"When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven is an original, highly innovative, and groundbreaking study of ideas of generation and reproduction of species in rabbinic literature. Neis' analyses open a window to a much more complex and surprising intellectual world than the rabbis usually get credit for. This book is provocative, thoughtful, and timely."--Mira Balberg, Professor of History and Endowed Chair in Ancient Jewish Civilization, University of California, San Diego "A trailblazing work that will introduce a new sophisticated discourse in the study of rabbinic literature. Neis is at home in the classical rabbinic texts, with their philological complexity and their immense width, encompassing half a millennium and diverse historical circumstances."--Galit Hasan-Rokem, Professor Emerita of Hebrew Literature and Folklore Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem