Religionנתן סליפקין

Natan Slifkin

Natan Slifkin is a British-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi, known as the "Zoo Rabbi," who founded and directs the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh.

born 1975The Biblical Museum of Natural HistoryWriting on Judaism and zoologyThe 2005 ban on his books

Born: 25 June 1975, Manchester
Occupation: rabbi, zoologist
Education: Bar-Ilan University, Midrash Shmuel Yeshiva, Ohr Somayach
Founded: Biblical Museum of Natural History (2014)

Natan Slifkin was born in 1975 in Manchester

Natan Slifkin was born on 25 June 1975 in Manchester, England, and grew up there. He studied at a local yeshiva, Yeshivas Shaarei Torah.

In 1995 he moved to Jerusalem to study at the Medrash Shmuel yeshiva and later at the Mir Yeshiva. He received rabbinic ordination from Ohr Somayach, where he also taught Talmud. He holds a master's degree in Judaic studies from the Lander Institute and a doctorate in Jewish history from Bar-Ilan University, completed in 2016.

Slifkin has written many books on Torah, science and zoology. He argues that traditional Judaism does not require a literal reading of biblical cosmology. He also writes a blog called Rationalist Judaism.

In 2005 a group of Haredi rabbis in Israel and the United States banned his books. As a result, his publisher stopped distributing them, and a smaller publisher, Yashar Books, took them on. In 2008 he published an essay saying there was a reasonable basis for the ban in certain communities.

In 2014 he founded the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.