Is Gambling Forbidden In Judaism
Gambling with the Jewish Law by Yehudah Poznick During the last elections in Israel approximately three years ago, over thirty political parties ran for seats in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. One of them, 'The Casino Party', had a very provocative platform: to legalize casino gambling in Israel.
- Rabbi Yitzchak Ben Sheshet (the Rivash) argues that even if gambling is not strictly forbidden by Jewish law, it is nevertheless a 'davar mechu'ar' – a disgusting activity.
- Jan 13, 2019 The Online Gambling Sector in Israel While some types of gambling on land are allowed in Israel, it is still illegal to gamble online. There are many Israelis who are keen for online gambling to.
Gambling may be popular among Israeli players, however, there are only two types of gambling which have been legalized. The Israeli government only permit citizens to play their National Lottery or participate in sports betting. Sadly, for Israelis who love nothing more than placing a wager, traditional casino games are forbidden except on dedicated cruise ships which can be found docked at the bigger port cities in Israel.Mifal Hapayis, the governmental organization which oversees the country’s National Lottery, together with the Israeli Commission for Sports Gambling, is responsible for directing all activities relating to sports betting and the lottery. Yet, even though strict laws are in place surrounding gambling in Israel, table games are as popular with Israeli players as with players elsewhere in the world. Traditional games like blackjack and roulette are greatly enjoyed, but Baccarat is increasing in popularity within the online casinos too. So much so, that Israel has seen a thriving underground gambling sector appearing over recent years which is said to be worth over $3.5 billion a year.The Online Gambling Sector in Israel
While some types of gambling on land are allowed in Israel, it is still illegal to gamble online. There are many Israelis who are keen for online gambling to be regulated and licensed, but at the present time, the government is taking no steps in this direction. At present, the only gambling websites allowed to operate out of Israel are sports betting websites and the Israeli National Lottery. Both of these are controlled by the government. While Israel’s government continues to try to prevent citizens from gaining access to the countless foreign operated and owned online casinos, their ISP level method of filtering or internet blocking isn’t completely effective. This means that lots of keen Israeli gamblers carry on playing at these gambling sites without being detected. Lots of foreign gambling websites even have versions in the Hebrew language to make them more accessible to Israeli players!Recent Blocking Attempts
Is Gambling Forbidden In Judaism Practiced
The Israeli government is aware that many foreign online casinos are targeting their services at would-be gamblers from Israel and are working tirelessly to prevent them from doing so. Recently, a couple of domains were blocked from aiming their services at Israeli players via an injunction ordered by the courts. The order required all local ISPs to block these three domains and therefore prohibit Israeli players, at least in theory, from being able to access their gambling services. This was just the latest step that the government has taken to try to curb Israeli gambling. A law was passed in 2017 called the “Powers to Prevent Offenses Through an Internet Site” which gave power to local authorities to issue restrictions for ISPs with regard to any serious crime, one of which being unregulated gambling activity. The government is so desperate to take a hard-line stance against any form of gambling that in 2017, Israeli police officers were told that they were not permitted to visit any casino, even a legal one when traveling overseas.The Workarounds
Of course, just because a domain has been blocked doesn’t mean that keen Israeli gamblers can’t work around it. The most dedicated have worked out how to bypass their provider’s DNS, and for those that haven’t, there are numerous YouTube videos which explain the best way to do this.Illegal gambling is therefore rife nationwide. While arrests do occur, Israeli gamblers don’t seem to be deterred, and there is a general feeling that casinos will eventually be legalized. There is a strongly held belief in certain circles that the only possible way of undermining the illegal industry which is operated by organized criminals is to make the gambling industry legal. It’s obvious, then that Israel is very divided on the subject of gambling. There are a number of leading politicians who are keen to regulate gambling fully and have the ambition to turn Eilat, already a popular vacation resort, into a “Red Sea Vegas”. Security forces and religious groups, on the other hand, are keen for the existing ban to carry on.The Current State of Play
While it’s still illegal to gamble either in a bricks-and-mortar casino or with an online provider in Israel, that doesn’t prevent countless keen Israeli gamblers from seeking out casinos websites which can accommodate their needs. They can visit sites like baccarat.net and discover many different operators who are happy to register Israeli players for their online gambling services, with some even accepting Shekels as a form of currency. It’s unlikely that there’ll be any change in this state of play any time soon.
