(VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)
YWN Israel previously reported that Eida Chareidis Ravaad HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch has ruled the bird is not kosher.
The new bird is called (בראקל) Braekel, and while Rav Sternbuch ruled the bird is not kosher, HaGaon HaRav Nissim Karelitz has ruled it is kosher. HaGaon HaRav Bentzion Mutzafi is also quoted explaining for Sephardim there is a mesora to eat the bird and it is kosher. HaRav Moshe Landau the Chief Rabbi of Bnei Brak explains there is no mesora for us today and the bird is not kosher.
Rav Landau is viewed by many as an international authority on kashrus and poultry in particular, and he inspected the bird in question, spoke to those involved in raising the bird and those involved in marketing and other aspects. His conclusion is the bird is not kosher and one who served it must kasher one’s dishes.
Also attached is a letter signed by prominent veteran shochtim in the Skvere and Vishnitz communities, in which they attest to the mesora of the bird, which they state was eaten before the introduction of the chickens we are accustomed to seeing today.
MAKE SURE TO READ A YWN ARTICLE BY RABBI YAIR HOFFMAN ABOUT THE CHICKEN CONTROVERSY
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Subject: Fwd: Yehuda Shain- Brakal breed chicken- Li’pirsum
Sent: Wed, Aug 9, 2017 12:05 pm
Subject: Yehuda Shain- Brakal breed chicken- Li’pirsum
About 18 years ago, I went to Rav Shmuel Wosner, (Shlita) z”L in Bnei Brak, as I was contacted by the Israeli Katz family that developed the “kabir-breed” chicken.
First I asked Rav Wosner re:the chickens we use in America. As they are cross breeds[not pure breds] from Italy among some other countries.
My question was “we don’t have a “Mesorah” on these cross bred chickens.
Rav Asked what I could tell him about what I know.
I said my Zaida was a shoichet in Europe in early 1900’s, and he shechted and ate these American cross bred chickens.
Rav Wosner said the following; If it looks relatively similar to the chickens he remembers from der heim, and this is the chicken they ate in American in the lae 1880’s early 1900’s.
Does it look significally different?, does it crow the same as the chickens he remembers?, then we can eat without any question.
I followed up with:
Why did Rav Wosner not approve (he assered) the Kabir bred chicken.
It’s very resistant to disease, therefore does not require shots.
The Kabir breed does not have feathers on the neck where one “shechts”.
It had feathers on the legs that come down lower than the standard chicken.
So he said the Kabir breed had significant differences 1) no feathers in neck area, 2) Feathers go down lower on the legs, 3) very resistant to infections, 4) grows taller that the regular chicken, etc.
Rav Wosner therefore asked the Katz family with what birds was it cross-bred?, they said it’s a secret. Rav Wosner told then it’s not a secret that it’s not permitted to use.
So there are significant changes.
I did not allow the Katz family to distribute the Kabir breed in the USA.
According to the guidelines from Rav Wosner to me, Rav Wosner, Z”L would not have allowed the Barkal breed.
https://poultrykeeper.com/chicken-breeds/brakel-chickens/
Thanks
Yehuda Shain-Lakewood, NJ
Based on Rav Hoffman’s very helpful article last week, plus today’s yes/no opinions, it would seem that the answer here is either to beconme a vegetarian or follow the psak of your local rav/posek as you would do on any other question of halacha. There are many other food products where rabbonim differ so whats the big deal. We don’t cherry pick the psak of whichever rav provides the answer we want.
I have one important question. According to both, those who hold barkel is kosher and those who hold not. Is the chicken that we have right now in Israel, Kosher 100% or not? Why are all the stores still selling the old chicken if there are serious problems with inter breeding? Why aren’t all chickens being recalled or at least letters coming out that all chicken presently on the market are only “bde’eved? Do we have to kasher our utensils? should a Yorai Shomayim keep away for the next year from eating chicken?
The key to the issue seems to be: What is the definition of “Min”? it cannot simply be close resemblance. While the comparison between kosher birds and kosher mammals is not completely comparable, surely the Braekel looks more like a common kosher chicken than, say, a Frisian cow looks like a Hereford both of which all agree are the same “min”. Also, what do those Poskim who asser the Braekel hold regarding the kashrus of Turkeys which were completely unknown anywhere in the Old World until the 16th Century of the Common era? N.B. The turkey was introduced to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadores. Spain was Judenrein at that time.
P.S. I am aware that some Jews do not, in fact, eat turkey for that reason, but most Jews do eat turkey and raising turkey is big business in Israel