11 Jul KASHRUS QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Is one allowed to gamble in a casino?
I don’t understand why a religious Jew would be going
into a casino. The Gemara says that if someone does
gambling full time, he’s disqualified from being a kosher
witness. The Gemara says such a person is an individual who’s not living
the way he’s supposed to be living. Besides, there are very serious halachic
issues if you gamble money, where it might be called stealing. In a scenario
where I am shown something and now I’m betting more and more to
win a prize, I’m gambling under the assumption that I’m going to win,
not that I’m going to lose. These are complicated issues, where you’d be
taking money that doesn’t belong to you. Moreover, besides the halachic
issues I just mentioned, I don’t believe haskafically that a Jew belongs
in a casino. The environment is an inappropriate environment. I know
here at the OU, we have been approached many times by various people
who would like us to certify yachts. We have never done that because the
environment of gambling and other entertainment is not appropriate.
Part of being a Jew is not just finding a heter in the Shulchan Aruch to do
what you’re doing; you have to know that this is an environment we don’t

belong in. I’ve never
been in a casino, but
I don’t think it’s an
environment that a
religious Jew belongs
in. I often tell the
people in my shul,
we’re going to be
judged for everything,
but who we really are
as people is identified
by what we do in our
leisure time. We all
have to go to work
and do whatever we have to do, but how you spend that leisure time
is what defines a person. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go on vacation or
have a vacation, but it’s where you go and how you spend your leisure
time that really says a lot about a person. If one spends their free time at a
casino, I think they should rethink who they are as a person.