Halakhah zu Jeschijahu 11:7

(2) A number of medieval scholars, including R. Issac Abarbanel in his commentary on Genesis 9:3 and Isaiah 11:7, and R. Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim, Book III, chapter 15, regard vegetarianism as a moral ideal, not because of a concern for the welfare of animals, but because of the fact that the slaughter of animals might cause the individual who performs such acts to develop negative character traits, viz., meanness and cruelty. Their concern was with regard to possible untoward effect upon human character rather than with animal welfare.²See also R. Abraham I. Kook, Iggerot Re’iyah (Jerusalem, 5722), II, 230.