Homelessness/Affordable Housing

Comprehension:

• This source talks about “your fellow” and then refers to the person as a "resident alien." Which one is it? Why do you think the text uses both of these descriptions?
• How do you interpret, “comes under your authority”?
• What are ways we can “hold” a poor person?
• Of all the ways we can strengthen a poor person, this text commands that we let them live with us – why does the text specify this aspect?

Challenges to Grapple With:

• Can you imagine a scenario in modern society where someone would bring a homeless person to live with them? Is this realistic in today’s world? Why or why not?

Comprehension:

• What does it mean to let “the poor be members of thy household”? Is that different from "let thy house be wide open?"
• How do you think one might apply this teaching to our modern society?

Comprehension:

• What/who is a “sojourner”? What does it mean to open one's "doors to the road?"
• In modern society, who might Job open his doors to?
• What are the dangers of spending the “night in the open”? Do you think Job’s intent was to protect people from these dangers or was his intent something else?

Challenges to Grapple With:

• In today’s society, we may speak of the “transient” ? (transient may be another word for sojourner) in slightly different terms than “homeless” – what might be the distinction between the two of these? Should we be making a distinction?

Comprehension:

• In the first part of this text, what is happening in the story? Who is involved and what does he do and why?
• In the second part of this source, the sages introduce a different way of reading the text – what do they say was really “planted?”
• What do eating, drinking and staying overnight have to do with modern homelessness?

Challenges to Grapple With:

• Do you think that Abraham was concerned with the ability of a person to pay for his hospitality or do you think he was more concerned with the act of hosting others? Do you think that modern hotels should offer different options for those who cannot afford to pay? Why or why not?

Comprehension:

• What is the relationship between the two people in this text?
• Why would someone be “kicked out” (evicted) from a rental home?
• Why does weather play a part of this business relationship?
• Why would the eviction timing matter if someone were in a big city vs. a small town?

Challenges to Grapple With:

• If you owned property and had a business relationship with the renter and they violated the rental agreement and therefore are deemed worthy of being kicked out, would you take into account their risk of true “homelessness” before evicting them? Why or why not?

Comprehension:

• Have you ever spent the night in a sukkah? What is easy about it? What is difficult?
• If your sukkah is sitting right outside your home, do you believe you experience “temporary housing” in a real way? Why or why not?
• In considering the Rashbam commentary, how can experiencing something difficult help us appreciate something that we have to ‘earn’?
• Ibn Ezra makes a connection between Sukkot and the season (the cold). How can a booth (a temporary structure) help protect someone from the elements?

Challenges to Grapple With:

• Do you think that a sukkah is a good metaphor for homelessness? Why or why not?
• If you were going to make a sukkah that represents homelessness, what materials might you use? Why? (see here for one artistic rendering of a "temporary shelter" based off of the idea of sukkah)