The talmud Shabbat in the last perek talks about feeding one’s animals on Shabbat. The Talmud implies that one may own a pig, however Rashi comments that ownership brings a curse on a Jew. Then the Talmud makes a startling statement by comparing a dog to a pig. The dog is considered poor and the pig is rich. According to Rashi, the pig is “rich” because it eats without discernment. It eats everything and anything.

Why is the pig so blessed with an easy life that he is considered rich? The Shikker dovid would like to weigh in on this. In the human experience, nothing comes easy. All is difficult, work is difficult, raising children is difficult, relationships are difficult. Nothing comes easy.-like the food to the pig. The pig experience is antithesis of the human experience. Similarly, because our lives are so hard, we gain appreciation for what we have, we have sympathy for others who are lacking. We are called upon to ease the suffering of others because we are discerning in what we can use or eat. The pig is a taker. We as humans are givers or “sharers.”

Therefore, a Jew might own a pig, but its “ownership” or “involvement” with pig distances us from our goal of discerning, our goal of being “givers” rather than “takers.”