Today is a very exciting day in Australia. In Melbourne many people won’t go to work as they have a day of festivities leading up to the Melbourne cup which is an annual horse race. For those who do still go to work, most offices will have a party of some sort, were people wear a funny, dressy, or weird hat, have a few beers and bet on the horse races with their co-workers. It’s mostly all done in good fun. For those going to the races, it can be an event. Some will get dressed in their finest clothes and may bet a sizeable amount of money on the horses.

So what’s the Jewish take on all this?

For starters: According to Jewish Law, gambling in all its forms was either forbidden by the Rabbis or seriously frowned upon. According to the Talmud, taking money won in gambling is a form of stealing, because the loser does not want to give up his money. Professional gamblers according to rabbinic law were forbidden from giving testimony in a Jewish court of law. The gamblers as witnesses were not trusted. During the temple times it seems pigeon races were the in thing, and the Rabbis used one who bets on pigeon races as an example.

Secondly: The Torah and Judaism are against cruelty to animals. Overall racing animals raises some serious questions on how the animals are treated. It is important that we distance ourselves from any possibilty of partaking in what could be considered cruelty to animals. I took the following from this website: http://www.idausa.org/facts/racing.html

“Around 800 racehorses die each year from fatal injuries suffered on US racetracks. An additional number of approximately 3,566 sustain injuries so bad that they cannot finish their races. Several breeding and horse handling abuses contribute to the great risk of death and injury that horses face.

Breeders often race horses as young as two. These horses lack fully developed bone structure, and are more likely to suffer injury.

To keep horses racing through pain, handlers administer Lasix and Bute. These pain relievers numb pain, but do not treat the injuries that cause pain. Consequently, these injuries get worse. Horses that suffer severe injuries as a result of drug induced racing get sold to slaughterhouses, a more profitable venture for breeders than euthanization. These horses suffer long cramped rides to the slaughterhouse without painkillers, in unfit trailers. Handlers also use Lasix to mask the presence of illegal substances such as steroids.

A horse that fails to win also faces death in a slaughterhouse, where operators sell the horse’s flesh overseas for human consumption, or provide horsemeat to glue factories.

While horse racing is no longer legal in Belgium, it is a sanctioned event in many other places in the world. Work to end horse racing by: Refusing to patronize tracks and by encouraging others to do the same. Lobbying against the construction of new tracks. Educating the public about horse racing industry’s cruelty to horses.”

 Taking all this into account people should judge for themselves how they view the Melbourne Cup and any animal racing for that matter.

As an interesting note: the profit from the lottery system in Israel goes to fund medical expenses. Thus a religious Jew may still buy a ticket because he knows should he lose, the money is going to a good cause anyway and he’s happy to give the money. It is the same when buying charity raffle ticket where even if we don’t win we don’t care much because the money still goes to charity.