Parashas Vayera - Be Careful About What We Bring Into Our Homes

When my close friend and I started becoming religious, we realized something: The more we became religious, the more our 'friends count' decreased. What I mean is that we were having less and less friends. They all wanted to go to the movies, mall, billiards, etc, but we couldn't without desecrating Shabbos.

We brainstormed a way to show our friends that one's able to keep Shabbos and have a good time doing it too. We asked our parents for $10.00 (to buy a bunch of snacks) to host a Shabbos party - every week. The two basic rules were: You may not break anything(!!!!), and you must respect our religious standards, [ie: leave your beepers (remember that gadget?) and cellphones on silent and girls should wear long skirts.] If they needed to make a phone call, they had to do it outside. We wanted to keep our home - environment - Shabbosdik.

To our surprise, a lot of friends respected our rules and every week more friends got interested in 'checking out' the Shabbos party. Baruch Hashem, we can proudly say, we were mekarev a few of our friends, who are now living Torah lives.

It's very important to be careful with what one should bring into their home. There has to be rules and boundaries.

We see this by Avraham avinu in this week's parasha. Avraham saw travelers and asked them to be his guests. The posuk [18:4] says, “He (Avraham) said: My master, If I have found favor in your eyes, please do not bypass your servant. Let a bit of water be brought and wash your feet.”

Rashi says, “Avraham thought they were Arabs who worshiped the dust of their feet. He was particular not to allow any object of idolatry into his house. As opposed to Lot [19:2] who invited the 'guest' to lodge before asking them to wash, “Stay overnight, bathe your feet.””

Avraham was very careful with what he brought into his home. At times, it's uncomfortable to ask the guest to abide by your rules, but the importance of what comes into your home should override the feelings of discomfort.

Of course, it all depends on the situation. One should consult a Rav if they are in doubt as to what's allowed and what is not. I want to note that we were not very religious. At the time, we just started learning more about Jewish Law, therefore our 'standards' weren't up to par with what the Torah required of us (therefore, we shouldn't have allowed our friends to even bring their beepers etc). The more we became religious, the more we took upon ourselves and learned more halachos.

May we be zocheh to bring bracha into our homes.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso