The topic of identification includes several different aspects:

1. Identifying animals named in the Torah

For example, what is the mysterious tachash? There is a dispute in the Talmud regarding its identification, but one opinion gives the following clues:

The skin of the tachash is beautiful, and was therefore used to decorate the Mishkan. We are told that God specially brought it to the area where the Jewish people were when they built the Mishkan. This might mean that it was only created for that time, or it might mean that normally it lives in a different place. According to some opinions, the tachash is the same as the keresh. The Gemara says that the keresh is a very large animal. The Gemara says that it is a kosher animal. This means that it has split hooves and chews the cud. But it is wild and not domesticated. The Gemara says that it has a horn in the center of its forehead.

The answer is at the foot of the page.

2. Identifying whether animals and birds are kosher

In 1940, the Chicago Zoo published an interesting report about an animal called the babirusa from Indonesia. “Babirusa” means “pig deer” in the local language. It is a strange animal that is from the pig family, but has deer-like horns.

Like a regular pig, the babirusa has split hooves. Unlike a pig, however, it has a three-chambered stomach. The Chicago Zoo report suggested that since the babirusa's stomach is similar to that of a cow, it might be that the babirusa chews its cud.

Some people became very excited, and announced that the babirusa could be a kosher pig. It has a stomach like a ruminant, and it has split hooves. It also has horns, and the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) states that any animal that has split hooves and horns is kosher.

So is the babirusa kosher? The answer is at the foot of the page.

3. Identifying the correct classification for animals

The Torah lists bats among the non-kosher birds. This is not because the Torah is unaware of the tremendous differences in anatomy between them. Rather, it is because there is no single objectively correct system of animal classification; rather, animals are classified based on the criteria that are relevant to the task at hand. Zoology is mostly concerned with anatomy, and therefore classifies the live-bearing bats with mammals, with whom it also shares similarities of skeletal structure, rather than with egg-laying birds. The Torah, on the other hand, classifies animals based on how they stand and how they move. (The reasons for this are too complex to discuss here; see The Science of Torah for more details.)

Answers:

1. The tachash would seem to be the giraffe, according to this opinion. Certain giraffes have a third horn in the center of their head. They are large, have beautiful skin, and are kosher. Incidentally, it is a myth that giraffes are not eaten because we do not know where on the neck to slaughter them. You can slaughter them anywhere you want. The reason why we do not eat giraffes is mainly that they are extremely expensive.

2. The babirusa is not kosher. Although it has a multiple chambered stomach, a report from the Los Angeles Zoo stated that it does not actually chew its cud. What about its horns? If we look at a babirusa's skull, we see that the babirusa's horns are not horns at all, but rather are upper canine teeth that turn upwards and project through the skin of the head. Back to Program contents