The Camel, The Hare and the Hyrax Second Edition Extract

8/3/2019 The Camel, The Hare and the Hyrax Second Edition Extract

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The Camel,

The Hare,

And The Hyrax

Te laws of animals

with one kosher sign

in light of modern zoology

SECOND EDITION

Rabbi Natan Slikin

Zoo orah/ Geen Books


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Copyright 2011 by Natan Slikin

www.zootorah.com

www.rationalistjudaism.com

Corrections and updates to this book will be posted online

at www.zootorah.com/hyra

All rights reserved

No part o this publication may be translated, reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system or transmitted, in any orm or by any means, electronic,

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permission in writing rom the publisher and the copyright holder.

ISBN 978-965-229-575-0

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Chapter Six

ShafanTe Hyrax

Te Identity of the Shafan

Te popularand as we shall see, correctunderstanding o the shafanis that it reers to the hyra.1 Tese are also called dassies, rock badgers,

rock rabbits, damans, and klipdas. Hyraes (the plural orm is sometimes written as hyra or hyraces) are small mammals that somewhat

resemble very large guinea pigs, although they are ar more agile. According

to mainstream zoological taonomy, hyraes are classied as being most

closely related to elephants (!) and are in the category o subungulates,

meaning that they are almost ungulates (hooed mammals), but not quite.

Te species ound in Israel is Procavia capensis(sometimes called Procaviasyriaca), known in Modern Hebrew as shafan sela and in English as the

rock hyra.raditional sources or identiying the shafan as the hyra include Rav

Saadia Gaon (882-942 CE), Ibn Janach2 and evuos Ha-Aretz. Tese

1 Note that the term coney, which is used in some works as a translation oshafan orarneves, usually reers to the rabbit, and was originally used by European and Americantranslators who were unamiliar with the hyra. Since then, the word has sometimes also

been used to reer to the hyra.2 Rabbeinu Yonah Ibn Janach, Sefer HaShorashim (Berlin 1896), shafan.


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Chapter Si: ShaanTe Hyra

89

authorities translate shafan as wabr, which is the most common andwidespread Arabic name or the hyra.1

Te Septuagint translates shafan as coirogrullion, which is a dicultword to translate. Tere is a report that this is to be identied with the

jerboa, a type o jumping rodent.2 However, as we shall discuss at the endo this chapter, this is not an acceptable identication or the shafan, sinceit does not match the description o the shafan being a non-rodentlikecreature that hides under rocks. According to Gesenius, coirogrullionmeans bristly animal or hairy animal.3 Some have understood this

to reer to the hedgehog. Yet this cannot be correct, as hedgehogs do not

live in rocks and do not do anything that could be described as bringing

up the cud. But Gesenius eplains that this name reers to the hyra, and

states that the Arabic name wabrconveys the same meaning, due to itsrough skin and bristles. Tis may reer to the long, sti hairs that emerge

1 H. B. ristram, Te Natural History of the Bible (New Jersey: Gorgias Press 2002,reprint o 1883 ed.), p. 75.

2 From a Coptic-Arab dictionary cited by Ernst Friedrich Rosenmller, Handbuch derBiblischen Alterthumskunde(Leipzig: Baumgrtner 1823-1831) vol 4 part II p. 214.

3 Wilhelm Gesenius, A Hebrew & Chaldean Lexicon to the Old estament(London:Willams & Norgate 1867, translation by Samuel Davidson) p. 1432.

A rock hyrax


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HE CAMEL, HE HARE AND HE HYRAx

90

at intervals all over its body, which the hyra uses like whiskers to eel its

way in dark tunnels.1

In the th century, Hieronymus eplained coirogrullion to reer to acreature that is no larger than a hedgehog, and resembling both a bear and

a mouse; he notes that it is thereore also called arktomys, which literallymeans bear mouse.2 He describes it as being very common in Israel and

living in caves in the rocks. oday, arktomys is the Latin name or themarmot (known in America as the woodchuck or groundhog), but these

are not native to the region o Israel, and they live in tunnels rather than

rocks. It seems that Hieronymus was reerring to the hyra.3 Various others

who studied the animals o the Bible, such as the eighteenth-century

eplorer James Bruce,4 and the nineteenth-century German Hebraist

Ernst Friedrich Rosenmller,5 also concluded that the shafan is the hyra.

Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush, 1809-1879) also eplains that shafanreers to the hyra, and gives reasons or this that we shall see later. So,

too, is the conclusion o Rabbi Dovid zvi Homan (1843-1921).6

Te Israeli zoologists, Proessor Shimon Bodenheimer,7 Dr. Menachem

Dor,8

and Dr. Yehudah Feliks,9

who careully studied the zoology o theorah, all concluded that the shafan is the hyra. Tis is also the preerredconclusion o the contemporary orah scholars who have published works

1 Rosenmller (op. cit. p. 220) likewise states that the hyra earns its Amharic nameoaschkoko due to its possessing hedgehog-like hairs that resemble thorns, called aschokin Amharic.

2 Letter to Sunnias and Fretela (403 CE). Cited by Rosenmller and Rabbi Dovid zviHoman.

3 However, Rosenmller (op. cit. p. 214) understands it to reer to the jerboa.

4 James Bruce, ravels to Discover the Source o the Nile (1790) vol. 5.

5 Ernst Friedrich Rosenmller, Handbuch der Biblischen Alterthumskundevol 4 part IIpp. 213-222.

6 Commentary to Leviticus 11:5, p. 228.

7 Pro. Shimon Bodenheimer, HaChai BEretz Yisrael(el Aviv: Dvir 1953) p. 245.

8 Dr. Menachem Dor, HaChai BiMai HaMikra HaMishnah VeHaalmud (el-Aviv:

Graor-Datal books 1997), p. 56.9 Pro. Yehudah Feliks, Te Animal World of the Bible(el-Aviv: Sinai 1962) p. 45.


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specializing in animals o the orah, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Levinger1 and

Rabbi Amitai ben-David2and, o course, this author. As we shall see,

only those who were unamiliar with the hyra thought that the shafan isa dierent animal such as the rabbit or jerboa.

Evidence for the Hyrax

Tere are several dierent lines o evidence demonstrating that shafanreers to the hyra. First, there are some verses in Scripture which match

the hyra perectly:

:

Te shefanim are not a strong people, but they place their home in the rock.Proverbs 30:26

Being relatively small animals, hyraes are preyed upon by eagles,

jackals, hyenas and snakes. Tey are indeed not a strong people.

Te verse urther states that they place their homes in the rocks (the

name shafan is eplained by some to mean hidden one). A similardescription is given elsewhere:

:

Te high hills are or the ibe, the rocks are a reuge (machseh) or the shefanim.Psalms 104:18

- :

MachsehEvery orm o the word machseh is a term o shade and reuge,where a person hides rom the storms and rain, abriementin Old French.

Rashi ad loc.

Tere are dierent species o hyra, but the species ound in Israel

always lives in rocky areas (and hence is called the rock hyra). Tey

have a multitude o tunnels and hiding places in these rocks, and when

danger threatens, they all dart into hiding:

1 Rabbi Yisrael Meir Levinger, Maor LeMaseches Chullin (Jerusalem: Maskil LeDavid

1995) p. 4.2 Rabbi Amitai Ben David, Sichas Chullin (Jerusalem: Medrash Bikkurei Yose 1995) p. 410.


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Te habits o the coney (hyraN.S.) are very accurately portrayed in

the Psalms and in Proverbs. It does not, like a rabbit, scoop out a burrow

or itsel, but lives in holes in the rocks, where it makes its nest and

conceals its young, and to which it retires at the least alarm.

