What does Judaism think about predatory animals?

Question

This dichotomy has always bothered me.

(1) No predators are kosher. The Ramban went so far as to say that we may not eat them because they are cruel and we do not want to absorb their bad traits. In the Torah, God promises that if we follow His commandments, He will spare us from them:

וְהִשְׁבַּתִּ֞י חַיָּ֤ה רָעָה֙ מִן־הָאָ֔רֶץ -- I will remove evil beasts from the land. [Leviticus 26:6]

Yet:

(2) In the Torah, Jacob compares some of his sons to predators. Judah is identified with a lion [Gen. 49:9], Dan with a serpent [Gen. 49:17], and Benjamin with a wolf [Gen. 49:27].

In the Talmud, Rabbi Yehudah ben Teima said:

Be bold as the leopard, light as the eagle, swift as the deer, and strong as the lion, to do the will of your Father in Heaven. [Avot 5:20]

Familiar expressions glorify carnivores and vilify domesticated and useful herbivores. For example, being called a lion, a tiger, an eagle, a fox, or an owl, is a compliment. Lions and tigers convey strength, eagles convey majesty, foxes convey cleverness, and owls convey wisdom. But being called a pig, or a dog, or a cow, or a weasel, or a chicken, or a turkey, or an ass, or an elephant, or a goat, or a monkey, or a rat, or a shrimp, or a toad, or a worm, is a grave insult!

Is this disconnect ever discussed in the Sources?

Why is it any more of a "disconnect" than, say, the fact that the dead body of a Jew is treated with great respect, but at the same time is a major source of impurity? Or - to take an example from today's Daf Yomi (Pesachim 65a) - that tanners smell bad, but perform an essential function? In short, different creatures serve different purposes, and what's good in one context isn't good in another. — Meir, Jan 25 '21 at 21:05
@user813801 -- Birds and fish, like land animals, come in omnivore, carnivore and herbivore varieties. — Maurice Mizrahi, Jan 25 '21 at 22:27
To add to your question, many Jews are named Aryeh, Dov, and Zev (lion, bear, and wolf). — Jay, Jan 25 '21 at 23:33
We are predators. Humans are carnivores. We already have the disgusting trait of predators. The Bible wants us to be vegetarians. Rav Kook said we would be vegetarians in the messianic age. G-d flooded the world because humans became predators. What's the difference if we are called by their names if we ourselves do as much? — Turk Hill, Jan 25 '21 at 23:48
@TurkHill (first comment): scarcely a word of what you wrote is true. If "the Bible wanted us to be vegetarians," it wouldn't have told us in every one of the five books of the Torah that we can eat meat (Gen. 9:3, Ex. 16:8, Lev. 11:2-3, Num. 11:18ff, Deut. 12:15 and 21), and even commanded us to eat the meat of sacrifices (Ex. 12:8ff, for starters). The Flood was because of robbery and sexual immorality, not because people ate meat (were that the case, it would have been nonsensical for Him to allow it right afterwards). What will happen in the messianic age is something else altogether. — Meir, Jan 26 '21 at 18:52
And, second comment: you do realize that what you saw or didn't see doesn't determine how things are in the rest of the world, right? You could at least consult Wikipedia and learn that some predatory birds do hunt live prey - examples given there include kites and some types of eagles. — Meir, Jan 26 '21 at 18:55
@Meir Genesis 6:12: ki hishchit khol basar et darkho al haaretz. G-d decided the flood the world because humans and animals corrupted their ways. Can animals become corrupt with robbery? No. According to rabbi Arnold Ehrlich, humans and animals began to eat meat, became carnivores. This is contrary to the spirit of the Torah. — Turk Hill, Jan 26 '21 at 19:16
The first humans were vegetarians (Genesis 2:16). In the Garden of Eden story, Adam and Eve were only allowed to eat fruits and vegetables. The prophet Isaiah foresaw that in the future the lion would lie with the lamb because everyone will no longer be carnivorous. However, realizing that humans desire meat, G-d “allowed” Noah and humanity to consume meat, while restricting (keeping kosher), like sacrifices, so as to wean them away from the practice. The Torah prefers vegetarians. — Turk Hill, Jan 26 '21 at 19:16
@TurkHill Well, your "rabbi" Ehrlich apparently was unable to read a simple Rashi on the verse, that it means that the animals and birds were breeding outside of their species. Or the Tur Haaroch on that verse, that it means that all species of animals and birds - even the ones that weren't naturally predatory - became such. The Torah may "prefer" vegetarians in a pre-Tree of Knowledge and a post-Messiah world, but we don't live in either of those worlds now, do we? — Meir, Jan 26 '21 at 19:22
@Meir I agree that the vegetarian world is for the future, as Isaiah foresaw. As for Rashi, he relied on Midrashim and used imaginative midrashic interpretations for his commentary. In contrast, rabbi Ehrlich relied on the Bible’s plain meaning, “peshat” in his Mikra Kipheshuto, “The Bible Literally.” But Rashi is also good. — Turk Hill, Jan 26 '21 at 19:42
Most lions, for example, are not man-eaters. Maybe when the passuk says chaya ra'ah it means bad chayos? — The GRAPKE, Jan 26 '21 at 21:40

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 26 '21 at 13:31

There is a difference between learning from an animal and ingesting it. We can learn to be bold as the leopard to serve G-d, while not taking its predatory nature. And Jacob can bless Judah with the strength of a lion, without telling him to be predatory in nature. But when you ingest something, you get it in its entirety, good and bad. And so the Torah forbids us to eat predators, lest we ingest their predatory nature.

Jacob also compares Joseph to a bull, Yissachar to a donkey, and Naftali to a deer, so comparing people to prey animals is not inherently bad.

Apparently, we ingest their predatory nature when Eve ate a fruit! My understanding of the rabbinical statement is that we should not eat meat. This is what the Torah prefers. — Turk Hill, Jan 26 '21 at 19:21

What does Judaism think about predatory animals?

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