The Bible, the Beasts, and the Big Lies About Israel, with Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin (258)

August 11, 2025

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5 min read

In 2012, an Israeli team germinated a 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada, resurrecting the Judean date palm that the Romans had used as a symbol of their destruction of Judea. That single sprout, now a living tree, is one of the stories Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin tells in his new book The Lions of Zion to illustrate something deeper: how the animals and plants of the Hebrew Bible demonstrate an unbroken Jewish connection to the land of Israel—a connection that modern anti-Zionist narratives, built on terms like "settler colonialism" and "indigenous," systematically erase.

Why Biblical Zoology Matters for a Political Fight

Slifkin, director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History near Beit Shemesh, wrote the book partly in response to the wave of delegitimization that followed the October 7 war. The dominant academic mantra, he explains, frames Jews as European settler-colonials who stole the land from indigenous Palestinians. Archaeology can show that Jews lived there thousands of years ago, but that alone doesn't refute the claim that modern Jews are disconnected Europeans who returned.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:41) **Why Biblical Natural History is a Political Tool** - Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin explains how his expertise in biblical zoology became a direct response to the delegitimization of Israel.
2 (10:40) **The Lion as Proof of Exile and Connection** - A deep dive into the most prominent example: the lion, which appears over 150 times in the Tanakh.
3 (13:40) **Mistranslations as Evidence of Connection** - Slifkin reframes common biblical animal misidentifications not as errors, but as proof of a deep-rooted cultural memory.
4 (17:28) **The Behemoth and Israel's Unique Biodiversity** - Explaining the identity of the biblical Behemoth and the geographical reasons for Israel's rich animal life.
5 (19:17) **Colonel Patterson: The Lion Hunter Who Founded the IDF** - A historical figure who embodies the connection between biblical animals and the modern Jewish state.
6 (22:13) **Solving Biblical Mysteries with Zoology** - How modern animal knowledge clarifies confusing or controversial biblical stories.
7 (24:02) **Hyenas: From Villains to Unsung Heroes** - A reframing of the hyena's role, from a symbol of evil to a crucial part of the ecosystem, with a Talmudic lesson.

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Show Notes

From biblical lions to the bizarre "Zionist crocodile plot," Israel's wildlife tells a story that shatters modern anti-Israel myths. In his new book Lions of Zion, Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin reveals how the animals of the Land of Israel — past and present — reflect the Jewish people's deep, indigenous connection to their homeland. Scott and Rabbi Slifkin tackle false narratives about "settler colonialism," "greenwashing," and cultural appropriation, and explore how creatures like sunbirds, jackals, and even poppies have been weaponized in the propaganda war against Israel. This eye-opening conversation blends Bible, zoology, and politics to show that in Israel, even the animals have a story to tell.

To order The Lions of Zion: Biblical Natural History and the Significance of Israel, click here.

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