Welcoming Guests at CCI

One of the primary values in Judaism is hachnasat orchim – welcoming guests. In our

siddur (pg. 107) we find a passage from the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Kiddushim 39b) that

lists hachnasat orchim among several things that reward us in our lives and in “the world to come”. Tradition holds that Abraham modeled hachnasat orchim when he welcomed the three strangers who came to tell him that Sarah would have child (Gen. 18) He was sitting at the opening of his tent, they tell us, in order to be ready to welcome anyone who came by – and when he saw the three “men” (who were actually angels or some kind of manifestation of God) he rushed to make them comfortable, bathe their tired feet, and feed them a good meal in the cool shade.

Here at CCI, we welcome a great many guests. I have never before served at a synagogue

where visitors came so often! One of my first groups of guests was the Green Bay Retired Men’s Club, which Rabbi Shaina and I welcome to the shul in the summer. This was a fairly large group of gentlemen who seemed to enjoy learning about our shul and about Judaism. They asked many interesting questions. Other groups of visitors have included a class of eleventh and twelfth graders from the Menominee Nation who were studying comparative religion, and a class from St. Norbert’s College who were learning about sacred architecture. Both groups were interested the see the Torahs, discuss the symbols in our stained-glass windows, take note of the menorah in our ceiling, and to learn about Judaism generally. The students from the Menominee Nation came during Sukkot, so I was able to take them out to the sukkah and demonstrate shaking the lulav and etrog – evidence that Judaism, too, is an earth-based spiritual practice originally. The students from St. Norbert’s, according their teacher Jim Neilson, enjoyed their visit to CCI more than any other place they visited for their class.

Even more often than groups, we welcome individual guests to our synagogue -- almost

every week, it seems, either on Zoom or in person. Some are college students learning about

different religions; some are considering conversion; some are friends of congregants; and some are simply curious. Of course, when we have individual visitors we always ask for ID and try to check a little into their background. We are now also asking that folks not bring large purses or backpacks, unless they are clear plastic, for security reasons. But to date, all our guests have been respectful and interested, often joining us for oneg and showing an eagerness to learn about our traditions. One young man said he appreciated that we were not interested in proselytizing him! He had come, he said, because he has a friend who has moved to Israel and become very Orthodox in his views, and he wanted to see what different practices of Judaism might look like.

I am proud to serve a community that is so genuinely welcoming of others. I hope we will

always be able to keep our doors open for guests, as well as for our own community. If you know of a group or individual that would like to visit, please let me know. After all, as Maimonades wrote in his Mishneh Torah, “Showing hospitality for guests surpasses receiving the Divine Presence”!