Aaron S. Gross is a historian of religions who focuses on modern and contemporary Jewish thought and ethics. He has a sub-specialty in South Asian religious traditions. Thematically Gross’s work centers on the study of animals and religion, and food and religion. He is active in the leadership of the Society for Jewish Ethics and the American Academy of Religion’s Animals and Religion Group, and founded and serves as CEO of the nonprofit advocacy organization, Farm Forward. His new book, The Question of the Animal and Religion: Theoretical Stakes, Practical Implications (Columbia University Press 2015), makes a case for elevating the category of the animal in the study of religion through an investigation into recent, high-profile scandals involving one of the largest kosher slaughterhouses in the world, located unexpectedly in Postville, Iowa.