Posts Tagged ‘gambling’
The end does not justify the means (2) – Charity gambling
- The son of the rabbi of my shul was hawking raffle tickets this morning to collect money for his school (a separatist institution – of which more another posting).
- In Jewish thought there are two kinds of objection to gambling. First, it is close to theft, because the fool who gambles does not really intend to part with his money – at the moment of placing the stake his imagination suspends his reason; if he knew for certain that he was going to lose the stake, he would not put it down. Secondly, money won by gambling is not money earned by contributing to the well-being of the world, but by preying parasitically on the dreams of the weak-minded.
- A 50p charity raffle ticket is not serious gambling, by either of these tests. The person giving the money is happy to see it go to a good cause, and is giving it out of charitable intent (or, possibly, embarassment – but we hope for the best).
- A £100 ticket for a chance to win a car, with the number of tickets advertised as inducement to rely on maximum chances of winning, is gambling pure and simple. Whether the money is being collected by a businessman or a charity, the process is contrary to Jewish law and the only difference is that the charity ought certainly to know better.
- Between the two extremes lies a vast grey area where it will be difficult or impossible for a charity to know for certain whether a fund-raising activity is contrary to Jewish law or not. But the charity can be sure of this: appeal to people’s worse instincts and you may gain more money, but it will be tainted money and will bring no simen brochoh (blessing); appeal to people’s best instincts and whatever you collect is a source of true blessing for the charity and for its donors.
The Sceptic Blog 