And HASHEM appeared to him in the Orchards of Mamre and he was sitting by the opening of the tent in the heat of the day… (Breishis 18:1-3)

Can we find a greater portrait and all-time model for generosity than the team of Avraham and Sara!? It’s no wonder they were chosen as the founders for a new world order built on the principle of doing acts of kindliness for others. Where did Avraham learn the importance of Hachnasis Orchim, sheltering guests and caring for their needs? I asked this question at the Shabbos table thinking it would stump everyone, but one of our little granddaughters answered immediately and without hesitation, “From HASHEM, Who hosts us in his world!” Avraham observed about the world that everything in creation has a precise plan and purpose, and he wondered to himself, “What is the purpose of me being aware of this?” He came to the conclusion that his function and our purpose is to emulate the Creator, to the greatest extent possible, and serve other people. That was the genesis of his career in hospitality.

Many years ago, when I was to leave the holy walls of the Yeshiva to venture out to New York City for work, I was confronted with a problem. How was I to arrive at an early enough time having already prayed the morning prayers? We have a solution to that challenge. It’s called the “Davening Bus”! No, the bus doesn’t Daven for us. We Daven on the bus! My first time doing this, I mistakenly strategized that I would meet the bus at the last stop before the highway. I realized how wrong this was.

I was the last person to get on and there was one seat left. It was a window seat and the fellow in the aisle was a man two or three times my size. He stepped out so I could take my place. Immediately when I sat down it became clear to me why this seat was still available. There were no springs in the cushion and so I sank almost to the floor. Then I reached up to that little light that sends a laser like beam on your small travel Siddur only to discover it didn’t work either. In that dark and cramped corner, I struggled to put on my Talis and Tefillin.

By the time I was as set as I could be, the bus was on the highway and in high gear and so was the Minyan. I was saying some preliminary blessings and they were already deep into “Pesukei D’zimra”. By the time I was up to that point they were already saying “SHEMA!” I was still trying to catch up.

When I finally reached “SHEMA!” and I was grasping and kissing the Tzitzis with love and devotion something unexpected happened. The bus came to a grinding halt by the side of the highway so everyone could comfortably stand for the silent Amida. The giant of a fellow who had been pressing up against me stood up and I immediately felt great relief but then for some reason he turned to me and asked with an almost hostile urgency that two-letter question that Jews ask each other all over the planet, “NU!? NU!?”

I looked up at him with wonder. I thought to myself, “What does he want from me? Have I been pressing him against the window for the past 25 minutes?” He persisted, “NU!? NU?!” Then it dawned on me that I was kissing his and my Tsitsis together.”

I whimsically shared with a well-known Hebrew language linguist a cute theory I have about that expression, “NU?!” Words that express “us” tend to end with “nu” like the word for “us” “anachnu”. We usually use that nudging expression, “NU!?” when someone is acting like an “I” and there’s a pressing need to remind him of others, “NU!? I think he liked the idea and he said to me approvingly, “Nu-Nu!”

The Gemara tells us that after 120 we will have to answer 6 questions. One will be, “Were you busy in being fruitful and multiplying?” The Maharal explains that it is not about how many children a person had but rather about whether one was “YACHID or RABIM”. Were we self-involved or “others”- oriented. Some of our greatest people never had children of their own, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Chazon Ish, the Ribnitzer Rebbe, but what if we were to ask, “Were they YACHID or were they RABIM?” NU!?