The Reproduction of Species: Humans, Animals and Species Nonconformity in Early Rabbinic Science

Tracing an early rabbinic approach to the human, this article analyzes how the Tannaim of the Mishnah and Tosefta set the human side by side with other species, and embedded their account within broader considerations of reproduction, zoology and species crossings. The human here emerges at the inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Jewish studies quarterly
Main Author: Neis, Rachel 1973- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Mohr Siebeck [2017]
In: Jewish studies quarterly
IxTheo Classification:BH Judaism
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
NCF Sexual ethics
TF Early Middle Ages
Further subjects:B Bodily Variation Likeness Rabbinic science of reproduction Species
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Tracing an early rabbinic approach to the human, this article analyzes how the Tannaim of the Mishnah and Tosefta set the human side by side with other species, and embedded their account within broader considerations of reproduction, zoology and species crossings. The human here emerges at the intersection of menstrual purity law and Temple sacrificial law in the tractates of Niddah and Bekhorot and is part of a reproductive biology that sought to determine the boundaries and overlaps between species. This rabbinic biology ought to be understood amid ancient conversations about what constitutes a proper member of a species, in terms of reproduction, resemblance and variation. The article shows how, even as it disavows genealogical links between humans and animals (and indeed across other species), rabbinic reproductive biology nonetheless implicates humans among and as animals.
ISSN:1868-6788
Contains:Enthalten in: Jewish studies quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1628/094457017X15072727130648