jewish-education:

Thank you for the citation @dafyomilimerick! 

jewish-education:

***Anon’s context involves having a farm so I’m assuming they’ll have the right space/zoning/time/etc. to care for a pig. Pigs are intense to care for and none are as small as you think. Never take on pets you aren’t able to adequately care for.***

Ooh! This is a fun question!

Short answer: Answers vary. Ask your rabbi.

Long answer:

I’ve heard from a Reform rabbi that it’s okay for a Jewish person to take part in raising pigs so long as they themself won’t eat the pig (i.e. be the 4H leader for kid raising a 4H-pig). (Not exactly the same as keeping a pet pig, but if you read the opinion below you can see that keeping a pet pig would likely be more acceptable than helping raise one for meat.)

But I’ve also read lots of Hassidic and righter-wing Orthodox opinions that say NO. Here’s one from Chabad. The others have been in books I’ve borrowed, but were similar arguments with sometimes more extreme conclusions (i.e. a Jew shouldn’t visit pigs at a petting zoo). 

I personally think that some of these more extreme opinions (i.e. I know of someone who takes pigs out of coloring books before giving them to their kids) have to do more with cultural aversion than religious obligation. But there are some grounds for some kinds of prohibitions.

I haven’t seen any opinions in the middle. If halachic acceptability is important to you, you should talk to your rabbi.

Not a stupid question at all.  From a traditional point of view, it’s forbidden to raise  pigs (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 409:2)  This is specific to that animal, and does not apply to non-kosher animals in general.  (For example, raising dogs and cats is fine)

My question for a rabbi (or someone on here who is comfy with Aramaic – although different folks might have different answers?) would be if keeping as a pet is definitely within the word being translated as “raising” or whether that term may be exclusive to livestock.

@philosophersmuse