Buddy, can you spare something that's not chametz???
I met a homeless guy last week.
Actually, let me back up. I met a guy named Alan last week.
I was waiting to cross the street in front of my building, headed to my car and down to CompUseless. And it just so happened that I was wearing my Israeli Defense Forces t-shirt that I bought at R.'s Israeli Market last year. I notice this guy looking at the logo on the front of the T-shirt, quizzically.
He looks at me and says, "That's Hebrew there on your shirt."
"I know," I said.
"It says 'Zahal,'" he tells me.
"I know."
"Are you Jewish?" he asks.
I respond yes, and as the light changes, we walk across University Blvd. together. He's also Jewish, from New York, just moved to Birmingham in the past few weeks, searching for "warmer people and warmer weather."
We stop on the opposite corner and discuss the Jewish community in Birmingham, the upcoming Passover holiday, and other things. All this time, I'm assuming he's employed at UAB or somewhere else in the area. He's late 40s, maybe 50, dressed well enough that I don't expect what comes next.
He's talking about trying to get to the Orthodox synagogue or the Chabad house for Pesach, but lamenting that he can't really walk that far to either of them. "Do you live around campus somewhere?" I ask.
He pauses before answering. "The truth? I live at the Salvation Army. I'm homeless."
In that instant, everything in my mind changed, and I looked at him with new eyes. Despite myself, I felt my guard raise a little bit, felt myself go a little bit more on the defensive. Is he going to ask me for money?? What does he want??
The truth was, he didn't want anything from me. He offhandedly mentioned that a lot of the food at the Salvation Army was chametz, and so he wasn't sure what he was going to eat during Passover. And yes, I did take a couple boxes of matzah down there the next morning. But he didn't ask me to.
What he did ask me for were details on getting employment at UAB, and I told him everything I knew. Obviously, I don't know the circumstances of how he became homeless. But he seems to be trying to fix the situation.
I just didn't like the way I instantly felt my attitude change as soon as he said he was homeless. As I thought of right there, and as others pointed out to me later, in a perfect world, Passover is the perfect time to invite a stranger to dine with you. No one should go hungry on Pesach -- certainly no Jew!!
In a perfect, Brandon-Walsh-from-90210 world, I would have invited him to join us for seder. But our first night seder was at some friends' house, and I certainly wouldn't invite someone I just met on the street corner to someone else's house. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have invited him even if it were our house. But that's just a shame.
It's a shame that the world is how it is, and that you have to distrust people first and trust them later.
Actually, let me back up. I met a guy named Alan last week.
I was waiting to cross the street in front of my building, headed to my car and down to CompUseless. And it just so happened that I was wearing my Israeli Defense Forces t-shirt that I bought at R.'s Israeli Market last year. I notice this guy looking at the logo on the front of the T-shirt, quizzically.
He looks at me and says, "That's Hebrew there on your shirt."
"I know," I said.
"It says 'Zahal,'" he tells me.
"I know."
"Are you Jewish?" he asks.
I respond yes, and as the light changes, we walk across University Blvd. together. He's also Jewish, from New York, just moved to Birmingham in the past few weeks, searching for "warmer people and warmer weather."
We stop on the opposite corner and discuss the Jewish community in Birmingham, the upcoming Passover holiday, and other things. All this time, I'm assuming he's employed at UAB or somewhere else in the area. He's late 40s, maybe 50, dressed well enough that I don't expect what comes next.
He's talking about trying to get to the Orthodox synagogue or the Chabad house for Pesach, but lamenting that he can't really walk that far to either of them. "Do you live around campus somewhere?" I ask.
He pauses before answering. "The truth? I live at the Salvation Army. I'm homeless."
In that instant, everything in my mind changed, and I looked at him with new eyes. Despite myself, I felt my guard raise a little bit, felt myself go a little bit more on the defensive. Is he going to ask me for money?? What does he want??
The truth was, he didn't want anything from me. He offhandedly mentioned that a lot of the food at the Salvation Army was chametz, and so he wasn't sure what he was going to eat during Passover. And yes, I did take a couple boxes of matzah down there the next morning. But he didn't ask me to.
What he did ask me for were details on getting employment at UAB, and I told him everything I knew. Obviously, I don't know the circumstances of how he became homeless. But he seems to be trying to fix the situation.
I just didn't like the way I instantly felt my attitude change as soon as he said he was homeless. As I thought of right there, and as others pointed out to me later, in a perfect world, Passover is the perfect time to invite a stranger to dine with you. No one should go hungry on Pesach -- certainly no Jew!!
In a perfect, Brandon-Walsh-from-90210 world, I would have invited him to join us for seder. But our first night seder was at some friends' house, and I certainly wouldn't invite someone I just met on the street corner to someone else's house. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have invited him even if it were our house. But that's just a shame.
It's a shame that the world is how it is, and that you have to distrust people first and trust them later.
1 Comments:
>>It's a shame that the world is how it is, and that you have to distrust people first and trust them later.<<
I agree. Im not trying to sound callous or hard-nosed but that REALLY IS the way that the world works. What pisses me off is people who actively deny the fact that people are basically selfish and self-interested and are happy to take from others and give nothing in return.
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