The Eagle or the Vulture

Steven I. Weiss is always requesting that bloggers post the content of their rabbi's speeches. His new blog is now more inclusive and asks us to blog our "spiritual leaders." Well, here goes.

My rabbi spoke about the identity of the nesher, one of the forbidden birds listed in this week's Torah portion (Devarim 14:12). The nesher has been traditionall identified as an eagle. However, this contradicts the statement in the Mishnah that the nesher has none of the kosher signs listed in the Mishnah. The eagle has one. Over 800 years ago, Rabbeinu Tam stated that the nesher is not the eagle. Prof. Yehuda Felix of Bar Ilan University has suggested that the nesher is a griffon vulture rather than an eagle. However, my rabbi pointed out that this is problematic because the griffon vulture also has one kosher sign. Therefore, my rabbi left the identification of the nesher unresolved.

After services I showed my rabbi that his view was agreed to by R. Pinchas Presworsky in his book Birds of the Torah, which is in my synagogue's library. I also checked at home and saw that R. Nosson Slifkin reached the same conclusion in his Nature's Song. However, I saw today that R. Slifkin has changed his mind and now concurs with Prof. Felix's conclusion that the nesher is the griffon vulture.