By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

The Talmud is pretty clear that Jews are forbidden to gamble. The Mishnah notes that gamblers are forbidden to be witnesses in court cases because they are considered unreliable. Later Jewish texts note that one reason for prohibiting gambling is because the winnings are considered theft. Why? Because people rarely give up their money willingly. They’re planning to win; surrendering that money is thought to be done under duress. I am not sure what the ancient rabbis would have thought of people betting that someone would die. That, unfortunately, is a contemporary problem.
I thought about this after I saw the headline “Kalshi customers who bet on the death of Iran’s Ayatollah won’t get any of the $54 million wagered, company says” (www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kalshi-bets-iran-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-death-b2932018.html). My immediate reaction was, “Good for them. Betting on someone’s death is abhorrent.” Unfortunately, that was not the only reason for the company’s refusal. Instead, it’s that “the predictions market says [its] promotion was ‘grammatically ambiguous’ and misunderstood by customers, reiterating that it ‘does not offer markets that settle on death.’”
If you’re wondering what Kalshi is, that’s understandable. The company calls itself an “exchange and prediction market where you can trade on the outcome of real-world events.” I had never heard of it until after the bombing of Iran started, when news reports talked of how those placing bets on the site seemed to have advance knowledge of U.S. actions. Several also noted that President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is a strategic advisor at Kalshi. I have no idea if information was leaked; right now, that is all innuendo, rather than fact. My concern is more about someone betting on death.
According to Kalshi, the company was not offering bets on the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but rather whether he would be ousted from office. I am not a fan of Khamenei (that is an understatement), but betting on his death or the overthrow of his or any other government just seems wrong from a Jewish point of view. This has nothing to do with my thoughts on the military action (or war, depending on your point of view) that is occurring in Iran. There are far more knowledgeable pundits to comment on that. My concern is different. Has our society reached such a point where it’s acceptable to bet on events that greatly affect the future of our country or which can cause great harm to people’s lives? This is more than sports betting (although the site includes that). This is betting about the next country facing military action, the confirmation of government officials, whether or not Congress will pass certain laws, layoffs at technology companies and more. The potential for insider trading or leakage of classified information is potentially damaging to all of us.
No one should be betting on whether someone will die, no matter what you think of them. The ancient rabbis thought gamblers were unreliable. How much more so would they consider those looking to gain money if winning is the result of someone dying?

Rabbi Rachel Esserman is the former executive editor of The Reporter. Currently, she serves as book reviewer/columnist for the paper.