Good News Matters

Just open any newspaper, anywhere in the world and it’s obvious: Negative sells. Bad news sells. Good news is boring...except when it applies to you.

If you are reading this entry, this good news matters because it applies to you! Hospitality, genuine caring for the stranger is legendary in the Middle East. In Va-Yera, just the fourth parashah in the Torah, Abraham and Sarah set the standard for hospitality:

He (Abraham) was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. Looking up he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran to the entrance of the tent to greet them, and bowing to the ground, he said, “My lords if it please you, do not go on past your servant. Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on -- seeing that you have come your servant’s way...”

The story goes on to describe how Abraham and Sarah did not just bring “a morsel of bread.” Instead they brought the best of all of their food, prepared a great meal including the finest meat from their herd, and waited on them while their guests ate. My own attempts at hospitality, while genuine, and I hope meaningful to my guests, seem feeble in comparison.

Not so regarding Israeli hospitality is our experience here. A little perspective; this past February I was here for a five-day mission with the Masorti Foundation Board and leading US-based rabbis to learn more about the 55 and growing Masorti communities in Israel. During the visit I got to know the lay Chairperson of the Masorti Movement in Israel, Emily Levy-Shochat. Emily spent several hours with our group during the 5 days.

A couple of months after the trip, as Amy and I were becoming serious about the move, I emailed several people about our nascent idea; Emily among them. Once we decided to come for a “pilot trip” to confirm that none of us would succumb to complete panic, her response was immediate, “you’ll come to stay with us (she and her husband Jack). You can’t stay in a hotel. That’s no way to live in Israel. You’ll stay in a couple of rooms in our house, we’ll give you a key and you’ll live like Israelis.” I was stunned. She barely knew me, had never met Amy or Josh, yet here she was opening her home to all of us!

We stayed for five nights. We all know about the correlation between guests and fish... We violated that rule, and still were embraced by Emily and Jack. As we came back a few days ago, this time to live, our house wasn’t ready for a few days. Emily and Jack again, now real friends, opened their door as Abraham did.

The family whose house we are renting were remarkable to us. Though introduced though our “commercial” relationship, they took making our transition into Israeli life a personal mission. As they prepared to move to China, they had us over for a Shabbat afternoon meal, introduced Amy to several NBFs, drove us throughout the area showing us shops for every imaginable item, giving us lists of every imaginable, and hopefully avoidable, doctors, telling us which rabbi gives the best shiurim (classes), helping find the right neighborhood 11 and 12 year old boys to bring Josh into Israeli sports life, and on and on.

Saturday night Scooter’s cousin Ilana and Joel made a party in our honor. Serving Josh his favorite schnitzel, inviting 7 couples over to welcome us to Israel while standing on their balcony overlooking the rooftops of Rishon l’Tziyon, it was memorable evening. The highlight came when a retired general from the Israeli army’s “Signal Corp” (the Communications Division of the army) gave a speech / toast. In it he described that the mission of Jews everywhere should be to come and help make Israel great. Speaking directly to Josh, he offered that his coming here was a great sign for Israel and the Jewish people, because the future in his hands; that he is the future of the Jewish people...needless to say, I thought it bit too much pressure for one 11 year old boy, but Josh seemed charged by the challenge!

Welcoming the stranger is one of the great mitzvahs in our heritage. I hope that we are able to extend ourselves to be hosts in the tradition of Abraham and Sarah as we have experienced during our first days here. As you come to visit us, you be the judge.