Is your newly beautified
home or old one hosting Shabbat and holiday dinners and open to those who have no place to
go, people going through a hard time who are lonely, abandoned, down and out or
poor? Do the disenfranchised have a place at your table? Does God? For
whom are you expanding the empire truly when in fact most of the time you find
your comfy corner and spend your time in that same place on your laptop or
cell phone with your head and heart miles away from the miles of new tiles
you’ve just laid down.
We learn the proper example to follow from
our forefather Abraham. His tents were open on all sides so people coming from
any direction would have an open door and be warmly greeted. For
not only is it necessary to fulfill a guest’s physical needs, but even more so,
their emotional need of feeling welcomed and wanted. Not doing so is a big sin.
If a guest leaves your house with a generous “doggy bag” but in tears or shame,
it’s better to give the treats to a dog until you yourself learn how to be a
mensch. Abraham was greatly blessed for seeing the humanity
and godliness in each person and treating even strangers exceptionally
well.
In contrast to Abraham, we
learn how the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed
because they were averse to hospitality, so much so, its inhabitants would kill their own neighbors
if they extended kindness to strangers. If an unfortunate person would find
shelter in their midst, they’d be given the S&G treatment: if they were too
tall to fit in a bed their legs would be cut off and if they were too short,
they’d be cruelly stretched. No matter what your size, guests did not fit into the
Sodom and Gomorrah mentality.
I’m not trying to put any
decorators out of business. For we learn in this week’s Torah reading that God
Himself is a great designer. In fact, numerous parashas in the
Torah deal with God’s very specific instructions as to how to design, measure
and decorate the Tabernacle, its vessels and accessories. From acacia wood to
pure gold overlays, to cooper and silver and curtains, down to the detail and
moldings, God too loves His house down here on earth. And He wants it the way
He wants it, as His supernal blueprint has reverberations and impact beyond our
limited comprehension. But the one thing we can understand with our limited
insight, is that the Tabernacle wherein God was to be served by the Israelites
was not meant to take the Israelites’ eyes out with its gilded grander, but
rather to extract service of the heart, devotion and awe from them. It was a
place constructed here on earth as a dwelling place for the Divine. Our own
homes too, whether they be simple or sumptuous, are also meant to be abodes
wherein God can dwell. But, when we ignore that truth, and evict God
to make room for more foreign imports, the walls come crashing down and if not
always physically then with business problems, health issues, family upsets,
etc. “And if it
displeases you to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve…but as
for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
Last week, in my article, “Where
is the Jew in You?,” I questioned whether we are using each of our body parts
to serve God. This week I ask, “How are you using your home, its contents and
what you own to serve God?” When is the last time you used your car to offer an
old lady standing at the bus stop a lift? Have you prayed over the bread that’s
on your table? Are your Mikasa dishes kosher? Are the walls in your home witnesses to prayers or gossip?
Beware one day they will testify against you? Does your kitchen
counter have a charity box on it too or only a repurposed cookie jar with
emergency cash. Have you only uplifted your spirits with fancy scented candles
or have you struck a match to light Shabbat candles. Takes the same amount of
time, but when these holy wicks die the mitzvah still glows eternally. With our cash we
know how to maximize returns with wise investments, in what way are you using
your blessings to earn more blessings and to make your whole life an altar to
God.
The three Hebrew letters
on your front door mezuzah are--shin, dalet, yud--they stand for shomer daltot Yisrael, the
Guardian of the doors of Israel. They also spell one of God’s ineffable names.
But as that beautiful mezuzah is angled to point toward your home, are you
really deserving of God’s protection? What in your home and behavior therein is
sanctifying Him and His name that would give Him incentive to even want to do
anything for you? Forget market value, when God assess your home, would it hold any true worth at all according to His criteria?
Some say home is where the heart is. But if God and His will do not dwell
among you, do you really have a heart?
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