25 Apr ARE CASINOS KOSHER?

A casino visit can
be a fun way to spend
your leisure time and
money but is it a kosher
trip? There is more to
discuss than just the
greed that energizes
many casino goers. We
must remember that
gambling is illegal in many states because it
preys on the poor and the vulnerable. Gambling
raises important issues that may bring into
question common features of our community.
Since, as we shall see shortly, Rav Ovadiah
Yosef forbids buying lottery tickets, how can
our schools and shuls hold raffles and Chinese
auctions? What message are we sending
when we elevate gambling into an acceptable
pastime?
I. Gambling in the Talmud
The primary source in the Mishnah
(Sanhedrin 24b) is a statement that dice players
are invalid witnesses, and a debate in the Gemara
over why this is the case. Rami bar Chama says
that the problem is asmachta, a failure to truly
commit to paying a bet because of a reliance on
winning. Rav Sheishes disagrees and says that
the problem with a professional gambler is the
lack of a job and a sense of the value of money.
According to Rami bar Chama, any time
someone places a bet with an expectation of
winning (even if unrealistic), he does not really

expect to pay the bet. Therefore, if he loses the
bet, anyone who takes his money is guilty of
stealing. Rashi (Rosh Hashanah 22a s.v. eilu)
explains that this is theft on a rabbinic level.
Biblically, theft is defined as stealing directly
from the victim’s hands. The Sages extended
the prohibition to less direct forms of theft,
such as asmachta.
According to Rav Sheishes, betting either is
not theft at all, not even on a rabbinic level.
Alternatively, he agrees that this kind of theft
is forbidden but considers it insufficiently
obvious theft to invalidate someone as a
witness. Rav Sheishes only invalidates as a
witness professional gamblers, who do not earn
a living through work.
II. Shabbos Table Gambling
Another Talmudic passage (Shabbos 149b)
gives a person special permission to divide
food at a Shabbos meal to his children with
a lottery (obviously without any money).
You may not even do this during the week to
those outside the family because it constitutes
gambling. Tosafos (as loc., sv. mai) say that
we do not follow this Gemara but the Rambam
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Shabbos 23:17)
follows it. The Tur (Orach Chaim 322) and
Shulchan Aruch (ibid., 6) quote this Gemara, as
well. Some suggest that the concern is with a
potluck meal, in which everyone contributes. If
they contribute expecting to win a big piece but
receive a small piece, there may be a problem

of asmachta.
Regarding dice playing and gambling in
general, medieval authorities disagree whether
we follow Rav Sheishes or Rami Bar Chama.
The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 370:3)
follows the Rambam who rules like Rami
bar Chama, effectively forbidding gambling.
The Rema (Choshen Mishpat 207:13, 370:3)
follows Tosafos who rule like Rav Sheishes,
thereby permitting occasional gambling. It
would seem, then, that Ashkenazim who follow
the Rema may gamble for fun while Sephardim,
who follow the Shulchan Aruch, may not. That
is how Rav Ovadiah Yosef (Yabi’a Omer, vol.
7 Choshen Mishpat 6) rules, although he adds
that Ashkenazim should also refrain. Many
others disagree regarding lotteries.
J.D. Eisenstein (Otzar Dinim U-Minhagim,
sv. shach) quotes an interesting discussion
about professional chess players. Professional
gamblers are barred from testifying in a
Jewish court (Shulchan Arukh, Choshen
Mishpat 34:16). Do chess players constitute
gamblers? He quotes R. Yoel ben Nassan
Finkerly of Alexandria who says that since
chess is a game of skill and wisdom, it is
not considered gambling. Chess players are
generally highly intelligent and sophisticated.
Therefore, a professional chess player is an
acceptable witness.
II. Lotteries and Winnings
Rav Gedaliah Schwartz (Sha’arei Gedulah,
p. 312) approvingly quotes a responsum
by Rav Ovadiah Hadaya (Yaskil Avdi, vol.
8 Yoreh De’ah 5:3) in which this Sephardic
authority distinguishes between people
betting against each other and a lottery.
In a classic case of gambling, one person
wins and the other loses. It is asmachta if
the person who pays had assumed that
he will win. In a lottery, the payout will
always happen. Therefore, whoever runs
the lottery and pays the winnings does not
have asmachta and even a Sephardi can
buy a ticket. Rav Hodaya explains that this
is why Jews have historically held lotteries
to raise funds for charities. This woukd not
apply to most casinogames, in which the
house often wins.
Rav Ovadiah Yosef (ibid., par. 5) quotes
this responsum and counters that, in a lottery,
the winnings come from the proceeds of
tickets sold. If any purchaser of a ticket
assumed he would win, then the money
he contributed to the pot is stolen because
of the purchaser’s asmachta. He adds that
Rav Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (Responsa
Rav Pe’alim, vol. 2 Yoreh De’ah no. 30)
explains the historical lotteries in that the
winning was an object (like in a Chinese
auction) and not a portion of the proceeds
from the tickets sold.
Rav Ya’akov Ariel (Be-Ohalah Shel Torah,
vol. 1 no. 111) offers a similar approach
as Rav Hodaya. Without quoting any of
the recent literature, Rav Ariel suggests
Rav Yosef’s objection and counters that
lottery is different because people pay
in advance. When you make a bet and
do not put money down in advance, you

may be relying on your winning the bet. But
if you pay in advance, you clearly recognize
the possibility of losing. This seems to be the
view of Rabbeinu Tam, followed by the Rema
(Choshen Mishpat 207:13). I’m not sure that it
would help Sephardim.
Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik (cited by Rav
Chaim Jachter, Gray Matter, vol. 1, p. 129)
points out that these concerns do not apply
to charity fundraising. Because giving
money to tzedakah is a mitzvah, there is
an assumption that people give willingly.
Therefore, asmakhta does not apply to
charitable pledges and donations (Shulchan
Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 258:10). This means
that Sephardim may participate in raffles and
Chinese auctions for shuls and schools.
III. Moral Concerns
However, some authorities have gone beyond
the technicalities of theft when it comes to
lotteries and gambling. The Rivash (Responsa,
no. 432) decries gambling as “disgusting,
abominable and repulsive.” Rav Ovadiah Yosef
(ibid.) points out that many poor people spend
money they cannot afford to lose on lottery
tickets. They think about the highly improbable
dream of winning rather than the reality of
supporting their families. Lotteries prey on the
poor, deepening their poverty and often leading
to addiction.
For many people, gambling is a serious
addiction.Casinos prey on those with addictions
and deepen the financial troubles of those
already suffering. When a new casino opens, we
can focus our attention on the dreams of many
and the newfound fortune of the rare winners.
Or we can use this as a teaching moment
about the majority of people who threw away
money at a statistically negligible dream, about
the negative social effects of gambling, and
the addictions facing many within our own
communities. I do not think that the Rivash
would consider casinos kosher.