I am honored to welcome to my sukkah the following distinguished guests: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David; Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, and Ruth."
(Prayerbook Sim Shalom)
I want to share an eye opening experience from my Rabbinical school days living in Manhattan. I met a very Orthodox family who invited me to spend Shabbat in their home in Far Rockaway. As a single and a newcomer to New York, it was wonderful to spend a weekend with a family.
When I arrived, the family placed me in their oldest son's bedroom. I told them that I did not want to replace him, and they explained, "When we bought this house, we made it clear to our children that they could each have their own bedroom during the week. On Shabbat, they would have to give up their privacy. Our bedrooms are reserved for guests every weekend."
I spent a beautiful, very Orthodox Shabbat with the family. When I left, like too many young people, I was slow following up with a proper thank you note. Imagine my surprise when a note arrived in my mailbox a few days later. It was a thank you from the family, thanking me for giving them the opportunity to practice the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim - welcoming guests into their home.
Our tradition has always taught an open door policy regarding our homes. Guests are welcome. The Sabbath and festivals are particularly worthy times to welcome people. On Passover, we open the door and call out, "all who are hungry come in and eat." Later we open the door for a second time to welcome Elijah the prophet. Over the years my own family has welcomed to our seder everyone from a Christian evangelical to a professional football player and his wife.
The festival of Sukkot is particularly built around having guests. We eat our meals outside, in a sukkah, a flimsy booth with branches for a roof. According to Jewish tradition, each evening as we sit down we invite a different Biblical patriarch. In the ushpizin prayer, we invite Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. Today, we also welcome such matriarchs as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Deborah and Ruth.
An open sukkah filled with guests is a key part of the holiday celebration. Today we have built walls of privacy around our lives. Part of this is security. We live in unsafe times. We have deadbolts and alarm systems. We live in gated communities. We often do not know our neighbors, and have lost the sense of community and neighborhood that was part of our shared past.
In our search for privacy and security, we have lost something valuable, opening our doors and welcoming guests. It is a deep part of our tradition, emphasized on Sukkot but practiced throughout the year. In our tradition, privacy was always balanced with openness. Welcoming guests, strangers, the hungry, those with nowhere to go, the elderly, new converts, college students, military personnel, and anybody else who may need an invite is central to the Torah vision of life. Sukkot is the perfect time to rediscover the ancient mitzvah of welcoming guests into our own lives. Who knows what wisdom we will learn from strangers at our Sabbath and holiday table.
