Hospitality.
I'm not talking about five-star hotels or luxury resorts that are very hospitable in exchange for five-star prices. I'm talking true, original, hospitality, the kind that Avraham, our ancestor, was famous for. Opening your home to another, and treating them like royalty.
The opening scene of this week's Torah portion is about how Avraham, disrupts his interaction with Hashem and runs off to attend to three guests who arrived. He personally attends to their needs, providing shade, water to bathe, and plentiful food in the middle of the desert. Cakes made from fine flour, milk and butter, expensive cuts of meat (with mustard), and keeps them company throughout their visit.
While charity is about fulfilling a physical, tangible need, hospitality runs deeper in a sense. It's about making your guest feel like they belong. It's creating a home away from home. It's the smile, the warmth, the care. It may not be a gourmet five-course menu, but it is your very best. Not sufficing with supplying the bare minimum for survival, but pulling out all the stops for this special visitor.
You can travel to a city where you've never been, and when invited to a Shabbat dinner, feel like you never left home. You can be visited by Mark Zuckerberg, and while he may not need charity, he can certainly be a recipient of hospitality.
The generosity and attention to others, boost our character and tap into the Avraham nature inside of us. This kindness is such a special Mitzvah that it is worthy of disrupting one's own spiritual experience (a conversation with Hashem), to make this magic happen.
Let us all resolve to be more hospitable to one another, showing each other that we genuinely care, making the world a welcoming place. Making it feel like home.