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Marriage and Divorce

Home / We have never been well off as a married couple, always having to scrimp and save. My husband is in regular employment on an average salary. Since the start of the recession , however, he seems to have become depressed and out of hopelessness has started spending more and more money every week on lottery tickets and football pools.This gambling mania is getting out of hand . Does Jewish law allow a wife to divorce her husband because of his addiction to gambling ?

We have never been well off as a married couple, always having to scrimp and save. My husband is in regular employment on an average salary. Since the start of the recession , however, he seems to have become depressed and out of hopelessness has started spending more and more money every week on lottery tickets and football pools.This gambling mania is getting out of hand . Does Jewish law allow a wife to divorce her husband because of his addiction to gambling ?

By: דיאנה שאלתיאלPublished on: 13 June, 2022
If the results of a husband’s gambling habits adversely affect marital life so that he is not fulfilling his duties according to Jewish law – in particular supporting his wife and children financially – then the wife has grounds for divorce.
Furthermore, if a husband’s gambling addiction results in other forms of negative behaviour which are recognised under Jewish law as grounds for divorce- e.g.  physical and verbal violence – then the wife may have additional legal cause when she files to end their marriage at the rabbinical court.

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