Our Gemara on Amud Aleph refers to the “person who plays with dice” as one deemed by the rabbis unfit for an oath. Rashi explains that this individual gambles for profit, and his winnings are often considered theft, as opponents do not fully agree or accept the terms as binding. There is no formal kinyan, and the gambler extracts winnings via coercion. Alternatively, Rav Sheshes in Sanhedrin 24b states such a person is not “involved in settling the world,” meaning his manner of earning a living, even if not deceitful, lacks productive hard work and integrity. The rabbis believed such an individual, by attitude and worldview, is inherently untrustworthy.
It’s noteworthy that Rashi only cites the theft opinion here, omitting Rav Sheshes. Perhaps Rashi felt that for testimony (Sanhedrin’s context), both reasons were valid, but for oath ineligibility, theft is more compelling, as a thief is closer to a liar than someone merely disengaged from meaningful pursuits.
Chazal’s view that a professional gambler lacks social responsibility and integrity may not apply universally today. A competitive poker player, for instance, is akin to athletes or chess players, dedicating years to honing skills in a serious endeavor. Our sages likely targeted those chasing easy wins or tricks instead of a career or calling. Such individuals, even if initially honest, may slip into fraud or grift.
While studying this disapproved behavioral pattern, Mei Hashiloach (Re’eh 4) connects it to poor character traits in non-kosher animals: the Camel, Hare, Rock Rabbit (Hyrax), and Pig. These animals represent traits that hinder faith and trust in God (bitachon).
Mei Hashiloach explains that kosher animals have two signs: cloven hooves and chewing cud. Chewing cud symbolizes outwardly professing faith in God, as the animal literally ruminates. However, such expressions are hollow without inner peace, maturity, and groundedness, represented by cloven hooves, which provide a stable grip on the earth. The four non-kosher animals have one sign but not both, indicating defective character lacking balance between faith and wisdom, stability, and maturity (yishuv hada’as).
- The Camel: Represents extravagance or impulsiveness, linked to Yishmael’s descendants. It chews cud (professes faith) but lacks cloven hooves (yishuv hada’as), showing poor judgment.
- The Hare: Symbolizes impudence or shamelessness, tied to reckless behavior (e.g., gambling, promiscuity) and moral ambiguity, as hares seemed androgynous in the ancient world due to unclear male or female characteristics. It embodies the gambler’s avoidance of a solid profession.
- The Rock Rabbit (Hyrax): Signifies laziness, lolling about. Mei Hashiloach notes some lazy people mask idleness with false bitachon, lacking a true foundation, but claiming they trust in God to provide. It chews cud but lacks cloven hooves, showing superficial faith without internal growth.
- The Pig: Has cloven hooves but does not chew cud, representing stinginess, greed, and hoarding. It appears to have judgment in the form of shrewdness but lacks faith, falsely seeming thoughtful yet devoid of generosity or kindness.
City-dwellers like us, distant from animals, overlook the world our ancestors inhabited. While we Google or once visited libraries, they observed nature. They believed God’s world, sans user manual, teaches lessons. Mishlei 24 draws lessons from animals, and ancient medicine used qualities like bitterness or heat to balance symptoms. The mandrakes Leah and Rachel disputed aided fertility, their roots resembling small bodies (Ibn Ezra, Bereishis 30:14).
(Ibn Ezra comments on the matter supports and challenges my thesis. He acknowledges a tradition that mandrakes aided fertility but questions their efficacy, noting their cool nature contradicts the heat needed for life generation, per humors-based medicine of the ancient world. Yet, their human-like shape signaled fertility, aligning with the ancients’ worldview. This supports the broader thesis: ancients saw meaning in nature’s forms, unlike our skepticism. Ibn Ezra objected because of the particulars of his medical tradition, seeing the coolness in the herb as contrary to inducing fertility.)
We often dismiss such observations as superstitious, but it’s about subjective experience. Like music evoking emotions, animals’ traits stir states of mind. Ancients were wiser, more attuned to the coming from the natural world.
Tomorrow’s Psychology of the Daf blogpost for Shavuos 48 explores patterns in the natural and emotional world as sources of wisdom.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com