What Animals Teach Us about Families

Kinship and Species in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-0-520-40523-3
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 226 mm, Gewicht: 386 g

Reading the Bible and rabbinic literature to reimagine the bonds between animals.

Moving beyond debates about the ethics of animal consumption to focus on animals' intimate lives, Beth A. Berkowitz examines the contribution of religious traditions and sacred texts to contemporary conversations about animals. Reading the four "animal family" laws of the Bible alongside their rabbinic interpretations from ancient times to today, she examines the bonds that animals form with each other and reimagines family to include new forms of life and alternative modes of kinship.

Humanitarian politics—and biblical law—tend to take for granted that human interests supersede animal interests and that our moral obligation extends only to avoiding unnecessary suffering, but necessity is determined by humans. What Animals Teach Us About Families looks at animal emotions, animal agency, family diversity, and human response to reconsider the obligations and opportunities the animal family presents.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Berkowitz, Beth A

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften, Biologie: Sachbuch, Naturführer
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Tier- und Umweltschutz
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Introduction: What Animals Teach Us About Families
1. Do Animals Love Their Children? The Science of Animal Families
2. The Bible's Animal-Family Laws: What Are They, Are They Related, and Are They Humanitarian?
3. Animal Grandmothers: The Prohibition Against Same-Day Slaughter
4. Animal Mothers: The Prohibition Against Cooking a Kid in His Mother's Milk
5. Animal Fathers and Other Caregivers: Sending Off the Mother Bird
6. Animal Orphans: Keeping the Baby with the Mother for the First Week of Life
Conclusion: What Families Teach Us About Animals
Epilogue: Five Ways to Support Animal Families
With Rabbi Melissa Hoffman

Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Sources
General Index

Über Autor(innen)

Beth A. Berkowitz is Ingeborg Rennert Chair of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Barnard College.