Kosher Animals - Birds as Souls

Birds as Souls:

In Psalm xi. 1 the soul is compared to a bird: "Flee as a bird to your mountain." As living beings which move and fly through the air, birds have suggested themselves at all times and in all lands to primitive man as images of the soul, the name for which in most languages is taken from breathing ("nefesh," "neshamah,"="anima," or "psyche"); the soul was represented in the form of a butterfly, as illustrated by the tombs of the early Christians (Aringhi, "Roma Subterranea Novissima," ii. 324). The soul of the king of Egypt was pictured on the monuments as a bird; and the genius ("frawashi") of the kings of Assyria and Persia retained the wings of the bird (Rawlinson, "Herodotus," ii. 105, note 1; idem, "Ancient Monarchies," ii. 28, iii. 353; compare also Simrock, "Handbuch der Deutschen Mythologie," p. 461).

The Arabs also regarded the soul as a bird, and believed that after death it hovered at times around the body, screeching like an owl (Mas'udi, "Les Prairies d'Or," iii. 310, Paris, 1864; Sprenger, "Das Leben Mohammeds," i. 358, note; Kremer, "Gesch. der Herrschenden Ideen des Islams," 1868, pp. 166 et seq.). This view was shared by the Jews. They believed that all souls are gathered in a great cage or treasure-house in heaven, a columbarium, called "Guf"; and so Rabbi Assi teaches that the Messiah, the son of David, can not come until all the souls have been taken out of the Guf, and have gone through human bodies (Yeb. 62a, 63b; Niddah 13b; and elsewhere). In the Greek Baruch Apocalypse (ch. x.), Baruch sees in the fourth heaven a lake full of birds, and is told that these are the souls of the righteous, who continually sing the praise of God. These stories are repeated by Christian saints who affirm having seen the souls of the righteous in the shape of doves in paradise (M. R. James, in "Texts and Studies," v., lxix.; idem, in "Anecdota Græco-Byzantina," p. 181, quoted in Kautzsch, "Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testaments," p. 455).

The souls of the righteous which dwell in the Acherusian lake were consulted as God's counselors at the creation of man, according to Gen. R. 8, having their parallel in the Zendavesta ("Bundahish," ii. 10; Mihir Yast xxv. in "Sacred Books of the East," xxiii. 145).

In the Zohar the sparrow and the swallow, spoken of in Ps. lxxxiv. 3, are compared to the souls of the righteous which dwell in paradise, exactly as are those mentioned in the Baruch Apocalypse. Three times a year, in Nisan and Tishri, they rise upon the walls of paradise and sing the praise of the Master of the universe; whereupon they are ushered into the palace where the Messiah is hidden, called the great "Souls' Nest." They are adorned with crowns in his honor when he appears to them, and from beneath the altar of heaven, where dwell the souls of the righteous, they prepare the erection of the Temple of the future (Zohar ii. 7b, iii. 196b). Grätz ("Gesch. der Juden," vii. 9) failed to see that this rests on an old tradition.

It is customary among German Jews, when a death occurs, to open a window in order that the soul may fly away like a bird (compare Liebrecht, "Zur Volkskunde," 1879 p. 371). On birds around God's throne see Merkabah.

Kosher Birds

Kosher animals

Kosher animals are those which comply with the regulations for Kosher food in Jewish religion. These food regulations form the main aspect of kashrut, and ultimately derive from various passages in the Torah. Various modifications, additions, and clarifications, have subsequently been added to these biblical rules by halakha (traditional Jewish law).

Birds

Birds
Kosher		Not Kosher
Capon		Bat	Ostrich
Chicken		Cuckoo	Owl
Dove		Eagle	Pelican
Duck		Hawk	Stork
Goose		Heron	Swan
Pigeon		Kite	Vulture

Fish and Seafood

Fish and Seafood
Kosher		Not Kosher
Anchovy	Porgy	Catfish	Snail
Bluefish	Red Snapper	Eel
Butterfish	Salmon	Porpoise
Carp	Sardine	Shark
Cod	Sea Bass	Whale
Flounder	Shad	Clam
Fluke	Smelt	Crab
Haddock	Sole	Frog
Halibut	Trout	Lobster
Herring	Tuna	Oyster
Mackerel	Weakfish	Scallop
Pike	Whitefish	Shrimp

Fish and Seafood

Fish and Seafood
Kosher		Not Kosher
Anchovy	Porgy	Catfish	Snail
Bluefish	Red Snapper	Eel
Butterfish	Salmon	Porpoise
Carp	Sardine	Shark
Cod	Sea Bass	Whale
Flounder	Shad	Clam
Fluke	Smelt	Crab
Haddock	Sole	Frog
Halibut	Trout	Lobster
Herring	Tuna	Oyster
Mackerel	Weakfish	Scallop
Pike	Whitefish	Shrimp