Everybody would like to be rich, and winning the lottery is the easiest (albeit most unlikely) path to sudden wealth.
In terms of Jewish hashkafa (philosophy), I agree that buying more than one lottery ticket shows a lack of faith. It implies that pure randomness dictates which ticket will win, therefore the more tickets you buy the better your chances of winning. A person with proper emunah (faith) understands that G-d is in control of everything, even what seems apparently random, and while you can't win the lottery without a ticket you only need to have one for Him to make you the winner.
But how does hashkafa view the act of buying the lottery ticket? There are any number of normal, non-miraculous ways for a person to become rich. If G-d wants to bestow riches on you He is not constrained in how to do it. Is it presumptuous to buy a lottery ticket, implying He couldn't make you rich some other way?
Please give sources for your answers, read or taught, from Jewish hashkafa.
No comments:
Post a Comment