A virtual event presentation by Professor David Shyovitz

About The Event: 

Is Judaism—and by extension, religious identity—a category applicable only to human beings? Or might non-human animals also, in some sense, have religious standing and status? This session will explore some classical Jewish perspectives on this question, surveying medieval rabbinic debates over whether animals have immortal souls and are eligible for heavenly reward; whether they can—or must—perform religious commandments; how and when humans can transform into animals, and vice versa. While these subjects may seem fanciful, they were of obsessive interest to medieval Jewish thinkers. They had important implications for both Jewish self-understanding and debates between Jews and their Christian and Muslim neighbors.

About The Speaker: 

David Shyovitz is Associate Professor of Jewish History at Northwestern University and Director of NU’s Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies. He is the author of the award-winning A Remembrance of His Wonders: Nature and the Supernatural in Medieval Ashkenaz.