(א) וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹ֖הֶל כְּחֹ֥ם הַיּֽוֹם׃
(ב) וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּה֙ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֔ים נִצָּבִ֖ים עָלָ֑יו וַיַּ֗רְא וַיָּ֤רָץ לִקְרָאתָם֙ מִפֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֔הֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ אָֽרְצָה׃
(ג) וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אֲדֹנָ֗י אִם־נָ֨א מָצָ֤אתִי חֵן֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ אַל־נָ֥א תַעֲבֹ֖ר מֵעַ֥ל עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃
(ד) יֻקַּֽח־נָ֣א מְעַט־מַ֔יִם וְרַחֲצ֖וּ רַגְלֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִֽשָּׁעֲנ֖וּ תַּ֥חַת הָעֵֽץ׃
(ה) וְאֶקְחָ֨ה פַת־לֶ֜חֶם וְסַעֲד֤וּ לִבְּכֶם֙ אַחַ֣ר תַּעֲבֹ֔רוּ כִּֽי־עַל־כֵּ֥ן עֲבַרְתֶּ֖ם עַֽל־עַבְדְּכֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֵּ֥ן תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּֽרְתָּ׃
(ו) וַיְמַהֵ֧ר אַבְרָהָ֛ם הָאֹ֖הֱלָה אֶל־שָׂרָ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר מַהֲרִ֞י שְׁלֹ֤שׁ סְאִים֙ קֶ֣מַח סֹ֔לֶת ל֖וּשִׁי וַעֲשִׂ֥י עֻגֽוֹת׃
(ז) וְאֶל־הַבָּקָ֖ר רָ֣ץ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיִּקַּ֨ח בֶּן־בָּקָ֜ר רַ֤ךְ וָטוֹב֙ וַיִּתֵּ֣ן אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וַיְמַהֵ֖ר לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת אֹתֽוֹ׃
(ח) וַיִּקַּ֨ח חֶמְאָ֜ה וְחָלָ֗ב וּבֶן־הַבָּקָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וַיִּתֵּ֖ן לִפְנֵיהֶ֑ם וְהֽוּא־עֹמֵ֧ד עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם תַּ֥חַת הָעֵ֖ץ וַיֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃
(1)And the LORD appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
(2) and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed down to the earth,
(3) and said: ‘My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.
(4) Let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and recline yourselves under the tree.
(5) And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on; forasmuch as ye are come to your servant.’ And they said: ‘So do, as thou hast said.’
(6) And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said: ‘Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.’
(7) And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto the servant; and he hastened to dress it.
(8) And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
"We are in danger of losing the art of hospitality. We don’t welcome strangers any more; we are afraid of them. We don’t invite people to our homes anymore; we entertain at restaurants or clubs. We don’t greet people on the street; we avoid them. We don’t even answer our phones without checking caller ID to see if it is someone we know or want to talk to. In keeping to ourselves, visiting only those with whom we are already friends and talking only to those people we wish to talk to, we are slowly losing a part of our souls.
Kindness to others, is not simply an imperative to improve the lives of those who seek welcome. The act of hospitality improves the lives of those who offer it. Welcoming, serving and feeding others embody the values of generosity of spirit, of sharing what we have, of caring for others when they are in need. In short, the act of offering welcome is an act that humanizes us and nourishes our souls."
Rabbi Ron Wolfson, The Spirituality of Welcoming
(לג) וְכִֽי־יָג֧וּר אִתְּךָ֛ גֵּ֖ר בְּאַרְצְכֶ֑ם לֹ֥א תוֹנ֖וּ אֹתֽוֹ׃ (לד) כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח מִכֶּם֩ יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֗ם וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ כָּמ֔וֹךָ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
(33) And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong. (34) The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
(ט) וְגֵ֖ר לֹ֣א תִלְחָ֑ץ וְאַתֶּ֗ם יְדַעְתֶּם֙ אֶת־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַגֵּ֔ר כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(9) And a stranger shalt thou not oppress; for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
"Long after people forget how delicious the chicken was, they will remember how you made them feel."
Danny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group
“I used to think that the most important line in the Bible was “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Then I realized that it is easy to love your neighbor because he or she is usually quite like yourself. What is hard is to love the stranger, one whose color, culture or creed is different from yours. That is why the command, “Love the stranger because you were once strangers”, resonates so often throughout the Bible. It is summoning us now.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Refugee crisis: ‘Love the stranger because you were once strangers’ calls us now,” TheGuardian.com
Rabbi Hiyya, a Talmudic sage, began this [seder] night by opening his door and declaring, "All who who are hungry come in and eat." Our scholars believed that we break the matzah, the bread of poverty, to prepare us for and teach us about sharing what we have with those who have nothing.
Fourth World Haggadah, World Union of Jewish Students, ca. 1970
Although they may initially seem redundant, the two invitations we issue in HaLakhma Anya--"Let all who are who are hungry, kol dikhfin, enter and eat" and "Let all who are in need, kol ditzrikh, come and celebrate the Passover:---in reality are not. Kol ditzrikh means those who are in need--but not in need of bread...one who is alone, who has a lot of Matza and wine but no home or family...Whoever is in need should come and celebrate...
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, quoted in A Night to Remember (2007)
(א) מפנין אפלו ארבע וחמש קפות של תבן ושל תבואה, מפני האורחים ומפני בטול בית המדרש, אבל לא את האוצר. מפנין תרומה טהורה, ודמאי, ומעשר ראשון שנטלה תרומתו, ומעשר שני והקדש שנפדו, והתרמוס היבש, מפני שהוא מאכל לעניים. אבל לא את הטבל, ולא מעשר ראשון שלא נטלה תרומתו, ולא את מעשר שני והקדש שלא נפדו, ולא את הלוף, ולא את החרדל. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל מתיר בלוף, מפני שהוא מאכל עורבין.
(1) One may move even four or five baskets of straw or of grain [to make room] for guests, or to [avoid] neglect of the Beit HaMidrash [a facility devoted to the study and teaching of Torah]; but [one may] not [move] the entire storehouse. One may remove pure Terumah [a portion of a crop given to a kohen which becomes holy upon separation and may only be consumed by kohanim and their households], and Demai [produce from which it is uncertain whether tithes have been taken], and Ma'aser Rishon [the first tithe of produce which must be given to the Levi] from which Terumat Ma'aser [a tenth of the tithe given to the Levite (the first tithe) which must in turn be given to a Kohen and which becomes holy upon separation and can only be consumed by Kohanim and their households] has been taken, and Ma'aser Sheni [the second tithe of produce which must be taken to Jerusalem and consumed there] and Hekdesh [property, living or inanimate, devoted by its owner for sacred purposes by which action he ceases to be its owner] which have been redeemed, and dried lupines - since these are food for the poor. But [one may not move] move Tevel [produce from which tithes and priestly gifts have not yet been taken], nor Ma'aser Rishon from which the Terumat Ma'aser has not been taken; nor Ma'aser Sheni or Hekdesh which have not been redeemed; nor arum [a plant], nor mustard. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel permits arum [to be moved] since it is food for [pet] ravens.
G'd performs acts of hospitality at all times, at every moment. Were He to desist from doing so for even a single moment the world would be lost. All creatures are His guests, we are all like strangers vis-a-vis G'd, and just as strangers we need a place to sleep. G'd enables us to survive. If He were to withdraw life-support for even a moment, we would all perish. This is what the Talmud Shabbat 127 has in mind when it states that the entertaining of guests is an even greater accomplishment than the welcoming of G'd's Presence since the Torah reports that Abraham asked G'd to wait a few moments: אל נא תעבור אד-ני, אם נא מצאתי חן בעינך מעל עבדך, while he would attend to the guests who had arrived suddenly (18,3).
עוד מנהג גדול היה בירושלים מפה פרוסה על גבי הפתח כל זמן שמפה פרוסה אורחין נכנסין נסתלקה המפה אין האורחין נכנסין:
Talmud Bava Batra 93b
There was another fine custom in Jerusalem. [At the start of the meal] a flag was spread over the door.So long as the flag was spread, guests entered. When the cloth was removed, no guests entered.
Thoughtful Questions:
- Why do you think hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests) is so important as a Jew?
- What defines a guest? Are there other people we should welcome? Why?
- To what extent are we obligated to be hospitable?
- What fears or insecurities may guests feel?
- When you first entered this community (or even the Jewish community) who welcomed you?
- Have you ever been in a situation where you did not feel welcome, or felt like a stranger?
- How did someone reach out to you, or how did people not attend to your needs?Recall
- Think of one memorable experience where you were hosted. What was it and why did the host have such an impact, postively or negatively?