Two Rabbis, a Kentucky Sufi, a Christian editor, a Muslim artist, a Saudi Arabian princess.
Two American Rabbis translated and adapted an ancient Iraqi tale into what is believed to be the first English adaptation---The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity. Rabbi Dan Bridge and Rabbi Anson Laytner put more action into the story, jazzed up the ending, and personified both the animals and the humans. The book grabbed the attention of a Kentucky Sufi Publisher, a Muslim artist and a Saudi Arabian princess.
“The animals are portrayed in this story as beings who can think and who are willing to work with humans, but the humans just won’t to listen to them,” says Rabbi Bridge. “How we treat animals has a direct impact on how we treat one another.”
After years of searching for a publisher, Rabbi Laytner found Fons Vitae. Virginia Gray Henry, the Director of Fons Vitae, lives in Kentucky and is Sufi. Arabic was the original language of the ancient tale, and was later translated to Hebrew by a medieval Rabbi for a Christian King. The two American Rabbis translated the tale from the Hebrew to its present form. The Kentucky publisher hired a Christian copy editor and found the illustrator, a Pakistani Muslim woman--the artist Kulsum Begum. Begum’s work in this book was financed by a Saudi Arabian princess who wishes to remain anonymous.
According to Rabbi Anson Laytner, “The book has an environmental twist, looking not just toward saving the relationship that we have with the animals that we live with, but the relationship we have with the environment--the land and the earth we live on.”
“From ancient Iraq to the 21st century, The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity is an incredible multi-faith collaboration--a triumph for the collective human spirit,” says Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, “The cooperation of representatives from all the religions of the Abrahamic family… is to be congratulated.”
The Animals Lawsuit Against Humanity is available in select bookstores or online at www.fonsvitae.com or www.amazon.com.
Patricia Vaccarino
Patricia Vaccarino is an accomplished writer who has written award-winning film scripts, press materials, articles, essays, speeches, web content, marketing collateral, and ten books.