Letter from Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch – Halachic Responsum on the Kashrut of Ducks in the United States – ...

Letter from Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch – Halachic Responsum on the Kashrut of Ducks in the United States – Frankfurt am Main, 1862

Letter handwritten and signed by R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, rabbi of the Orthodox community in Frankfurt, founder and leader of the Orthodox communities in Germany. Frankfurt am Main, 1862. Hebrew.
Halachic responsum sent to the United States, regarding the kashrut of the barbary duck. The letter was sent to R. Yissachar Dov (Bernard) Illowy, rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Chesed in New Orleans (Louisiana, southern United States), in response to his query about the kashrut of barbary ducks (Muscovy ducks), for which there is no tradition, and whose eggs are typical of non-kosher birds.
In this letter, R. Samson Raphael Hirsh concurs with R. Illowy's opinion that the fact the duck is eaten by the local Jewish community is not sufficient to render the duck kosher by tradition, and that for lack of early, reliable tradition regarding the bird, it shouldn't be eaten, especially since its eggs are round, which is a sign of an egg laid by a non-kosher bird. The letter concludes with blessings that R. Illowy should be successful in reinstating Torah observance, and with the full signature of R. Samson Raphael Hirsh.
The present letter was published (with minor errors) in Milchamot Elokim (Berlin, 1914, p. 165) and quoted in the essay by R. Naftali Yechiel Weinberger, VehaOf Yirev BaAretz (Yeshurun, vol. XIV, Nissan 2004, p. 923).

R. Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) was the legendary leader of German Orthodox Jewry and founder of the association of independent communities. Born in Hamburg to R. Refael Frankfurt, he was a disciple of Chacham Bernays of Hamburg, and later of R. Yaakov Ettlinger, the Aruch LaNer of Altona. At the age of 22, he began serving as rabbi of Oldenburg, Emden and Nikolsburg. In 1850, he was summoned by eleven Orthodox families in Frankfurt am Main to stand at the helm of the new, Orthodox Adat Yeshurun community. R. Samson Raphael Hirsch was the first to attempt to stem the rapid spiritual decline of German Jewry, painstakingly rebuilding Orthodox Jewry in Germany. His Halachic and Torah authority earned him the undisputed position of leader of Orthodox Jewry in Western Europe. He invested great effort in establishing the independent communities in various German cities, and educated an entire generation to Torah and observance, through his discourses, books and essays (the Nineteen Letters, Horeb and others), which were originally delivered and written in German, and have since been translated and published in many editions, in Hebrew and other languages.
The recipient of the letter: R. Yissachar Dov Ber (Bernard) Illowy (1814-1871), disciple of the Chatam Sofer and rabbinically ordained by him. Born in Kolín, Bohemia, he moved to Germany ca. 1849 (due to the war in Bohemia), and reached the United States in 1852, where he served as rabbi in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Baltimore. In 1861, he was appointed rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Chesed in New Orleans (Louisiana), and worked to reinstate Torah observance, which was totally non-existent there, to the extent that even the rabbis publicly desecrated the Shabbat. In his letter to R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, R. Illowy describes the state of Torah observance in the United States in those times, and relates that since his arrival eight months earlier, he has succeeded in encouraging over ten families to begin keeping Shabbat and a kosher kitchen (Milchamot Elokim, pp. 162-164; quoted in the aforementioned essay in Yeshurun, vol. XIV, p. 924, note 75). From 1866, he served as rabbi of Congregation Sherith Yisrael in Cincinnati, and was amongst the opponents of Reform in the United States (Kinstlicher, HaChatam Sofer VeTalmidav, pp. 289-290). Over forty years after his passing, his sons published his correspondence with rabbis worldwide regarding his battles for Torah observance in the United States: Milchamot Elokim – The Controversial Letters and the Casuistic Decisions of the Late Rabbi Bernard Illowy, Berlin, 1914.

[1] leaf. 26 cm. Thin, bluish stationery. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and folding marks. Mounted on paper for preservation. Piece of envelope with address and postmarks pasted on verso.