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Kore - Identification of the Bird
Question
Rashi’s commentary
on I Samuel 26:20, explains that the Kore is a bird called
Perdix in Latin (Partridge in English). Rashi also states
that this bird acts peculiarly by looking for other birds’
nests in order to sit on their eggs. Within this same commentary
Rashi says that the Kore appearing in Jeremiah 17:11, is
also the Perdix. However, regarding this commentary on the
verse in Jeremiah, Rashi states that the Kore is the bird
called Coucou in French, or Cuckoo in English. Why the confusion
regarding the two distinct types of birds?
I find a second
contradiction in Rashi's commentary from the Babylonian
Talmud, Hulin 140b, which implies that the Kore is a pure
(Kosher) bird, while it is known that the Cuckoo is an impure
bird (non-Kosher). And finally, what is most difficult for
me is that Rashi’s identifying the Kore with the Cuckoo
goes against Nature’s Laws. The Cuckoo does not sit
on other birds’ eggs. In fact, it has the habit of
putting its own eggs in other birds’ nests. Can you
please help me understand these contradictions in the text?
Answer
Dear Michael,
Thank you for your question on the "Kore." It
is always fascinating to try and identify the animals appearing
in the Bible. According to the experts cited in the "Encyclopaedia
Mikrait", it is probably a bird from the Partridge
family (more specifically: Ammoperdix heyi), who has the
habit of laying its eggs in nests on the ground. Often a
few females lay their eggs in the same nest, and one of
them sit on the eggs. This could explain the meaning of
the verse in Jeremiah, which explains that the Kore raises
chicks that it did not give birth to. Another point important
for our discussion is that the Kore is an "Of tahor"
(pure bird). See Tosafot on Hulin p.63a.
Let's now examine
Rashi. In every place where the Kore appears in the Bible
and in the Talmud, Rashi identifies it rightfully with the
"perdrix" (in old French), or the Partridge. The
only exception is in his commentary on Jeremiah, where he
identifies the Kore with the Cuckoo. According to Yitzhak
Avinary in his book on Rashi, "Heichal Rashi",
vol. 2, p.298, Rashi changed his mind afterward and this
is what we can see in his commentary on the Babylonian Talmud
Hulin 140a, where he states that the Kore is a pure bird
and is NOT the one called Cuckoo ("Of tahor hu veLO
zehu shekorin kuku"). Also according to Avinary, on
Hulin 140a, in the original version of Rashi's commentary,
he does not state that the Kore is "Tameh"(impure),
as we have in our version. He just states that the Kore
is a bird whose habit is sitting on the eggs of others.
This fits Rashi's commentary on page 140b, where he explains
that when the Talmud speaks about a pure bird sitting on
pure eggs ("tahor vetahor"), it speaks about the
Kore.
All the best,
Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg
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