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Dear Coalition Community,
Although I am an introvert and have been all my life, Jen and I treasure the ability to welcome people to
our home. Hosting people for Shabbat dinner, a weekend BBQ, or a holiday party is a special privilege. It
is not just a treat for us, it is baked into our identities and built out of our Jewish values that call us to
welcome people. And, the summer is prime time for hosting in our home!
The Jewish value of hachnasat orchim – welcoming guests – comes from the early stories of Abraham and
Sarah. In Genesis, there is a story of these early ancestors keeping the four walls of their tent open and,
in the heat of the day and after a recent circumcision for Abraham, leaving the relative safety of their
space to “go out to welcome” three individuals who are passing by in the wilderness. This idea of leaving
the place of comfort and going to them instead of waiting for them to come to us is the central idea of
what it means to welcome someone Jewishly. But it is more than just that. They go out to meet them,
bring them back to their tent to feed them, and offer them a respite from their travels. Abraham and Sara
are genuinely concerned about their well-being and happiness.
In the Talmud, we learn that “welcoming guests takes precedence even over welcoming the Shechina
(God’s presence)!” Clearly, the rabbis wanted us to understand that there is something more than just a
meal being served when we are welcoming people to our home. The summer is a social time. We get
together for parties. We celebrate. We spend time with the people we care about. That relationship
building work is central to what it means to live a Jewish life.
To that end, I want to share some tips that come from Jewish tradition about how to appropriately
welcome people and how to be a pleasant guest:
– The Talmud, in tractate Kiddushin, says that it is the obligation of the host to serve guests at their
table.
– Guests, according to the Talmud in Pesachim, should not overstay their welcome and should take
cues from the host as to when it is time to leave.
– The Mishnah Torah, a medieval book of Jewish law, forbids staring too much at your guests for fear
of embarrassing them.
– Talmud Eruvin says that the sign of a good meal is when there is a little bit of food left on the plate
because it indicates that more than enough food has been served.
– A good host, according to Derech Eretz Zuta, should always have a smile on their face.
– It is considered a mitzvah (a good deed) to actually escort someone out of your home and not just
to the door. The rabbis teach that you should escort someone at least four cubits (approximately
seven feet) out of the front door when you say goodbye.
– It is a mitzvah to host, but also a mitzvah to give someone the opportunity to host. Accepting an
invitation is equally good to hosting yourself.
With these tips and tricks in hand, I hope that you can have a good summer of hosting, being welcomed,
and joyful relationship building with wonderful friends!
Kol Tuv (Be Well),
Rabbi James
TZEDAKAH APPEAL:
During this desperate time for many, we think of and reach out to the many who are struggling.
HIAS : “Welcome the Stranger. Protect the Refugee” The oldest refugee agency in the world, established in 1902 as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. http://hias.org
American Jewish Committee: addressing challenges Jews are facing worldwide, defending Democratic values for all. ajc.org
YOUR ASSISTANCE, PLEASE:
The New Milford Historical Society & Museum is beginning work on a new exhibit entitled The Jewish Experience in New Milford. David Cohen, a trustee of the Museum and Coalition member, is spearheading this initiative. The team is also reaching out to those in surrounding towns as well.
If anyone would like to be interviewed or has any historical information, photos or other artifacts relevant to this project, please contact David on behalf of the team at: davidxxcohen@gmail.com or 917.902.0864
JEWISH News and Culture:
https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/the-shmooze
ENLIGHTENMENT and ENTERTAINMENT FROM YOUR SITE LIBRARY…
Go to“Learn” tab, scroll down to “Jewish Resources” and click “MY JEWISH LEARNING” (or go directly to MyJewishLearning.com).
Here you’ll find an aggregator that is regularly updated with a huge breadth of content and all sorts of goodies and surprises!
For example, the“Daily Guide to Zoom Events, Livestream and Other Online Resources.” Among the wide range of subjects, programs and activities you’ll see here are: “The Only Jewish Miss America” (Museum of Jewish Heritage), “Mindfulness Melodies” (Jewish Life in Maine), “Art as a Spiritual Practice,” A Midwives, Musicians, Soldiers and Rabbis: Whose Stories will Become History?,” “Bioethics During a Pandemic,” etc., etc.
And other treats too! Recipes for the holidays and everyday: “Potato Chip Schnitzel, Shwarma Chicken Kabobs, Roasted Butternut Squash with Orange Tahini, Briskett Tacos, Ethiopian Red Lentil Soup,” etc., etc…
Come visit and linger, you’ll be glad you did!
https://marketplace.jewishtogether.org
OTHER RECOMMENDED MEDIA
“The Swimmers,” on NETFLIX.
MEMBER PICKS…
FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE
“A Pigeon and a Boy,” by Meir Shalev
Review: “A powerful novel of two love stories, separated by half a century but connected by one enchanting act of devotion — of how deeply we love, of what home is, and why we, like pigeons trained to fly in one direction only, must eventually return to it…”
“My Russian Grandmother and her American Vacuum Cleaner,” also by Meir Shalev
Review: “A charming tale of family ties, over-the-top housekeeping, and the sport of storytelling in the small village of Nahalal…”
“The Baron,“ TYCOON Baron Maurice de Hirsch (1831-1896) by Matthias b. Lehmann
Review: “Philanthropy combines genuine compassion with the display of power”
In his lifetime, Hirsch was a giant of the “gilded age of Jewish philanthropy.” He was a German-born Jew who lived in a palace in Paris and kept his office in Vienna. He cut his biggest deal, a railway, with the Ottoman sultan. (When Hercule Poirot took the Orient Express, his train ran on Hirsch’s tracks!)
Hirsch funded schools and vocational training for Jewish communities not only in the Ottoman cities, but the Russian Pale, the French colonies of North Africa and in large areas of Argentina. The Jewish Colonization Association, the vehicle for his Argentine settlements, was the largest charitable organization in the world at a time when philanthropy was the principal form of Jewish political action…”
Visit LINKS OF INTEREST (on this site under “For Members” tab) to read an excerpt of an essay on Baron de Hirsch, his vision and involvement with Jewish farming in Connecticut.
ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER
The Great Courses, learn a language, instrument or subject; create something new or master a skill… and more. www.TheGreatCourses.com
jigsawplanet.com — Jigsaw puzzles. Be forewarned, (mildly) addictive!