Halakhah zu Schemot 25:5

The author of the article published in Kokhavei Yizḥak similarly regards the giraffe as a kosher species but, rather than identifying it with the zemer, he somewhat fancifully identifies it as the taḥash, the animal whose skin was used in the construction of the tabernacle as described in Exodus 25:5. The Gemara, Shabbat 28b, depicts the taḥash as a species that existed "in the days of Moses," that was made available to Moses for the specific purpose of use in construction of the tabernacle and that was subsequently concealed. Identification of the taḥash with the giraffe is based upon Targum Onkelos' translation of taḥash as "sasgavna," i.e., a creature that "delights in its colors," and the Arabic meaning of the term zerafah, i.e., "beautiful," as well as the putative derivation of the Hebrew "taḥash" from the verb "ḥashoh" meaning to be silent, reflecting the erroneous belief that the giraffe is mute.