Vayera VABM

What does it mean to be welcoming?

What spaces were you in when you felt most welcome?

How can you create or hold a space that feels comfortable and welcoming?

(א) וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹ֖הֶל כְּחֹ֥ם הַיּֽוֹם׃ (ב) וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּה֙ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֔ים נִצָּבִ֖ים עָלָ֑יו וַיַּ֗רְא וַיָּ֤רׇץ לִקְרָאתָם֙ מִפֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֔הֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ אָֽרְצָה׃

Genesis 18:1-7

(1) The LORD appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. (2) Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground,

איוב ל״א:ל״ב

בַּ֭חוּץ לֹא־יָלִ֣ין גֵּ֑ר דְּ֝לָתַ֗י לָאֹ֥רַח אֶפְתָּֽח׃

Job 31:32

No sojourner spent the night in the open;
I opened my doors to the road.

Doorway or entrance in Hebrew uses the word פֶּתַח (petach) an opening. So in order to welcome the guest we must open the openings. What would it mean to open our hearts and ourselves to a stranger? To open up ourselves to newness or strangeness or otherness, how do make space for that? How can we open the door for creativity to ourselves?

פָּתַח- to open; to unlock; to unwrap

פִּתֵּחַ- to develop; to improve, to nurture; to invent

עקידת יצחק ס״ט:א׳:ג׳

במדרש (ויקרא רבה פרש' ל"ד) אמרו עליו על הלל הזקן שכשהיה נפטר מתלמידיו היה מהלך והולך עמם. אמרו לו תלמידיו להיכן הלל הולך. אמד להם למגמל חסד עם חד אכסנאי דאית לי בגו ביתאי. אמרו לו ובכל יום אית לך אכסנאין אמר להם וכי האי נפשא עלובתא לאו אכסניא דהאי גופה היא דיומא דין איתא הכא ולמחר ליתא הה"ד (משלי י"א) גומל נפשו איש חסד:

Akeidat Yitzchak 69:1:3

Vayikra Rabbah 34, reports that they said about Hillel the elder, that whenever he took leave of his students, he would walk with them for a short distance. When the students used to enquire where he was going, he told them that he went to perform an act of loving kindness for a guest in his house. Upon the enquiry of the students if he then had guests in his house every day, Hillel said "is not the soul a guest in the body? One day it is here and the next day it is gone." To this phenomenon, he applied the verse "he who does his soul a favour, is a pious man." (Proverbs 11,17)

What does it mean to hold space for yourself?

What if you were your own guest? How do you welcome yourself?