So there was a week when there was a luncheon at shul, and this woman and her children happened to be there that week. Someone suggested that they stay for the luncheon. Very nice. So they did. They were told they could sit wherever they wanted, and they sat down almost immediately, while most people were still standing around and chatting. So as people started to make their way to the tables, you know who noticed this family sitting alone and decided to sit with them? No one. They sat by themselves, at a table set for eight. All the people who made a point of talking to them at every kiddush, priding themselves on what warm and welcoming people they are, walked right by and sat down at other tables, talking and laughing loudly with their friends. No one invited her. No one introduced her to anyone else. She and her children ate lunch alone, and then they left.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Change the World
As always, there are many great posts out there worth reading. But today, there's one that stands out to me: RenReb's Curiousities. Check it out, then read the comments. Excerpt:
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This is so sad, yet SO true and all too common in our frum society! When it comes to chesed, no one can deny that frum Jews do a lot of it! BUT, sometimes the prioroties are screwed up!
ReplyDeleteTo support the latest appeal that comes in a brochure with the Gedolim pictures are on, or to donate to the new shul and get a plaque on the wall, everyone jumps to be the first!
When someone dies and his family needs support, or when someone has a simcha and the "gift baskets" need to flow, so many jump to be numero uno!
However, when someone sits in th back of the shul, or a woman with her children sit by themselves at the table, everyone seems to forget that a simple "Shalom Aleichem, do you need a place to eat" or a similar kind word to this lonely woman, may in fact be a bigger act of chesed than your $10,000 contribution to the latest building fund!
LV - Exactly. Well put.
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