Is it ok to buy lottery tickets?

Yes, it’s ok to buy one.
It’s called hishtadlus.

-Psak as per my Zaidy

To amplify the zaidy – you are not allowed to rely on miracles. So, you need to give Hashem a chance to support you through normal channels. Many people go and learn a profession. But for those of us on a higher madregah, it is sufficient to buy a lottery ticket.

A practical advice: don’t buy the losing tickets, they are a waste of money and asur to buy. But just the winning ticket, and maybe a couple of losing ones to avoid ayin hara of people saying that things are too easy for you.

Let us know how it worked out.

“Also, they recognize that someone must win, so it does not apply.“

That doesn’t work for a powerball ticket

If you buy only one. Not any more. Just one. In that way we are giving Hashem a pesach- an opening that al pi teva can be explained as a winning ticket even though its clear that based on the odds it is a miracle. Bu we may not be zoche to a miracle in which Hashem drops 300 mil into my bank account. So we open a door the size of a needle- that iis our way of diminishing the miracle. Buying 2 means you are trying to increasing the odds. That is hishtadlus- that is ridiculous. Those odds ae not reasonable hishtadlus. You wouldn’t go for a job interview or for a shidduch if there was 1 in 300 million chance you would get it. The other thing is to be afraid of wealth. Ashirus is a bigger nisayon than poverty. Maybe the following is an idea. Draw up a contract in whihc you commit to give away 90 percent of the post taxes winnings to Tzedakos all over the world. Designate percentages for Yeshivos, Chesed organizations, yechidim etc. WRITE IT OUT> Sign it in fornt of 2 witnesses, give then copies, tell your kids you wrote such a contract so you are diminishing g the chances of the Yetzer orah creeping in. Then buy it and say Tehillim that the mosdos need you to win. Imagine if yo were able to distribute 270 million to Tzedakah….. without publicity. Set up a foundation- your name should not appear in public…. ah!! That would be a Kiddush Hashem!

A side question:

If Hashem decided on Rosh Hashanah how much you’re going to get aren’t you supposed to get it even if you don’t play the lottery (like finding it in the street)?

Yt,

The problem is does Hashem decide how much you’ll make in a year (50,000 or 1,000,000) then it shouldn’t matter how Hashem gives it to you because you’re supposed to get that money somehow

Or is it that Hashem decides that if you play the lottery you’re going to get one amount and if you don’t you’ll get a different amount

@Rabbaim, indeed. Wife of one of baalei mussar (maybe Alter from Slobodka?) bought a lottery. He immediately called witnesses and wrote a shtar that he has nothing to do with the money in case she will win. He was terrified with possible responsibility to use it properly.

Maybe the following is an idea. Draw up a contract in whihc you commit to give away 90 percent of the post taxes winnings to Tzedakos all over the world. Designate percentages for Yeshivos, Chesed organizations, yechidim etc. WRITE IT OUT> Sign it in fornt of 2 witnesses, give then copies, tell your kids you wrote such a contract so you are diminishing g the chances of the Yetzer orah creeping in. Then buy it and say Tehillim that the mosdos need you to win.

I’m not sure I get this. Hashem doesn’t need your help. Of course, if you become wealthy, you should give a lot of tzeddah (if I may disagree with Uncle Moishy) but I don’t get the making a deal with Hashem part.

The Ksav Sofer interprets the pasuk ‘וה’ הולך לפניהם יומם בעמוד ענן וכו When Hashem brings one, day (wealth), he should think of the dark cloud (it can turn bad) but at night (poverty) he should think at tbe amud aish (stand of fire) it will turn good, so he will be able to withstand good and bad.

You can google “may one play the lottery [i.e. purchase a lottery ticket]?” for the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav. also heard that Rav Ovadia and Rav Avraham Shapira allowed buying Israeli lottery tickets as they go for tzedaka purposes. Also, the odds are so enormous that any normal person will think that the money is gone. From the standpoint of taking the money if one wins, the sponsor knows that it will have to pay up someone eventually. There have actually been dinei Torah regarding someone who bought a ticket for someone else or received a ticket when buying something for someone else.

@dy what uncle m?

Asking Hashem to let you win so you can help mosdos, tzedakah etc…. is asking to be zoche to be a great shaliach MItzvah.

There are lots of wonderful mitzvos. You are suggesting we ask for the zechus to be able to perform one which allows us to keep 10% of hundreds of millions of dollars, and expect Hashem to be fooled ch”v into thinking it’s l’shem shomayim?

(Follow up)

Scratch that

Hashem is בוחן כליות ולב and considers a מחשבה לטובה so if one really wants to help mosdos but can’t because he doesn’t have a lot of money Hashem does consider it as a זכות

“I think the person buying the lottery ticket “l’shem shomayim” is fooling himself.“

Maybe or maybe not

Like I said before Hashem is בוחן כליות ולב

Then why 90% instead of 100%?

Rabbaim, what is fated every year? How much one will earn this year or how much one will one earn through buying a lottery ticket?

Reb Eliezer- The Gemara says yuor income is determined from Rosh Hashanah to RH! It is pretty clear that it is a year by year din. If Hashem wanted me to have 50 million, then one ticket is enough of an opening for it to happen without being an overt clear cut miracle. Also, when odds are 1 in 300 million tha is clearly not called hishtadlus. It is “pischi li psicho shel machat…” HIshtadlus has to make sense on the “olam hamaaseh” This just downgrades the miracle a bit.
ALWAYS_ 1- If you want me to go fully bderech teva, then Most businesses do not succeed at that level. 2- I am in chinuch and have no heter to leave what I am dong to make money if my own needs are basically covered.
3- Hiring them when they are all oever …. are you just poking or you can think if a plan that your words make some sense?
DAAS- 10 percent I think I earmark for my own childen and einuklech if possible….

>> If you want me to go fully bderech teva, then Most businesses do not succeed

This is exactly what I am saying – start a business and then daven.

>> in chinuch and have no heter to leave

Not sure why you are complaining then? Hashem wants you doing chinuch, he’ll take care of your cousins some other way… Ironically, seems like some people in chinuch spend more time thinking about money than people in some professions who spend their free time learning … A friend said that when he asked his son’s Rebbe to do more for the kid, the guy said – how can you expect me to spend some much on the kids when I am thinking how to feed my family and extra work I can do.

>> Hiring them when they are all over

there is lot of business that is done remotely. Sell on internet and let them run customer service. Let them teach/tutor some of your students remotely.

>> your friend is a friend but the Rebbi is a guy?

the one from the story was definitely a guy, not a gal, and not a Talmid Chacham (based admittedly on a strict criteria). I can’t fully vouch for the story but it illustrates a lot what I see.

To be clear, I am in no way denigrating those wonderful teachers who work l’shem shamaim.

What I often see is that many people, both mena and women, are educated in a way that teaching is their only viable profession. Then, some of them are not really into that but they have no other job, and now they are teaching the kids. And this is happening for a couple of generations already, so this attitude becomes the norm. Again, I have greatest kavod for real teachers and always look for them.