorah and
no proof that it is not dores. The
Gemora mentions a story that certain people in a town ate a non-kosher
bird because they though the bird was
kosher. Therefore, we only eat a bird
with a mesorah that it is kosher and
was eaten by Jews throughout the
ages in that place. The Rama says
this is the custom and it may not be
changed. If a bird has a mesora then
there is no need to check if it has any
of the simonim which indicate its
kashrus status. However, if one finds
that it is a dores then he should not accept the mesora. The Aruch Hashulchan uses the word “chalilah” to permit a bird without a mesora.
Who is Qualified to Testify on a
Kosher Bird
One may only accept testimony that a
specific bird is kosher from one who
is both a chacham and a baki. Some
say that there is no one around today
who would qualify for this.
Mesora in a Town
Once a mesora is established in a certain town one can be very lenient regarding this as follows: The Shulchan
Aruch says one who comes from a
town where there is no mesora on a
bird and goes to a place where there is
a mesora can eat there even if he plans
on coming back. In addition, if his
hometown has a mesora on a bird and
he goes to a town where there is no
mesora on the specific bird he may eat
the bird in the latter town. However,
this is only if he plans on returning to
the first town.
There are those who maintain that
one who is in a town where there is
no mesora on a bird should not eat the
bird even if there is a mesora on the
bird in another town. The custom is
to be lenient.
Relying on Names
Many poskim are of the opinion that
one cannot rely on a name of a bird
for a mesorah. The reason for this is
because a species which was called
by a specific name hundreds of years
ago may not be the same
today. There is a discussion if the mesora can be
transmitted with diagrams
or verbally.
Goose – Duck
There are those who
maintain that if a bird
has a wide beak and feet
(goose, swans or duck) it
is known that it is not a
dores and permitted if it
has the other three simonim as well. However, the
Rama says that we should
not rely on this if it does
not have a mesora.
Hybridization
The Gemora says that a kosher and
non-kosher animal cannot interbreed
and produce viable offspring. There
are those who maintain that this may
apply to birds. Based on this, some
opine that a bird which breeds with
kosher birds and looks like a kosher
bird may be eaten even if there is no
mesora on it. Others are not convinced that this is a valid argument.
Egg Signs
The opinion of the Avnei Nezer is that
if an egg of a specific bird is identical
to another bird it is a sign that they
are from the same species. Based on
this, if the egg of an unknown bird is
identical to a known kosher bird, the
unknown bird may be eaten without
a mesora. Nonetheless, this leniency
was not accepted by other poskim.
Other Birds (Pheasant, Muscovy
Duck etc.)
Many poskim dealt with the permissibility of eating other birds and
questioned their mesora status. This
discussion is beyond the scope of this
article, but references may be found
in the footnotes.
Chicken
Chickens were eaten as early as the
seventh century BCE. The chicken is
a kosher bird. There have been many
poskim who discussed the different
kinds of chickens. Most referred to a
chicken as a “kibitzer hen.”
Mesora on Turkey
The mesora on turkey has some
unique twists.
Turkey is indigenous to America, and
was brought to Europe as a product of
trade with the new land. It was at first
thought to be the larger American version of the European chicken. Since
Columbus thought he had landed in
India, the bird was called tarnagolet
hodu in Hebrew and hendika hen in
Yiddish, both of which mean Indian
chicken.
How can we consume turkey if it apparently does not have a mesora? We
know that Jews today eat turkey but
why? In addition, turkey eggs are
larger and different than other kosher
birds and it is difficult to crossbreed
them with other chickens. Therefore,
the above heterim do not apply, and
its permissibility remains in doubt.
Nonetheless, the poskim offer various
reasons to permit turkey. We will list
them below:
Some argue that the Rama only
requires a mesora on a bird which
was not eaten by Jews in the past.
However, a bird which was eaten
for many years and has all three simonim of a kosher bird is permitted
even according to the Rama. There
is no reason to say that all the people who ate turkey did so in error.
Others say that we do not hold like
the Rama’s opinion, and if a bird
has the simonim which indicate a
kosher status we may eat it.
The Meishiv Davar says that when
the turkey (indik) was brought from
India there were questions regarding
its kosher status, and therefore people
refrain from eating it. However, since
the majority of people accepted it as
kosher, unless there is evidence that
it is not kosher we are not going to
say that it is prohibited (especially not
to tell people who where eating it for
many years that they were doing so in
error). The Arugas Habosem says
that the mesora is only required to
prove that it is not a dores – a predator. If the bird is monitored for at least
twelve months one may rely on the
kosher status of the bird even without
having a mesora on it, as it obviously
is not a predator.
The Mei Be’er maintains that we can
rely on the Jews of India, the place of
origin of the turkey, who had a clear
mesora dating back to Moshe Rabbeinu that the turkey was kosher. The
only concern that ever existed was if
one can rely on the Indian mesora,
and he maintains that it
is indeed reliable.
Both the Kaf Hachaim
and the Zivchei Tzedek
say that it originated
from India and is permitted.
The Tzemach Tzedek
says the fact that a specific bird is eaten is a
form of mesora.
The Devar Halacha
says that the Rama required a mesora only
for a new category of
birds, but turkey is the
same category as a
chicken even if there are some differences.
Some say that from the fact that turkey entered the Jewish menu without an apparent mesora indicates
that the Gedolim in those days did
not hold like the Rama and it was
enough that the bird had the simonim which indicates its kosher status.
There are those who say that turkey
was accepted before the Rama was
born (1540). Therefore, there is no
need for a mesora since that rule
was not yet imposed at that time.
However, this is a chiddush since
there are poskim who maintain the
need for a mesora even before the
Rama’s times.
In his discussions about Thanksgiving, Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l indicated that there is no issue with eating
turkey.
Although turkey does not have a mesora, many poskim maintain that it is
permitted.
There were those who refrained from
eating turkey because of the uncertainties regarding the mesora issue.
It is reported that Harav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l did not eat turkey.
Most major kashrus agencies both in
America and in Eretz Yisroel give
hashgachas on turkey.