A kinkajou is not a type of Jew. It is a very special animal that I just met last week for the first time, when I had the good fortune to work with one in a presentation that I did at a synagogue in Boca Raton, Florida. When people asked me what it is related to, I told them that the kinkajou's closest relative is the olingo. This promptly caused them to ask what an olingo is, to which I replied that the olingo is somewhat related to the cacomistle. That didn't clarify matters much, and nor did my mention of the cacomistle's closest relatives, the ringtail and the coati. As for the coati. well, it's somewhat similar to a kinkajou.

Let's try a physical description instead. A kinkajou is somewhat like a smallish, stretched-out cat. (You can click on the link at the end of this essay to see some pictures of it.) It has an adorable, teddy-bear-like face, round ears, and grasping hands with thumbs. The kinkajou's tongue is five inches long and is used for drinking nectar from flowers (hence its alternate name of "sugar bear"). Its ankles can swivel a full 180 degrees, enabling to turn its feet backwards in order to climb head-first down a tree. Its tail is long, strong, and fully prehensile, which means that it can use it as an extra limb to grasp things. The kinkajou that I met spent some time suspended in the air by its tail, which was wrapped around my finger. This appealing habit was complemented by its extraordinarily endearing and playful personality.

The kinkajou is native only to Central and South America, and it is therefore not mentioned anywhere in Scripture, Talmud, or any Jewish text. But it does present an interesting application for Jewish law. The Talmud prescribes a blessing to be pronounced upon seeing a very unusual animal. The blessing is Baruch Meshaneh HaBeriyos, "Blessed is the One that varies the creations." The exotic kinkajou, with its long nectar-sucking tongue, unique rotating ankles and prehensile tail would seem to be a good candidate for this blessing.

During the same session in which I worked with the kinkajou, I was also privileged to meet some other unusual animals, including a black-and-white ruffed lemur from Madagascar. I have seen many ruffed lemurs before; we have some in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. But this specimen was so tame that I was able to cuddle it in my arms. Such a close encounter enables one to greater appreciate an animal, and in this case I marveled at its stunning fur, long tail and humanlike fingers (again, a link to pictures of it follows the essay). It was a superb opportunity to pronounce another blessing that Judaism prescribes for the animal kingdom: Baruch SheKachah Lo BeOlamo, "Blessed is the One that has such in His world," which is pronounced upon seeing exceptionally beautiful creatures.

The kinkajou is a very unusual animal, the lemur is a very beautiful animal. Much to my disappointment, I was not able to bring either of them home with me. But a friend did take me to visit a friend of his who runs one of the world's largest reptile and amphibian wholesale dealerships. Amidst all the exotic herptiles that I saw there, I recognized a familiar species: the fire-bellied newt, which I had kept twenty years ago. The dealer gave me some of these tiny amphibians to take home.

Newts used to be called ewts, but when you talk about an ewt it's very easy for the listener to think that you're talking about a newt, which is how the letter "n" migrated from one word to another. The fire-bellied newt is named after the striking red pattern on its belly, which warns predators of its mildly toxic skin secretions. Aside from that, it is plain black in color. Much as I find them appealing, it is hard to convince others that there is anything special about them. In an effort to make family and students appreciative of my new pets, I engaged in a little research.

The information that I discovered amazed me. It is well-known that certain lizards have the ability to shed their tail and grow a new one, although the new tail is simply an elongation of the flesh and has no bone. But newts can lose entire legs and regenerate them to be indistinguishable from the original, bones and all. If the leg is severed at the shoulder, it will grow an entire leg. If it is severed at the knee, it will grow just the lower leg and foot. How do the cells know which part to manufacture? That isn't entirely clear.

The tiny newt's amazing ability to direct rapid cellular growth has another ramification. The dreaded disease of cancer occurs when cells reproduce without stopping, invading the rest of the body. There are substances that can be injected into animals which cause them to grow tumors and contract deadly cancer. But when you inject these substances into a newt, they don't grow tumors; instead, they grow another leg or tail!

It was just a few weeks ago that biologists finally identified the protein that is responsible for the newt's amazing abilities. Now the work is on to understand how this protein works, ultimately with a view to being able to engineer such a process for human beings. Science is a long, long way off from such things, but the humble newt has set us on the path.

I brought one of my newts to a class that I taught last week, eager to teach my students a lesson about one of the wonders of Creation. But my students ended up teaching me a lesson. When I pulled the newt out of my bag, they oooh-ed and aaah-ed at it even before I opened my mouth to tell them about its astonishing regenerative abilities. I don't think that these young women, who had grown up in New York, had ever seen a newt before. This tiny, black, slimy, creeping amphibian was enough to inspire them with the wonder of seeing a living creature, without any need to hear about its miraculous powers.

And that is how it should be. Life is the greatest miracle of all. Another creature that tends to strike people with revulsion is the rat, and its verse in Perek Shirah, the ancient Midrash that teaches us the lessons of the natural world, is "Let every soul praise God, Hallelukah!" Every living thing offers praise to God merely by virtue of its being alive. Even a rat, even a newt is an astonishing testimony to the Creator.

It shouldn't take an exotic kinkajou or a beautiful ruffed lemur to make us appreciate a living creature. A humble ewt should do the job just as well.

(Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/zoorabbi/BocaRaton to see pictures of the kinkajou, lemur and other animals)

NEWS from Rabbi Natan Slifkin:

1. As a result of the controversy over my work, my former publisher discontinued all my books, even the non-controversial ones. I am now seeking sponsorships in order to privately republish my other books, including "Perek Shirah: Nature's Song" and "The Camel, The Hare And The Hyrax." If you are interested in dedicating one of these works, please write to zoorabbi@zootorah.com. I am also seeking to translate my new book Sacred Monsters into Hebrew.

2. I am starting a new mailing list on the theme of Torah and Science, focusing on commentary on the controversy over my books. This list is intended for learned Orthodox Jews approaching this topic from a rationalistic perspective. If you reject modern science, this list is not for you! To subscribe, send an e-mail to Torah_and_Science-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please include your name and home town in the body of the message.

3. If you live in Toronto, come to hear about "The Fabulous Jewish Monsters of Harry Potter"! This book launch for Sacred Monsters will take place at Beth Avraham Yoseph Congregation, 613 Clark Avenue West, Thornhill on Wednesday, December 5th at 8pm. The event is being organized by Yeshivat Lev HaTorah (Ramat Bet Shemesh) in conjunction with Mizrachi Organization of Canada. I will also be scholar-in-residence at Adas Israel Congregation of Hamilton for the following Shabbos.

=============== (c) Copyright by Rabbi Natan Slifkin 2007, zoorabbi@zootorah.com. All rights reserved. This essay may be further distributed free of charge, provided that the header and footer information is preserved intact.

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