H.B. ristram, Te Natural History of the Bible

(New Jersey: Gorgias Press 2002, reprint o 1883 ed.) p. 76

wherever there are rocky clis, outcrops o boulder screes providing

cavities in which the colonies can nd shelter, one can reasonably epect

to nd hyra Rock hyraces do not burrow but inhabit any type o

rock providing suitable cavities as dwelling holes.

J. B. Sale, Te habitat o the rock hyra,Journal of the East African Natural History

Society(1966) 25 pp. 205-214

Tese reuges serve to protect the hyra rom predators, including

leopards, hyenas, but principally eagles.1Verreaus eagle (Aquila verreauxii)is the major predator o hyraes, eeding upon them almost eclusively.2

Tis predation by birds is highlighted in the Midrash:

1 H. Hoeck, Hyraes, in Te Encyclopedia of Mammals (Ed. D. MacDonald,

Oordshire: Andromeda Oord 2001).2 V. Gargett, Te Black Eagle: A Study(Randburg, South Arica: Acorn Books, 1990).

A hyrax emerging from its hiding place under the rocksat Ein-Gedi in Israel


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...

Te rocks are a reuge or hyraesTese hyraes hide under cletsrom birds fying overhead, that they should not eat them

Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 12:9

In the aorementioned verse, the shafanim are described immediatelyater the ibe (a species o wild goat). Tis may suggest geographical

proimity, and indeed both ibees and hyraes are noticeably abundant in

the hills surrounding the Dead Sea, especially in the region o Ein Gedi.

In the Ehkili dialect o Arabic (Sabean) the hyra is called thufun,rom the root thafan, which is related to the Hebrew word shafan.1 As IbnEzra states, Arabic names provide strong evidence or an animals orah

identity.2

As we saw in chapter two, several opinions eplain that the orah

specically wanted to warn against eating those non-kosher animals that

were commonly eaten by people in the area. Hyraes are indeed a popular

ood item:

Te fesh is much prized by the Arabs.

H.B. ristram, Te Natural History of the Bible

(New Jersey: Gorgias Press 2002, reprint o 1883 ed.) p. 77

Some present another reason or identiying shafan as hyra. Historianssay that 3000 years ago, Phoenician sailors eplored the Mediterranean,

sailing westward rom their homeland on the coast o Syria. Tey ound

land where they saw many animals which, according to the literature, they

thought were hyraes (but which subsequently turned out to be rabbits),and so they called the place Ishaphan, Island o the Hyra. Te Romans

later modied the name to Hispania, and we now know it as Spain.3

However, even i true, this only shows that the Phoenicians considered

1 Fulgence Fresnel,Journal Asiatique, 3rd series, v. 514, cited in Te Jewish Encyclopedia(New York and London: Funk & Wagnalls Company 1901), Coney; H. B. ristram,Te Natural History of the Bible, loc. cit.

2 Commentary to Leviticus 11:13.3 H. Hoeck, Hyraes, in Te Encyclopedia of Mammals.


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rabbits to resemble shafanim; it does not necessarily mean that the shafanis the hyra.

Finally, the almud (Chullin 59a) states that, unlike most ruminants,the arnevesand shafan possess upper teeth. Tis matches the hyra, whichpossess large upper incisors.

Arguments against the HyraxAside rom the question regarding whether the hyra is maaleh gerah,

are there any arguments against the hyra being the shafan? Tose orwhom the hyra presents diculties or using this topic as a proo or the

divine origins o the orah (as we shall later eplore) sometimes claim that

there are. One strategy is to cite descriptions o the shafan rom medievalauthorities which do not match the hyra. However, these authorities did

not live in the region o the Land o Israel and would in any case not have

been amiliar with the hyra. Due to this, they would have misinterpreted

the term as reerring to an animal with which they were amiliar, such as

the rabbit.

Another argument is that the hyra is a sheretz(verminous creature),and would thereore not be listed here as a chayah (regular wild mammal).

