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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;atom, post: 8052429, member: 109788&quot;][USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] Excellent question! - one which prompted me to research on the web.</p><p>I found an article which sheds light on ancient times, so I&#039;ll copy the following excerpt (I hope that&#039;s ok) and <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2376474/jewish/Pigs-Judaism.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2376474/jewish/Pigs-Judaism.htm" rel="nofollow">link to the entire source</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>There is probably no animal as disgusting to Jewish sensitivities as the pig. It’s not just because it may not be eaten: there are plenty of other animals that aren’t kosher either, but none of them arouse as much disgust as the pig. </i></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Attitudes toward the pig</i></p><p><i>It’s not the only animal on the unkosher list, but it gets the worst treatment of any of them. Some examples:</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>● Prohibition against raising pigs: “The sages forbade raising pigs anywhere [whether in the Land of Israel or elsewhere] . . . The sages pronounced a curse on one who raises dogs or pigs, because they cause frequent and serious damage.”</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>The Talmud traces this ruling to the civil war between the Hasmonean brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus (67 BCE). Aristobulus and his forces had barricaded themselves in. One day the besiegers sent up a pig the Temple Mount, where they were besieged by Hyrcanus’s army. Each day Aristobulus’s men would send down a basketful of coins, and receive in return lambs for the daily Temple offerings. Until one day the besiegers sent up a pig instead:</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>When it was halfway up, it stuck its hooves into the wall, and the entire Land of Israel, 400 parsahs (about 1000 miles) square, trembled. At that time [the sages] declared: Cursed be one who raises pigs . . . !</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>● Martyrdom rather than eat pork: The Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus IV, as part of his campaign to outlaw Judaism, sent his soldiers to the Land of Israel with orders to force the Jews to offer pigs as sacrifices to the Hellenistic gods and consume the meat. A Jew 90 years old, named Elazar, defied the order and endured a savage beating—even when he was offered the chance to just pretend to eat it while really he would be given kosher meat. Eventually the Greek soldiers met their match in the town of Modiin, where Matityahu the Hasmonean began the revolt that eventually saw the country freed from Hellenistic rule.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>● It is a symbol of hypocrisy: It pretends to be a kosher animal. The Midrash draws a comparison between the Roman empire and the pig. Just as the pig sticks out its hooves when it is resting, as if to say “I am kosher,” so did the Romans put on a show of justice to mask their avarice and corruption.</i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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