#101 Hachnasat Orchim: Welcoming Guests and Hospitality
#101 Hachnasat Orchim: Welcoming Guests and Hospitality
In this lesson you will learn about the Jewish tradition of welcoming guests and the importance that Jews place on “bringing in” people and sharing lives together. You will study texts from the Torah and rabbinic literature that teach about the spiritual and practical value of welcoming guests, in Hebrew, hachnasat orchim.
#1 KNOW THIS:
The passover Haggadah says, “let all who are hungry come and eat.”
We believe that welcoming guests adds positive value to our communities and to our lives and fulfills and important commandment from the Torah: “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I, Adonai, am your God.” Leviticus 19:34
#2. STUDY THIS:
“Adonai appeared to Abraham as he was sitting at the entrance of the tent … looking up, he saw: behold, three men standing opposite him. As soon as [Abraham] saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them, and, bowing down to the ground, he said: ‘My lords, if I have found favor in your sight, do not go on past your servant. Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under that tree. Let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on…’ Abraham rushed into the tent to Sarah and said: ‘knead and make cakes!’ Then Abraham ran and took a calf from the herd and gave it to his servant to prepare…[Abraham] took butter and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set it before them and he waited on them under the tree.”
#3. WATCH –
Abraham’s Tent: A Playfully Jewish Explanation of Why This Bible Hero Matters
#4 STUDY:
“Let your house be open; let the poor be members of your household.” (Pirkei Avot 1:5) Let a person’s house be open to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west, just as Abraham’s house was. Abraham made four doors to his house, that the poor might not be troubled to go round the house, but that each would find they faced a door as they approached.
-Avot D’Rabbi Natan 7:17a
#5: WATCH : Tucson Refugee Ministry “Welcome the Stranger”
#6. WATCH – Kid President’s Letter to a Person on Their First Day Here
#7 STUDY THIS: When you are a guest . . .
What does a good guest say? “How much trouble my host has taken for me! How much meat he has set before me! How much drink has he set before me! And all the trouble he has taken was for me!”
What does a bad guest say? “How much after all has my host put himself out, really? I have eaten one piece of bread, one slice of meat, I have drunk one cup of wine.”
Talmud, Brachot 58a
#8 RESPOND AND REACT
1. How do you say “welcome the guest” in Hebrew?
2. What does a welcoming face look like? How does a not welcoming face look?
3. Hospitality is not limited to the home. This virtue can be expressed in many places. Can you think of three places in your life where hospitality is expressed widely? Can you think of three places where there should be more hospitality?
4. What groups of people in our community could benefit from more hospitality? In what way?
Need some help?
We’re here for you. At any time, if you have any questions, please contact one of our teachers so we can help you.
Also, at the end of the session, remember to review your responses in your Tamid Workbook so you can get credit for this lesson. Behatzlacha (Hebrew for good luck)!
You can reach us at (646)360-0689 or connect@tamidnyc.org