As we shall see later, there is dispute as to whether the term sheretzreersto a creatures build, in terms o it being small with tiny legs, or to its

scurrying manner o locomotion. While the hyra does possess thosecharacteristics to a certain degree, it is still substantially dierent rom

wo views of a hyrax skull


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the classic sheratzimsmall rodents and lizards. Adults measure aroundtwenty inches in length and weigh si to ten pounds. Tey walk with their

body much higher o the ground than do small rodents and lizards, and

oten leap around. Tere are certainly adequate grounds or rating the

hyra as a chayah.

Finally, it is important to note that the hyra cannot be disqualiedrom being the shafan unless a more likely alternative is proposed. Aseplained in the previous chapter, it is not viable to propose the eistence

o an unknown and etinct creature. As discussed in chapter our, it could

not reer to any o the lamoids. And as we shall discuss soon, there are

no other candidates. Te hyra is not only a superb candidate based on

numerous lines o evidence; it is also the onlycandidate.

Hooves of the Hyrax

Hyraes do not have hooves in the commonly used sense o the term.

However, their eet are o a peculiarly solid shape with a rubbery teture.

Te ront oot has our toes that are little more than stubby outgrowths o

the oot, while the hind eet possess three longer toes that are joined or

much o their length but are still ar more divided than those o the ront

eet. At the end o the toes are thick nails, concerning which one reerence

work states:

A rock hyrax walking over rocks


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Tese are not nails, but rather true hooves.

H. Hoeck, in Grzimeks Encyclopedia of Mammals, vol. 4 p. 541

According to some commentaries, the orah is saying that the hyradoes not possess split eet, while according to others, it is saying that it

does not possess hooves at all. Since the hyras nails do not encase the

oot, it is not rated as a hoo in the orah sense o the term (similar to the

camel). Midrash Lekach ovstates that the shafan possesses paws, whichwould adequately describe a hyra.

Malbim sees the oot structure o the hyra as being perectly described

in the words o the verse: ufarsah lo yafris (Leviticus 11:5), which is written in the uture tense. Te precise meaning o this phrase (ascontrasted with that describing the camel and the hare) is that it does not

nish developing cloven hooves on its ront eet, even though it looks as

though it has started developing them on its hind eet.1

1 Malbim, who had almost certainly never actually seen a hyra, apparently thoughtthat the hyra has a ully split hind oot.

Front and bottom view of the forefeet of a hyrax

Bottom view of the hindfoot of a hyrax


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Does the Hyrax Chew its Cud?

Although, as we shall later discuss in detail, hyraes possess unusual

digestive systems, there is no chamber producing cud to be chewed.Tis in itsel does not rule out the possibility o the ood being simply

regurgitated anyway. But based on observations o their behavior, it seems

that this does not happen. Zoological tets thereore state that the hyra

is not a ruminant. Te source usually cited or this inormation is Dr.

Hendrik Hoeck. Dr. Hoeck perormed eld research on the behavioral

ecology o hyraes at the Serengeti Research Institute in anzania. He is

the author o several papers about hyraes, and is widely considered as an

epert in this amily o animals. He writes:

Hyraes do not ruminate. However, their gut is comple, comprising

three separate areas o microbial digestion, and their ability to digest

ber eciently is similar to that o ruminants.

H. Hoeck, Hyraes, in Te Encyclopedia of Mammals(Ed. D. MacDonald) p. 449

But a contrasting view is presented in a study o hyraes by Dr. Aharon

Meltzer and Michah Levnah, although these authors note that it is o

doubtul credibility:

An interesting piece o inormation has been presented by one researcher,

that hyraes in captivity, which are ed on dried grasses, chew the cud or

about hal an hour daily. Te hyra is also rated as chewing the cud in

the Bible. However, other researchers place doubts on the authenticity

o this observation.

Shafan HaSelaim (Israel: Massada 1982) p. 60

Te researcher reerred to is the zoologist Dr. Hubert Hendrichs, whoalso cites the 18th century traveler James Bruce. Hendrichs reports as

ollows:

In the summer o 1962 I observed duikers over 24-hour periods in

the Round House at the Frankurt zoo. I simultaneously observed

eight hyra that had arrived rom Eritrea, and saw them at night, in

a resting position, several hours ater their last ood intake, chewing

or a considerable time. However with the bad light and the distance

to the closely crouching animals I could not recognize details. In theHellabrunn ierpark, Munich, I could more precisely observe 3 hyraes


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(Procavia capensis). Due to two ortunate circumstances I am able tostate that they actually ruminated:

1. During the quiet winter months (1962/63) the animals were sotrusting that they ruminated even during the day.

2. One o the animals, Grey, requently used a place or rumination

that was directly at the window which separates it rom the observer.

Tereore I could oten precisely observe it rom a distance o only 1

meter and saw a sequence o dozing, eructations, taking the ruminating

position, regurgitating a bolus, chewing, intermediate swallowing, and

nal swallowing. Once I could clearly also observe with Brown the

sequence o regurgitation, chewing, and swallowing.Since with these two animals I clearly determined re-chewing, this

was probably also the case with the animals in Frankurt, although

in the spring o 1963 I was not able to clearly ollow the sequence o

regurgitation, chewing, and swallowing with them. I repeatedly saw

eructations and swallowing as a conclusion o chewing, accompanied

by convulsions.

Te Jewish legislators (Leviticus 11:5) already knew that the hyra

chews the cud. Tey placed it with the impure animals, because itchews the cud, but has no split hooves. Bruce, who toured the Nile

countries rom 1768 to 1773, writes rom Aschkoko about the hyra:

I never heard a sound rom it, but it reliably ruminates; in order to

eamine this I kept it alive or some time.1

H. Hendrichs, Vergleichende Untersuchung des wiederkau-verhaltens[Comparative

investigation o cud retainers], Biologisches Zentralblatt(1965) 84:6 pp. 736-739

(translated rom German)

According to Hendrichs report, the reason why the hyras cud chewingbehavior remained unconrmed or so long is that the animal chews

cud or only 20 to 50 minutes per day and usually at night. However, as

noted, others doubt the accuracy o the observations and deductions o

Hendrichs and Bruce:

Troughout my observations o rock hyraces I have ound no evidence

o rumination Hyra will sometimes produce a chewing motion

1 James Bruce, ravels to Discover the Source of the Nile(1790) vol. 5.


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without having recently ingested and such action is particularly common

when they are conronted by something which is strange to them. It

has been observed, or eample, when captive animals are introduced toan unamiliar animal species such as a caged bird. Newly-captured and

nervous animals requently show it when being observed by humans.

this motion reminds one orcibly o a ruminant and is probably responsible

or the statement by some observers that hyra chews the cud (Bruce,

1790) Hendrichs (1963) claims to have observed rumination in P.capensisin captivity in Europe. He inorms me that the animals chewedthe cud or hr (in 24 hr) when ed on dried grass (? hay). Until more

details o these observations are available it is unwise to comment but

my own view is that although hyra sometimes chew in the absence o

ingestion, they do not regurgitate material rom the stomach or urther

mastication. Te simple structure o the stomach would appear to make

such action etremely unlikely. Should rumination be established, the

accuracy o the Bible (Lev. xI, 5), where the coney is stated to chew the

cud, will be attested.

J. B. Sale, Daily ood consumption and mode o ingestion in the hyra,

Journal of the East African Natural History Society(1966) 25 pp. 215-224

Dr. Hendrik Hoeck, author o the statement in Te Encyclopedia ofMammals that hyraes do not ruminate, likewise claims that Hendrichsconclusion was mistaken:

I have been asked several times the question i hyra chew the cud. I

know that it is mentioned in the Bible and Dr. Hubert Hendrichs is the

last scientist to report it.

