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up vote 7 down vote favorite

why did hashem create non kosher animals, was it to tempt us and see if we would control ourselves?

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Carrot monster, You're asking very interesting questions. Could you please try to pick out matching tags for them, not just generic things like torah or torah-study? Also, if you see red underlined words when you're typing your question in, it might mean that you need to check their spelling. – Isaac Moses Apr 15 '10 at 0:03
Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/10616 – msh210♦ Feb 28 '12 at 5:40

6 Answers

up vote 16 down vote

That is one reason, sure; in general, Hashem gave us rules of what to do and not to do, in order to refine us (Bereishis Rabbah 44:1).

But aside from that, the various non-kosher animals have their roles to play in the ecosystem - as predators, scavengers, etc. Also, some of them are also useful to us in capacities other than food: consider horses, camels, etc.

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horses and camels are not kosher? Muslims eat that – Jim Thio Feb 28 '12 at 10:56
3  
@Jim, Yes, horses and camels are not kosher. Muslims do not keep the laws of kosher. – HodofHod Feb 28 '12 at 14:11
up vote 10 down vote

The Gemara in Eruvin says that both the cat and the ant (which are non-kosher animals) exists in order for us to learn from their character traits.

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up vote 8 down vote

If there are no non-kosher animals, you can't get reward for not eating them.

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up vote 3 down vote

maybe to get a bigger reward for making the right choice and eat kosher

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up vote 0 down vote

  1. The cycle; blank eats blank and blank which eats blank...

  2. There is also a mitvah to not eat it.

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2  
Pio, Welcome to mi.yodeya, and thanks for all your participation! – Isaac Moses Apr 15 '10 at 13:17
up vote -2 down vote

Speculation here. As pets? I guess creating humans through evolution leave tons of side products.

I surely am glad cute kittens are not kosher.

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The premise of this question is that everything G-d creates has a purpose. Unless you'd like to challenge that premise from a Jewish perspective, this answer does not really address the question. Alternatively, if you can find a Jewish source for "As pets", then that might work. – HodofHod Feb 28 '12 at 15:49

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