Animal Natures and Rabbinic Writings Beth Berkowitz considers animal cognition and relationships to humans in Jewish law Nearly anyone who has a pet has probably wondered: what is my dog thinking? What is my cat trying to communicate?
Do animals think the way I imagine them to, or am I simply imposing my humanness on my pet? In shortâhow are animals and humans different, or the same? The âhuman-animal binaryâ was the topic of the October 17 lecture by Professor Beth Berkowitz, who holds the Ingeborg Rennert Chair of Judaic Studies. The lecture, sponsored by the Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW), was part of the Ingeborg, Tamara, and Yonina Rennert Women in Judaism Forum. It was the seriesâ first talk since Berkowitz became the tenured chair. Berkowitz began her talk, âFrontiers in Jewish Studies: The Clever Ox, the Escaping Elephant, and Other Talmudic Animals,â by posing the question of âhow animal studies can
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cross-fertilize with Jewish studiesâ and rabbinics. How can insights from animal studies be brought to bear on Jewish texts, and, conversely, how can we find a place for Jewish traditions about animals within the framework of animal studies? Animal studies is a relatively new, still-evolving field of research that dissects notions of animal and human natures from a range of perspectives. The subject, explained Berkowitz, âwas fueled by science and new scientific research, which claims that other species have cognition and even culture comparable to that of human beings.â Berkowitz then went on to examine a Mishnah, or secondcentury Jewish legal text, that contains a section laying out a framework for holding an owner liable should his animalâ domestic or wildâcause injury or damage. An expert on classical rabbinic literature from around the second through