Mouth of the Donkey: Re-imagining Biblical Animals

Laura Duhan-Kaplan is a professor and scholar in interreligious studies, Jewish studies, and philosophy at the Vancouver School of Theology and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is also a rabbi emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue. In her book, Mouth of the Donkey, she draws upon these disciplines as well as biology, the Kabbalah, rabbinic midrash, Indigenous wisdom, and her own personal experiences to reflect upon certain animals found in the Hebrew Scriptures: sheep, donkeys, crows, ravens, doves, snakes, eagles, locust, lambs, and wolves. She discusses how we can understand the stories in which they appear and asks relevant questions of what they can teach us about ecology, spirituality, and ethics. Her underlying thesis is that the scripture stories in which these animals are found were originally oral stories, ancient oral stories that belonged to specific groups of people. “Thus, they spoke to specific audiences about familiar places. Storytellers wove well-known local animals into their tales. So, if I want to know what they meant to say, I have to learn about those animals” (pp. 55–56). Duhan-Kaplan's extensive research and her own experiences with them provide the reader with “genuinely new interpretations of the Bible's animal stories” (p. 3) and the ethical implications of each. Ultimately, she asks the reader, “If we read the Bible for cultural perspective and spiritual guidance, what can we learn?” (p. 9).In the opening chapter “Sheep,” Duhan-Kaplan posits that the lives of the Israelites were closely intertwined with the lives of their sheep. As expressed in Genesis, she says, “sheep are kin” (p. 17). This belief had implications for the Israelites. Though sheep were often used as sacrificial offerings, there are stories that suggest certain biblical figures who cautioned otherwise. The sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, for example, in the Book of Leviticus (see pp. 10–11), may have been vegetarians who found meat-eating wasteful and outright cruel. Though Moses and Aaron chose to support the sacrifice of sheep and ignore the beliefs of Nadab and Abihu, others, such as certain prophets, spoke of “exploited sheep.” One of them, Zechariah, “criticizes greedy shepherds who don't take care of their sheep or their underpaid workers” (verse 11; p. 22). Thus, both sheep and workers are in need of attention and common help, their fates intertwined.The chapter “Donkey” has special relevance for spiritual guides, for the donkey is described as one. In the world of the Bible, donkeys are well respected and highly valued as working animals. Not only do they carry goods and riders, but, Duhan-Kaplan posits, “as an added benefit, [they] provide spiritual guidance” (p. 23). In the stories in which they appear, they are identified with qualities such as quick learning, careful assessment of situations, and providing a loyal support associated with friendship itself. A pattern emerges: “If you ride your donkey, who may be following God's directions, you find your way” (p. 27). Biblical writers, both Jewish and Christian, associate donkeys with hope and divine guidance, including the gospel writer Matthew, who portrays the Messiah entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Matt. 21:1–11).The chapters that follow these early ones address the subtle implications of other animal stories: “Corvid,” which includes stories of ravens, crows, and doves, associates each with an innate wisdom that if humans pay attention to them can teach them much about life. When Noah sends the dove out from the ark that was built to survive the flood, he looks specifically to this bird for affirmation of whether or not he, his family, and other animals can disembark. The dove goes out three times, but only on the third time does she not return, revealing to Noah there must be dry land. The chapter “Snake” examines the stories of creation in which the second account specifically offers the description of the snake attempting to mentor (and mislead) Eve and Adam too. Sharing his wisdom, the snake offers a wisdom that is not right for humans to follow; that is, attempting to hide and thus be cut off from intimacy with God. The stories in the chapter “Eagle” suggest that the majestic bird is a symbol for reaching higher consciousness, a metaphor in Kabbalah writings of reaching an “awareness” linked with mystical experiences. “Suddenly, you can see the big picture, like eagles . . . do. A new map, a clearer perception, a truer structure emerge” (p. 53). The chapter “Locusts” equates the stories of these insects’ destruction with “the corporate quest for profit, with war as a tool” (p. 66).The final chapter, entitled “Wolf and Lamb Together,” is perhaps the most powerful, associating the extraordinary vision of Isaiah, where the wolf and lamb, among other creatures, lie down together with what poets, writers, and artists have equated with the Peaceable Kingdom: “A wolf shall visit with a lamb, a leopard lie down with a kid. A calf, young lion, and fatling together, and a little child shall guide them” (Isa. 11:6–9). While Duhan-Kaplan discusses the different interpretations of this passage by biblical scholars and commentators, she turns to the 19th-century American artist, Edward Hicks, and his paintings that, she says, are among her favorites. Hicks's rendition of the Peaceable Kingdom shows the animals relaxing very peaceably on a hill, but in the background are the figures of two men, the American colonial leader William Penn and Chief Tamanend of the Lenape Nations, agreeing to the Shackamaxon Treaty of 1683. This treaty was “an agreement to live,” she quotes Cree theologian Raymond Aldred, “in a harmonious way upon this place.” Thus, Isaiah's vision of animals living in harmony and a painter's depiction of two races agreeing to live as the animals show is a fitting conclusion to the book, revealing how humans can learn from the stories of animals and profit from their wisdom in their daily lives.Duhan-Kaplan packs a lot of knowledge and, as mentioned, a wide variety of disciplines into a relatively brief book. Though brief, it contains much by way of reflection and ultimately meditation on how animals can act as teachers, mentors, and spiritual guides when humans pay attention to them. It is obvious in reading her book how much attention she has paid to observation and meditation on them. The extensive bibliography found in the final pages of her book can also be a rich resource for the reader.

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