<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 08.00.0681.000">
<TITLE>RE: Bat issues</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Consolas">Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:16:40 -0800</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Consolas">From: Saul.Z.Newman@kp.org</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Consolas">Subject: [Avodah] bat issues</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Consolas"><A HREF="http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2011/11/bat-responsa.html">http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2011/11/bat-responsa.html</A></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Consolas">some modern torah approaches to realities of today's science, in</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Consolas">></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Consolas">this case bat reproduction</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">[SLB writes]</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">I read the article and propose a different solution - learn the science:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">Female bats use a variety of strategies to control the timing of pregnancy and the birth of young, to make delivery coincide with maximum food ability and other ecological factors. Females of some species have delayed fertilization, in which</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">sperm are stored in the reproductive tract</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas"> for several months after mating. In many such cases, mating occurs in the fall, and fertilization does not occur until the following spring. Other species exhibit delayed implantation, in which the egg is fertilized after mating, but remains free in the reproductive tract until external conditions become favorable for giving birth and caring for the offspring. In yet another strategy, fertilization and implantation both occur but development of the fetus is delayed until favorable conditions prevail. All of these adaptations result in the pup being born during a time of high local production of fruit or insects.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">(from</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">Wikipedia</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">, so pls if this incorrect - notify them).</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">======================</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">Now here is a scientific description of chicken reproduction:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">The sperm live inside the female reproductive system</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas"> and each time an ovulation occurs (every 24-26 hours in good egg producers) the egg can become fertile.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">(</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><A HREF="http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/poultry/reproduction.asp"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Consolas">http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/poultry/reproduction.asp</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">So, a specific element of the reproductive process is the same for chickens (egg laying) and bats (nursing mamma</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">ls).</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">In essence, using terminology from the time of Chazal (and not modern scientific jargon)</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">the majority of animals, do not have delayed ferti</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">lization. This is a unique situation.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas"> Both reproductive</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">methods</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas"> are similar, and different from regular mammal fertilization.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">If you look at the information, it sounds like Chazal actually had a pretty good idea of the correct</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">reproductive system</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">of bats.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Consolas">Shoshana L. Boublil</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
</BODY>
</HTML>