For the past 30 years I have been observing hyra and I never saw this

behavior in the eld. However, when an animal shows antagonisticbehavior (threatens and/or is araid) it will make chewing movements,1

which could be interpreted as chewing the cud. Dr. Hendrichs made

his observation while the animal was in captivity in a cage. Tereore

Im pretty sure that the animal he observed was showing antagonistic

behavior towards him. Maybe the observations in the Bible were also

made in captive animals.

1 Tis is also reported by Dr. Aharon Melzer in Shafan HaSelaim. More sources or thiswill be cited later.


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Many years ago I echanged this inormation with Aharon Meltzer (co-

author oShafan HaSelaim) and we both were in agreement.

I observed on a ew occasions in resting rock hyra that they willmake chewing movements (3-4). Sometimes I heard this also during the

night, when resting animals were huddling. Maybe it is a orm o social

communication? I had a habituated animal and by having a close look I

could not see any indication that she was chewing a cud.

H. Hoeck, personal communication 2002

Te matter has not been ully resolved. Some might wish to rely on

Dr. Hendrichs (and on the simple reading o the orah) that hyraes do

indeed regurgitate their ood and chew it again. Others will preer to relyon the research o Dr. Sale and Dr. Hoeck, especially since Hendrichs

reports o rumination in other animals has likewise been challenged.1

Tere is another possibility. Tere is a phenomenon called merycism

that we shall later discuss in detail. It is a limited variation o rumination

which is ound in Australian marsupials such as koalas and kangaroos.

With merycism, the animal regurgitates a small amount o ood, and it is

not chewed as thoroughly as is the case with ruminants, nor does it playas undamental a role in digestion. Still, it may well qualiy or the label o

maaleh gerah. It could be that the observations o chewing motions in thehyra are due to merycism.

In response to the question o whether merycism might occur with the

hyra, Proessor Ian Hume, author o several papers on hyra physiology,

makes a startling suggestion:

I wouldnt be surprised i merycism was widespread amongst mammals

It seems to be an eective way o increasing salivary fow or buering

acid and/or increasing starch digestion merycism should be just as

likely to occur in hindgut as in oregut ermenters. Perhaps it is more

important in oregut ermenters because o the production o acid by the

orestomach ermentation [But] the hyra has a third ermentation

area, in the orestomach. Te production o acetic and lactic acids in

1 Hendrichs report on kangaroos as ruminants has been strongly challenged, as we shallsee later.


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the orestomach need to be buered, possibly by saliva. So even though

the hyra is primarily a hindgut ermenter, there might be a need or

merycism to stimulate saliva fow.I. Hume, personal communication 2003, 2011

In response to a paper about merycism in koalas, Dr. Hoeck admitted

that this might also take place with hyraes:

I cannot eclude that similar behavior could occur in hyra. It needs to

be investigated very careully...

H. Hoeck, personal communication 2003

Proessor Christine Janis, who specializes in the relationship ocraniodental morphology to diet in ungulates, and is the author o a paper

on hyraes that we shall later cite, writes:

when I kept pet hyraces I would occasionally (maybe up to two or

three times per week) see them doing some brie chewing movements...

Its not regular rumination, as in a true ruminant, but it may be that they

regurgitate and rechew a little bit o ood.

Christine Janis, personal communication 2003

Tis author has managed to lm such behavior, which can be viewed

online.1 Te hyra was not involved in eating at the time, yet is making

chewing motions with its mouth, similar to those o a ruminant. Further-

more, there oten appears to be movement in the throat, which indicates

that this is a process related to ood rather than communication.

Tus, there is a distinct likelihood that the hyra practices merycism,

and is thereore described as bringing up the cud. It should be noted,

however, that i this is the case, then there are several other animals whichlikewise possess one kosher sign. We shall discuss merycism and marsupials

in greater detail in a separate chapter.

Does the HyraxNotChew its Cud?

As ar as most people know, the hyra does not chew its cud. It is

on these grounds that some atheists state that the Bible contains blatant

1 See http://www.zootorah.com/hyra.

Documents

The Camel, The Hare and the Hyrax Second Edition Extract