Indian turkey
Indian turkeyIStock

Is there a possible connection between the Hebrew word for Turkey (tarnegol hodu) and Christopher Columbus? From a linguistic and historical point of view, yes, there is.

In the Megillah, we know that Achashverosh ruled from Hodu until Kush. Hodu was India. When Christopher Columbus landed in America, he thought he had reached India. Therefore, the unusual fowl he saw there for the first time, what today we call simply "turkeys", was called the "Indian Turkey", which in Hebrew is called tarnegol hodu.

Gratitude

The foundational definition of a Jew is Yehudi, from the root of the word modeh, to give thanks. We are a people premised on the idea of gratitude: to give thanks to our Creator, G-d, our parents, and to all those who came before us. Rav Soloveitchik holds that Thanksgiving is a permitted holiday for Jews to celebrate and doesn’t fall into any of the halakhic problems of following the customs of other nations of the world.

A Spiritual Nation

If you think about it, America was founded by religious figures who saw G-d as the Ultimate Ruler. This, in itself, is a reason for us to be thankful to live in America.

In addition, the Bill of Rights gives an individual the ability to shield himself from government overreach. A dictatorship was put in check.

The Mesorah

The kashrus of a bird is based on mesorah. Mesorah is a fundamental concept that Rav Soloveitchik emphasized in all of his teachings. It’s the underpinning of our responsibility to pass all of our teachings onto the next generation. It works well with Thanksgiving, a time to be grateful to our Creator who gave us a place of freedom to live and to the Founders who based our society on Divine law. With this freedom, we have the opportunity to pass on our enshrined ideas to the next era.

Conclusion

For 2024, Finder.com notes that Americans will spend “an estimated $983.3 million” on turkeys, and the USDA estimates that approximately 46 million will be consumed. The tarnegol hodu will be enjoyed by many Americans, as it’s a symbol of gratitude to a country Christopher Columbus thought he discovered, and it’s a time for us to give thanks for having the freedom to pass on the Mesorah.