"Mouth of the Donkey" (Laura Duhan-Kaplan)

TITLE: Mouth of the Donkey: Re-imagining Biblical Animals
AUTHOR: Laura Duhan-Kaplan
PUBLISHER: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021, (94 days).
 

Children are often fascinated with animals. They ask interesting questions like, "What does this animal eat?" "If this animal fights against the leopard, will it win?" "Will the deer outrun the tiger?" For Sunday School teachers and those teaching children in churches, animals in the Bible often bring out curiosity in kids. That is why animal narratives in the Bible are some of the most popular stories to tell little children. They paint Noah's Ark with glee. They imagine pairs of animals living inside the ark. They participate in plays that reenact Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt. Even the Old Testament prophecies give us images of sheep, lambs, wolves, and many others. Animals are not just the domain of children. Adults too sing the classic hymn, "All Creatures of our Lord and King," as well as the popular choruses, "As the Deer" and "Lion of Judah." How do we interpret the use of animals in the Bible? According to author and professor, Laura Duhan-Kaplan, she adopts a four-level interpretation based on Kabbalistic teachings. 

1. Plain literal (peshat)
2. Exposition of recurring ethical themes (derash)
3. Allegorical (remez)
4. Secret allusions to God's nature (sod)

In her re-imagination of animals in the Bible, she uses all four levels. At the same time, she admits that it is sometimes not possible to demarcate them clearly. While ecological ethics might come into play in her discussions, the primary aim of this book is to learn to see how God made everything good. She starts with humans, exploring the many dimensions of human thinking and observing the world. From a world of sheep, she looks at themes of following, purification, sacrifice, and their relationship with people. As donkeys throughout the world are used as guides in the wilderness, she weaves in spiritual guidance as a way to understand the use of donkeys. She explores donkeys from empirical, literary, magical, and meditative. The title of this book is essentially based on the famous story of the talking donkey of Balaam. The corvid (or a kind of raven) is seen as some kind of a territorial creature, a bird of the evening. Like humans, they too gather in groups. The snake is often linked to something evil, like the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve. She also notes how humans too have started to behave like snakes. She applies her observations and imaginations to other animals like the eagle, the locus, the wolf, and the lamb together, giving us glimpses of biblical warnings, and world peace.

My Thoughts
This is a unique book that does not carry just one level of interpretation. As far as understanding the role of animals is concerned, Duhan-Kaplan approaches the different interpretations more from a literary angle instead of literal readings. At times, she redirects to metaphorical interpretations, which some readers who are not used to might struggle with. She admits that while she tries to look for "authorial intent" in her interpretations, sometimes she lets her metaphorical curiosity get the better of her. Readers will need to discern what levels the author is at any one time, which might interrupt the reading flow, especially for those of us used to literal readings. Sometimes, she even talks to animals, like how she speaks to bald-faced hornets interrupting her in her notebook. 

What I appreciate in this book is the creative angle of looking at God's creation via the perspective of animals in the Bible. We are reminded that God has created everything good. We need to see from God's perspective as far as possible and recognize that God has a purpose in all of his creation. Even detestable creatures like locusts, wasps, and even snakes have lessons for us to learn. For instance, in the chapter on locusts, biblically we see how God used locusts as a way of judgment and punishment. Duhan-Kaplan subtly points to an analogy of how human beings can behave like locusts in their treatment of the environment. That is a fair way to apply and remind all of us about ecological responsibility. I like the way the author ends the book with the hope of world peace. That is the biblical message of the future as in Isaiah. Sometimes, humans find it hard to live peacefully with one another. We are reminded to see the vision of animals living in peace. Just as God used Balaam's donkey to talk sense to humans, maybe God is using animals to help us find peace.

This is a unique book that combines literary art with biblical reflections. It is not meant to be a strict Bible study that interprets passages in an inductive manner. Rather, it is a way to look at the beauty of God's creation and what we can learn when we reflect on it. Even as humans continue to control earthly matters and animal behaviours, perhaps, we need to step back on a regular basis to reflect on what we are doing. God created the world and has called humans to take care of the earth, not exploit it. Let us all do just that.

Laura Duhan-Kaplan is Director of Inter-Religious Studies and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vancouver School of Theology. Laura is also Professor Emerita of Philosophy at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Rabbi Emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue, and a U.S. Professor of the Year. She lives in Vancouver, Canada, on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples, with her husband (and musical partner) Charles, their young adult children, and a changing array of companion animals. 

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

---

This book has been provided courtesy of Cascade Books and Speakeasy without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.