Natan Slifkin (also Nosson Slifkin) ( he, נתן סליפקין; born 25 June 1975 in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

), popularly known as the "Zoo Rabbi," is a British-born

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

community

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and the director of the

Biblical Museum of Natural History The Biblical Museum of Natural History, currently located in Hartuv at the entrance to Beit Shemesh, Israel, was founded in 2014 by Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, affectionately referred to as the "Zoo Rabbi." Vision and purpose The establishment des ...

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

, Israel. Slifkin is best known for his interests in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, Judaism's relationship to

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

biblical history The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a v ...

, and his writing (which is controversial among the

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

community) on these topics.

Biography

Slifkin was born and raised in Manchester,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, where he studied at a local

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

. He left in 1995 to continue his studies in the Medrash Shmuel yeshiva and Mir Yeshiva in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

Ohr Somayach Ohr Somayach may refer to: *Ohr Somayach (book), commentary by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk **''Ohr Somayach'', common reference to Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk *Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, a network of yeshivas based in Israel * Ohr Somayach, Monsey, a ...

Institutions, where he taught Talmud and contemporary Judaism. He now lives with his family in

Ramat Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

, where he runs the

. Slifkin has a master's degree in Judaic Studies from the

Lander Institute Lander Institute is a Jewish private institution of higher education, founded by Touro College . The school is located in Givat Shaul . The institution began operating in August 2004 and is named after Professor Bernard Lander, founder of Touro ...

in Jerusalem and a doctorate in Jewish History from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

, completed in 2016. His dissertation was entitled: ''Rabbinic and Maskilic Encounters with Zoology in the Nineteenth Century''.

Science, zoology and Torah

Slifkin explores traditional rabbinic perspectives in his books and discusses how they may relate to issues of interest to modern

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

. Slifkin is the author of numerous books dealing with the intersection of Torah, science and zoology. In Slifkin's approach to the reconciliation of Genesis and modern scientific theory, traditional

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

mandates neither a literalistic approach to

biblical cosmology Biblical cosmology is the biblical writers' conception of the cosmos as an organised, structured entity, including its origin, order, meaning and destiny. The Bible was formed over many centuries, involving many authors, and reflects shift ...

, nor a belief that the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

is always correct about scientific matters. Views similar to these were accepted by some as within the realm of Orthodox Judaism. A public debate triggered by Slifkin's books began regarding how literally Orthodox Judaism interprets the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

and how much weight should be given to the scientific discussions of rabbinic sages.

Rabbinic ban

Slifkin's books, which had "cautious references to evolutionary theory", led to a denunciation of his work by ultra-Orthodox authorities. The rabbis object to the tone of Slifkin's work, stating that "even what is not heretical is expressed in a way only a heretic would speak." The ban sparked a debate, largely on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, which led to Slifkin's publisher,

Targum Press Menucha Publishers is an Orthodox Jewish English-language publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally founded as a distributor for Targum Press, in 2011 after Targum's shutdown, Menucha established itself as an independent publish ...

discontinuing distribution of his books. Yashar Books, a smaller Jewish publisher, agreed to distribute them. ''Moment'' magazine quoted an anonymous rabbi who said: “The Slifkin ban is a huge break. It’s a kind of power struggle, and those who didn’t sign the ban are outraged right now. I’m talking about rabbis with long white beards who are furious about it...He’s saying out loud what a lot of people have been talking about quietly all along. To those people, he’s a kind of figurehead." Rabbi

Aharon Feldman Rabbi Aharon Feldman (born 1932) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel (Ner Israel Rabbinical College) in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei H ...

and Rabbi

Shlomo Miller Shlomo Eliyahu Miller is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages). He is a Rosh Kollel (dean) and co-founder of the Kollel Avreichim Institute for Advanced Talmud Study, a haredi post-yeshiva educational institution in Toron ...

wrote articles in defense of the ban, and Rabbi

Moshe Meiselman Moshe Meiselman is an American-born Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Toras Moshe in Jerusalem, which he established in 1982. He also founded and served as principal of Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA) from 1977 to 1982. ...

gave three lectures on this topic at Toras Moshe, although Rabbi Feldman grants that, even in the opinion of Rabbi Eliashiv, Slifkin "cannot be called a heretic" even though parts of the books are, in their view, heretical, because "he did follow, at least, a minority opinion." These defenses of the ban were themselves controversial, and Rabbi Slifkin posted them all on his website, together with rebuttals written by various people. Rabbi Meiselman requested that Rabbi Slifkin remove the lectures from his website, a request to which Slifkin did not acquiesce. In 2013, Rabbi Meiselman released a nearly 900 page book entitled "Torah, Chazal, and Science", which he stated "was in response to some recent controversies surrounding issues of Torah and science. A spate of books... have attempted to introduce a radical new theology and proclaim it compatible with classic Jewish belief." Chaim Malinowitz broke with his Haredi colleagues in not seeking a ban on Slifkin's books. On 5 October 2008 Slifkin published an essay entitled ''In Defense of My Opponents'' in which he acknowledges that there is a reasonable basis for a ban on his books in certain communities.

Published works

Slifkin is the author of numerous books on Torah and zoology: *''The Science of Torah: The Reflection of Torah in the Laws of Science, The Creation of the Universe and the Development of Life'' (Targum Press 2001) . Later republished in a revised and expanded edition as ''The Challenge of Creation: Judaism's Encounter with Science, Cosmology and Evolution'' (Zoo Torah/Yashar Books 2006) *''Mysterious Creatures'' (Targum Press 2003) . Republished in a revised and expanded edition as ''Sacred Monsters: Mysterious and Mythical Creatures of Scripture, Talmud and Midrash'' (Zoo Torah/Yashar Books 2006) *''The Camel, the Hare and the Hyrax: A Study of the Laws of Animals with One Kosher Sign in Light of Modern Zoology'' (Targum Press 2004) . Republished with corrections in 2011. *''Lying for Truth: Understanding Yaakov's Deception of Yitzchak'' (Targum Press 1998) * ''Second Focus: Original and Stimulating Essays on Jewish Thought'' (Targum Press 1999) *''In Noah's Footsteps: Biblical Perspectives on the Zoo'' ( The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens 2000) *''Nature's Song: An Elucidation of Perek Shirah, the Ancient Text that Lists the Philosophical and Ethical Lessons of the Natural World'' (Targum Press 2001) . Republished in 2009. *''Man and Beast: Our Relationship with Animals in Jewish Law and Thought'' (Zoo Torah/Yashar Books 2006) *''The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom'' (Maggid 2015) *''Rationalism Vs. Mysticism: Schisms in Traditional Jewish Thought'' (Gefen 2021) Slifkin writes a blog called "Rationalist Judaism," in which he promulgates his opinions on Jewish thought. He has also published

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s on many of his topics of interest.

References

External links