Animals and Animality in the Babylonian TalmudAUTHOR: Beth A. Berkowitz, Barnard College, New York
DATE PUBLISHED: April 2018
AVAILABILITY: This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
FORMAT: Adobe eBook Reader
ISBN: 9781108542739$ 80.00 USD
Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud selects key themes in animal studies - animal intelligence, morality, sexuality, suffering, danger, personhood - and explores their development in the Babylonian Talmud. Beth A. Berkowitz demonstrates that distinctive features of the Talmud - the new literary genre, the convergence of Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian cultures, the Talmud's remove from Temple-centered biblical Israel - led to unprecedented possibilities within Jewish culture for conceptualizing animals and animality. She explores their development in the Babylonian Talmud, showing how it is ripe for reading with a critical animal studies perspective. When we do, we find waiting for us a multi-layered, surprisingly self-aware discourse about animals as well as about the anthropocentrism that infuses human relationships with them. For readers of religion, Judaism, and animal studies, her book offers new perspectives on animals from the vantage point of the ancient rabbis.
- Introduces animal studies to Jewish studies readers, showing them the important role played by animals within Judaism
- Offers coverage of a number of key areas within animal studies, giving readers an overview of major areas of interest in animal studies
- Highlights passages in the Babylonian Talmud that contribute surprising perspectives on animals, allowing readers of the Babylonian Talmud to see features in it that they never did before
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