tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post7629248303785087610..comments2024-01-18T18:37:20.986+02:00Comments on Zoo Torah: The Secret of the StincusNatan Slifkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04488707201313046847noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-59179651428462415142012-01-30T10:39:22.664+02:002012-01-30T10:39:22.664+02:00The darchei teshuvah's approach is very strang...The darchei teshuvah's approach is very strange and is certainly not the approach that Chazal or the Rishonim would have taken.Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07903561261083292772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-87634516516779555512012-01-30T10:33:27.817+02:002012-01-30T10:33:27.817+02:00To r slifkin,
I read your article with great inter...To r slifkin,<br />I read your article with great interest, however, I have seen another on topic article (citing more soures)concluding quite differently<br />see:<br />http://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/4915chanochynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-38584937226682602322009-08-14T12:36:49.578+03:002009-08-14T12:36:49.578+03:00If you're up for answering the question in my ...If you're up for answering the question in my first post, go for it. If not, it wouldn't be the end of the world.Philnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-50004129318800354292009-08-13T11:39:54.755+03:002009-08-13T11:39:54.755+03:00While we are talking fish, are piranna kosher? The...While we are talking fish, are piranna kosher? They have fins and scales (my parents caught them on a trip down the Amazon), but they are carnivorous. Does that restriction only apply to birds?<br />But then again, all fish are carnivorous.rwnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-84616299340709424122009-08-11T16:18:04.468+03:002009-08-11T16:18:04.468+03:00"Flying creatures" doesn't work eith..."Flying creatures" doesn't work either - the ostrich is in that list. So I prefer to translate it as "bird," and to explain that it being used in a loose, folk-sense, to cover everything birdish, including ostriches, penguins and bats.Natan Slifkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04488707201313046847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-52550264137416382212009-08-10T20:57:40.144+03:002009-08-10T20:57:40.144+03:00[this is a corrected version of a post sent a few ...[this is a corrected version of a post sent a few days ago.]<br /><br />Great article! Allow me to agree with your statement, "the Torah does not follow the classification system of modern zoology".<br />But allow me to disagree with your statement, "(and hence bats are listed amongst the non-kosher birds)".<br />Using the word "bird" to translate "oph" in the torah is an oversimplified inaccuracy perpetrated, I assume, in "antiquity" and ever since. The Living Torah by Rabbi A Kaplan translates "oph" more accurately as "flying creatures". Actually he sometimes translates "oph" simply as "birds", including one time where it is scientifically incorrect. [See the index of The Living Torah under "birds".] The word "oph" is related to "ye-opheph" [breishis 1] and "ta-uph" [va-eschanan?] which mean "to fly". In turn, these words seem to be related to "hasa-iph" [Mishlei] and "aphapayim" - blink, eyelid, which are related to "megilla aphah" - a FOLDED scroll; all these words have to do with folding - flying involves constant folding the wings down to each other [almost!] and unfolding them back up, so is blinking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-45656264433684817312009-08-10T05:42:43.005+03:002009-08-10T05:42:43.005+03:00Just wanted to say- your lectures at Etz Chaim ton...Just wanted to say- your lectures at Etz Chaim tonight were outstanding. Thanks!Nachumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11292162031685942549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-60328528420491362612009-08-09T21:47:36.085+03:002009-08-09T21:47:36.085+03:00Perhaps that link got cut off:
http://www.scienced...Perhaps that link got cut off:<br />http://www.sciencedaily.com/<br />releases/2009/03/090318153803.htmPhilnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-63880051185312399272009-08-09T13:11:05.709+03:002009-08-09T13:11:05.709+03:00I love the evolutionary phrase "nasal drift&q...I love the evolutionary phrase "nasal drift",<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_evolution#Skeletal_evolutionmud mousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-6350354272660669992009-08-07T18:20:43.067+03:002009-08-07T18:20:43.067+03:00A controversy about whale origins can be found her...A controversy about whale origins can be found here:<br />http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318153803.htm<br />"Is The Hippopotamus The Closest Living Relative To The Whale?"Philnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-53637790528748869692009-08-07T15:07:04.632+03:002009-08-07T15:07:04.632+03:00At the risk of stating the obvious, those who do n...At the risk of stating the obvious, those who do not favor the carnivorous mammals theory still see the evidence as clearly supporting whales descending from terrestrial mammals.Natan Slifkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04488707201313046847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-64286604471107069142009-08-07T04:55:23.884+03:002009-08-07T04:55:23.884+03:00It is said that whales originally descended from c...It is said that whales originally descended from carnivorous mammals, though this theory has fallen out of favor with some because it is not supported by molecular data ("New Views of the Origins of Mammals," by Dennis Normile. Science 281:774-775)Rewindnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-80288829044078592082009-08-07T04:17:57.990+03:002009-08-07T04:17:57.990+03:00you can see whales, which are superficially simila...you can see whales, which are superficially similar to fish .Oh so it must be around Tarshish (;Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-76487180965268283172009-08-06T19:34:28.663+03:002009-08-06T19:34:28.663+03:00Yes, there are more powerful examples of evolution...Yes, there are more powerful examples of evolution in the sea surrounding the Galapagos, where you can see whales, which are superficially similar to fish but which are physiologically much more similar to land animals and need to come to the surface for air.Natan Slifkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04488707201313046847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-62392660975652522392009-08-06T19:18:46.638+03:002009-08-06T19:18:46.638+03:00Zuri, if you wanted to word that properly, you wou...Zuri, if you wanted to word that properly, you would've said, "The Galapagos Islands are the most incredible living museum of a huge variety of exotic species (birds, land animals, plants) and landscapes not seen anywhere else, where you can see small examples of microevolution at work."Rewindnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-4340711171042270562009-08-06T16:38:45.580+03:002009-08-06T16:38:45.580+03:00The Galapagos Islands are the most incredible livi...The Galapagos Islands are the most incredible living museum of evolutionary changes, with a huge variety of exotic species (birds, land animals, plants) and landscapes not seen anywhere else.Zurihttp://www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-42053893738133870942009-08-06T06:10:55.104+03:002009-08-06T06:10:55.104+03:00Sorry, I am on the road and don't have access ...Sorry, I am on the road and don't have access to sefarim to check it.Natan Slifkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04488707201313046847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023153716190402200.post-69832030083095100022009-08-06T05:42:17.638+03:002009-08-06T05:42:17.638+03:00Great post!
May I ask a question?
"But Pri Ch...Great post!<br />May I ask a question?<br />"But Pri Chadash considers both of these explanations difficult, and answers instead that the Stincus marinus must have indeed had fins at some stage in its life, and that it is indeed kosher. "<br />I'm curious how emphatic Pri Chadash was. Did he really say "must have" or perhaps he was more tentative and said "/may have/... and that it /would be/ indeed kosher"? Thanks.Philnoreply@blogger.com