Two Mythical beasts? TB Shabbat 28

We all know that Homer Simpson is not the most erudite person in the world. He reveals this fact again when Lisa his daughter decides to become a vegetarian. Here is their conversation:

“(Lisa) “I’m going to become a vegetarian”

 (Homer) “Does that mean you’re not going to eat any pork?”

“Yes”

“Bacon?”

“Yes Dad”

“Ham?”

“Dad all those meats come from the same animal”

“Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal!””

Today’s daf TB Shabbat 28 discusses the construction of the Mishkan, the portable Tabernacle, and its four different roof layers. The lowest covering was made of wool and linen. The second layer was made of goat hair. There is a debate whether there are two more layers or just one more layer made of two different animals skins. The third layer was made of hides of red rams. The fourth layer (or part of the third layer) was made from the hides of the tahash, תח שׁ.  from theThe Gemara wants to know exactly what animal the tahash is.

“The Gemara asks: What is the halakhic conclusion reached about this matter of the taḥash that existed in the days of Moses? Rabbi Ela said that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said that Rabbi Meir used to say: The taḥash that existed in the days of Moses was a creature unto itself, and the Sages did not determine whether it was a type of undomesticated animal or a type of domesticated animal. And it had a single horn on its forehead, and this taḥash happened to come to Moses for the moment while the Tabernacle was being built, and he made the covering for the Tabernacle from it. And from then on the taḥash was suppressed and is no longer found.” (Sefaria.org translation)

According to Nahum Sarna in his commentary on Exodus 25:5, he identifies the tahash as a “dolphin, with one exception, always refers to the covering of the tabernacle. Its exact meaning is uncertain. In rabbinic times the tahash was invested with mythical association and identified with the unicorn. Because of the similarity with the Arabic tuhas, duhs, which denote both the dolphin and the dugong found in the Red Sea, modern scholars have variously identified the biblical creature with one or the other. A suggestion to equate the term with Akkadian dusu (=tahsia), the name of a precious stone of either yellow or orange color, seems more plausible since the word is also used describe leather that is dyed and tanned the color of the stone. Significantly, on the hides of goats (and sheep) were so treated.” (The JPS Commentary: Exodus, page 157-158)

The Gemara proves that the tahash is a kosher animal. “From the fact that it is said that the taḥash had a single horn on its forehead, conclude from this that it was kosher, as Rav Yehuda said in a similar vein: The ox that Adam, the first man, sacrificed as a thanks-offering for his life being spared, had a single horn on its forehead, as it is stated: “And it shall please the Lord better than a horned [makrin] and hooved ox” (Psalms 69:32). The word makrin means one with a horn. The Gemara asks: On the contrary, makrin indicates that it has two horns. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Despite the fact that it is vocalized in the plural, it is written mikeren without the letter yod to indicate that it had only a single horn. (Sefaria.com translation)

Now everybody knows that a tahash is a kosher animal and a pig isn’t. Whether they are both mythical I’ll leave it up to you.