I can’t help but chuckle at the media which is making this huge fuss over some woman who had a total stranger at her home for Thanksgiving Dinner. Think about the thousands of Jews around the globe that eat Shabbos meals every week at homes of people they never met. The story is very nice and is meaningful, but is almost laughable in comparison to what we as Jews are accustomed to. The Hachnosas Orchim that we know of is on a scale that the media or ordinary Americans wouldn’t begin to grasp or comprehend. The numbers are simply staggering when you stop and think about it.

In my neighborhood of Flatbush, I know of three such homes that have around 100 guests at their home every Friday night, and then again on Shabbos morning.

In Boro Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights… in every single Jewish community there are homes that have their doors wide open to total strangers.

In Jerusalem there are dozens of homes that have hundreds and hundreds of guests each Shabbos meal – some homes having multiple shifts to accommodate the throngs of guests.

The ones mentioned above are the large open homes that serve mass-meals – but what about the regular Jew leaving Shul on Friday night, who sees a guest and asks him if he has a place to eat tonight ?

This goes on in every single Shul around the globe! We approach total strangers and ask them if they need a place to eat.

What about the websites that you can go to and invite strangers looking for a Shabbos meal?

And what about the thousands of meals by Bikur Cholim organizations that are fed three times a day in hospitals around the globe? The hot Shabbos meals?

This story made me actually want to celebrate “Thanksgiving”. The REAL thanksgiving – that I thank Hashem for making me part of the Am HaNivchar.

Mi K’amcha Yosroel!

Good Shabbos.

Yosef Gutman – Flatbush

HERE IS THE STORY FROM THE AP:

An Arizona woman who accidentally texted a stranger an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner has made good on her offer after it spread through social media.

The Arizona Republic reports that Wanda Dench greeted 17-year-old Jamal Hinton with a hug before they sat down for dinner Thursday at her suburban Phoenix home.

The mix-up happened after Dench included what she thought was her grandson’s number on a group text last week, but he had changed his number and never told her.

Instead, the text went to 17-year-old Jamal Hinton. They realized the mistake after the two exchanged pictures, but Hinton asked if he could “still get a plate.” Dench responded, “Of course you can. That’s what grandmas do.”

The exchange gained attention after Hinton posted it on Twitter.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)