While there is no explicit Jewish prohibition on gambling, the rabbis of the Talmud did not have a positive view of the practice. The clearest statement on the matter is in the Mishnah in Sanhedrin, which rules that someone who “plays with dice” is barred from serving as a witness. There is a dispute, however, about the particulars of this prohibition.
According to one opinion in the Mishnah, the prohibition applies only in the case where the gambler has no other occupation — i.e. a professional gambler. Based on this view, the Talmud suggests that the reason such a person is barred from testifying is because they contribute nothing useful to the world. Another opinion suggests that gambling is a form of thievery, since the losing party to a bet gives up their money against their will. This rationale would suggest that even an occasional gambler cannot serve as a witness. However, this opinion is not universally accepted, since presumably both parties to a bet engage in the wager willingly and therefore accept upon themselves the possibility of loss.
Is Gambling Forbidden In Judaism Religion
The halachic permissibility of gambling rests on which of these is the reason for invalidating a gambler as a witness. If it’s merely because gambling is a frivolous pursuit, then the occasional bet may be permitted. If gambling is thievery, then it’s prohibited at all times, which is the view of some rabbinic authorities. In either case, compulsive or professional gambling would be forbidden.
There is some question of whether the latter approach would apply to all forms of gaming, or merely to bets or wagers, in which one party wins and the other loses. Some forms of casino gambling, in which one plays against the house rather than other players, may not run afoul of the concern regarding theft. It’s also questionable whether lotteries run into this problem. Some authorities, like the late Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, have ruled that buying lottery tickets is form of stealing, since the person who purchases a ticket may have assumed he would win and therefore surrenders his money unwillingly. The late Israeli Rabbi Ovadia Hedaya has ruled that lotteries are permitted, since one is not taking money directly from another person but rather from a pool of money. Lotteries, raffles and the like, when undertaken for charitable purposes, are not considered forbidden and there are many examples, both historic and current, of Jewish communities running lotteries for fundraising purposes.
None of these considerations address the moral perils of gambling, which has commanded the attention of Jewish authorities throughout history and even in the present day. Excommunication, flagellation, fines and the denial of synagogue honors were common penalties for those who transgressed gambling regulations. Compulsive gamblers were described as sinners, charged with harming family life and forgetting God. The habit has been described as abominable, ugly, frivolous and morally impure. According to the Tul HaAroch, a commentary on the Torah by the medieval authority Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, Moses warned the Jewish people before his death not to become corrupted by gambling.
Indeed, some understand the sheer volume of these efforts to suppress gambling, and the large number of exceptions to those rulings, as evidence of its popularity among Jews. Historically, the prohibition on gambling was relaxed on minor Jewish holidays like Hanukkah, Purim and the monthly sanctification of the new moon (Rosh Chodesh). Authorities in Bologna in the 15th century specifically permitted playing cards on fast days “in order to forget the pain, provided one wagers no more than one quattrino at a game per person.” Similar exceptions were made in medieval Europe on the occasions of weddings and births and on Christmas Eve, known in some Orthodox communities as “Nittel-Nacht.”
In contemporary times, concerns about the corrosive effects of gambling, particularly gambling as an addiction, have persisted. In the 1980s, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (today UJA-Federation of New York) ran a task force on compulsive gambling to address what one official called “a problem of some magnitude in the Jewish community.” Shmuly Yanklowitz, an Orthodox rabbi and social justice activist, has penned several articles in recent years that invoked longstanding Jewish concerns about the dangers of gambling, noting also studies that link gambling addiction to bankruptcy, domestic abuse, criminality and even suicide risk.
A number of Jewish groups offer gambling treatment programs. Beit T’Shuvah, a Jewish residential treatment program in Los Angeles, offers help with gambling addiction, as do a number of local Jewish Family Services organizations.