The rabbis strongly disapproved of hunting as a
sport (Encyclopedia Judaica 8:1111). A Jew
is permitted to capture fish, flesh, or fowl only
for purposes of human food or another essential human
need, but to destroy an animal for "sport", fashion,
or vanity constitutes wanton destruction and is to
be condemned. Based on the statement "not to walk
in the counsel of the wicked" (Ps. 1:1), the Talmud
prohibits association with hunters (Avodah Zorah
18b). A query was addressed to Rabbi Ezekiel Landau
(1713-93) by a man wishing to know if he could hunt
in his large estate, which included forests and fields.
The response stated:
In the Torah the sport of hunting in imputed only
to fierce characters like Nimrod and Esau, never
to any of the patriarches and their descendants....
I cannot comprehend how a Jew could even dream of
killing animals merely for the pleasure of hunting....
When the act of killing is prompted by that of sport,
it is downright cruelty. (Yoraah De'ah, 2nd
Series, 10)
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