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Jewish World Review Nov. 24, 1999 / 15 Kislev, 5760
TOMORROW, MILLIONS OF AMERICANS will consume enormous helpings of Meleagris
Gallopovo --- try ordering that from your local supermarket -- or the
domesticated wild turkey.
Over the Alka-Seltzer, might be an interesting time to consider how this glorious fowl
got its strange name. What does our American turkey have to do with Turkey?
There is, however, another much more fascinating turkey theory for those whose
origin we have to go far back, almost 3,000 years, to the days of King Solomon.
In describing King Solomon's fabulous wealth, the Bible (I Kings 10:22 and II
Chronicle 9:21) speaks of a ship that Solomon had in Tarshish on the Spanish
southern coast which brought "zahav, v'kesef, shenabim, v'kofim,
v'TIKKUYIM." --- Gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks --- to his palaces.
We now take an almost 2,500 year historical leap to 1492 and Columbus' discovery
of America. Despite the fanciful speculation to the contrary, most historians now
agree that there was only one person of known Jewish birth on Columbus' First
Voyage, but he was a very significant one.
Luis de Torres, a Jew baptized shortly before Columbus' fleet sailed, was the
interpreter of the expedition. He is described in Columbus' diaries as a man "who
had been a Jew and knew Hebrew and Chaldean and a little Arabic," and Columbus
brought him along in case he met the "grand Khan."
Which is why, tomorrow, we eat a bird with a Hebrew name on
Talkin' tukki: How the holiday bird got its Hebrew name
Yes, there most certainly is a Jewish "angle" to Thanksgiving. You knew there had to be.
By Herb Geduld
Absolutely nothing. The turkey is strictly an American bird, native to North America
with a habitat ranging from Guatemala to Canada. One theory of how the turkey got
its name is that when the Spaniards first brought it to Europe in the early 1500s, it
was mistaken for a similar-looking bird, the guinea fowl, native to North Africa and
often called the turkey cock.
Luis de Torres did not meet Khan, but among the many wonders he and his
exploration parties did discover was a large wild bird with a head and body very
similar to the peacock. The male even had a feather display which, while not as
spectacular, resembled the peacocks. De Torres, with his background of Biblical
Hebrew but poor ornithological knowledge, called this bird a tukki, which
over the centuries has been corrupted into our "turkey."
Jewish historian, cultural maven, and JWR contributor Herb Geduld lives in Cleveland.
