A Catholic man is struck by a bus on a busy street.  He is lying near death on the sidewalk as a crowd gathers

"A Priest.  Somebody get a Priest!" the man gasps

Minutes drag on and no one steps out of the crowd

A policeman checks the crowd and finally yells, "A PRIEST PLEASE!  Isn't there a priest in this crowd to give this man his last rites?"

Finally, out of the crowd steps a little old Jewish man of at least 80 years of age.  "Mr. Policeman" says the man, "I'm not a priest. I am not even a Christian, but for 50 years now, I'm living behind the Catholic Church on First Avenue, and every night I'm overhearing their services  I can recall a lot of it, and maybe I can be of some comfort to this poor man."

The policeman agrees, and clears the crowd so the man can get through to where the injured man lay

The old Jewish man kneels down, leans over the prostrate man, and says in a solemn voice:  "B-4, I-19, N-38, G-54, 0-71."

"Dray" (3) questions:

1.  Should not the synagogue (and church) be the last place in which gambling is permitted?

2.  Is gambling appropriate entertainment at a Bar Mitzvah?

3.  Can you walk into a synagogue building which has no plaques, no fundraising (car washes, ads/calendars, Monte Carlo Night, and Bingo), where all the money comes from people taking on their fare share of the expenses?

It is estimated that there are over 100,000 weekly Bingo games being played around "di velt" (the world).  That means that every few seconds, someone, somewhere is standing up and yelling "Bingo."

A little Bingo history.  By the late 1930s, bingo was all the rage in cities up and down the East Coast.  Movie theaters, social halls and Catholic churches and synagogues held weekly bingo nights that drew "toyznts" (thousands) of paying customers.  During the Depression, Catholic churches turned to Bingo to supplement the diminishing returns of the collection plates; synagogues, their revenues also steadily dropping, followed suit

Fiorello LaGuardia, New York's mayor, and other local politicians took steps to check its popularity.  They were fearful that the underworld (AKA "mercenary intruders") would assume control of Bingo games and turn them into a "racket."  He ordered a temprary "bingo ban in 1938.  In one of his weekly "Talking To the People" radio addresses,  LaGuardia said that if "bingo is unlawful in one place, the same game cannot be lawful in another place.  Do I make myself clear?"

The church agreed, and in 1942, all bingo games held within the Archdiocese of New York were discontinued.  The Presbyterian General Assembly denounced bingo and other games of chance as "not in keeping with the Christian doctrine and life" and called on its faithful to bring an end voluntarily.  The Jews, in the absence of a binding central authority, proceeded on an ad hoc, congregation-by-congregation basis

As late as 1955, when a new legislative initiative to legalize bingo in religious institutions was being considered, the New York Board of Rabbis publicly opposed the proposition.  'The raising of funds through bingo games, even for worthy causes, is not in consonance with the highest standards of morality and dignity which the synagogue sets for the general community," it resolved

The Rev. Dr. Julius Mark of Temple Emanu-El took matters a step further wondering whether it might be better to "struggle along to the best of our ability rather than to depend on...an immoral means to gain moral ends.  Should not the church and synagogue be the last place in which gambling is permitted?"

Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser declared, Bingo and other game of chance, when played in a synagogue, were a "hillul Hashem"--a desecration of God's name

And the late John Cardinal O'Connor said during a Sunday homily at St. Patrick's Cathedral that he would like to see parishes become less dependent on bingo money. In fact, the Catholic church's catechism (teaching guide) says gambling becomes "morally unacceptable" if and when it deprives gamblers of money necessary for the needs of others."

 F-a-s-t forward to 2007.  Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe wrote (6/14/07) that there's a lucrative betting game going on in Milton, Mass., and it's pulling in more than $1 million a year in Bingo.  There are two ongoing bingo games--one at Temple Shalom and the other at St. Agatha's. (St. Agatha's school was once dubbed "the Caesar's Palace of Massachusetts bingo) when 500 people or more showed up to play every week

And now to the subject of gambling at Bar Mitzvahs.  "A shande un a kharpe" (a shame and a disgrace)

On a blog of HKWeddingphotographer, a 13-year-old named "Jeremy" had as his Bar Mitzvah theme, "JEREMY RESORT AND CASINO."  Of course, his young guests had lots of gambling...and dancing!

According to Arnie Wexler, a longtime expert on compulsive gambling, the poker rage has infiltrated coming out parties for Jewish 13-year-olds.  "Kids are telling their parents they want to have a poker party at the Bar Mitzvah, and the parents are doing it.  Yes, hired dancers are 'aroys' (out) and hip dealers are in."  Who would believe this?

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