Chaim Loike (born 1977 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to Marian Stoltz-Loike and

John Loike John Loike (born 1950 in Stockholm, Sweden) is an American research biologist and bioethicist at Touro University. Biography Loike has a Ph.D from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. His research focuses on the role of ...

) is an American

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

who works for the

Orthodox Union Kosher Orthodox Union Kosher, known as OU Kosher or OUK, is a kosher certification agency based in New York, New York. It was founded in 1923 by Abraham Goldstein. It is the certification agency of about 70% of kosher food worldwide, and is the largest ...

. He is an expert on kosher species of

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

."A Quacky Visitor at the OU", ''Jewish Action'' (Winter 2013) He is the director of the Biblical Ornithological Society.

Kosher bird species

The Bible gives a list of non-kosher birds in and . (See

kosher animals Kosher animals are animals that comply with the regulations of '' kashrut'' and are considered kosher foods. These dietary laws ultimately derive from various passages in the Torah with various modifications, additions and clarifications added to ...

for full article). However, today it is not clear which species the Bible had in mind. People who keep kosher rely on several rules listed in the Talmud and on tradition to know which birds may be consumed. Jewish law also dictates that birds that interbreed can be considered members of the same species. This is one of the reasons why

turkeys The turkey is a large bird in the genus ''Meleagris'', native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocella ...

, which were unknown in the Middle East in ancient time, are considered kosher by many Jewish groups. Over the past decade, Chaim Loike has interviewed Jewish elders from far-flung communities, such as

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

, to document their traditions regarding kosher bird species. He has also extensively bred and raised many exotic birds in order to determine their kosher status. Loike worked extensively on different species of quails in order to determine if they are kosher, and his research was used by Rabbi

Yisroel Belsky Chaim Yisroel HaLevi Belsky (August 22, 1938 – January 28, 2016) was an American rabbi and posek of Orthodox and Haredi Judaism. He was one of the roshei yeshiva (deans) at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, and rabbi of the summer camp network run by Aguda ...

as the basis for his ruling on the matter.''The Daf Hakashrus: A Monthly Newsletter for the OU Rabbinic Field Representative'', Vol. 13, No. 7 (April 2005) p.19 He has also written on the subject of partridges, ruling that several different species should follow the precedent set by the chukar partridge and be considered kosher."Crested-Wood Partridge Not Accepted as a Kosher Partridge", ''Behind the Union Symbol'' (Winter 2009) p.18 In another instance, he raised runner ducks. Rabbi Loike lectures extensively for the Orthodox Union on the subject, often bringing live birds for the presentations.''Durbach, Elaine, "Kosher Food Seminar is for the Birds - and Bugs" in ''New Jersey Jewish News'' May 18, 2011. He is also a lecturer at

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac a ...

Philby's Partridge

In 2013, Loike launched an online campaign to fund an investigation into the kosher status of

Philby's partridge Philby's partridge (''Alectoris philbyi'') or Philby's rock partridge, is a relative of the chukar, red-legged partridge and barbary partridges and is native to southwestern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen. Although similar in appearance to othe ...

. He aimed to raise a captive population of this endangered species, indigenous to Northern

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

. By proving the birds to be kosher, Loike hoped to create a market for them and thus stave off their extinction.

Publications

Loike has compiled a source book on the subject of kosher birds and eggs, published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.http://merhav.nli.org.il/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=NNL_ALEPH002689412&indx=1&recIds=NNL_ALEPH002689412&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&dscnt=0&tab=default_tab&dstmp=1384716423047&srt=rank&mode=Basic&dum=true&fromLogin=true&vl%28freeText0%29=loike&vid=NLI

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loike, Chaim American Orthodox rabbis 1977 births Living people 21st-century American Jews