A Jew Is Never Sent Away
The gabbaim asked him to remove a rude guest who smoked on Shabbos, and he answered with all he had.
A story ofRav Yeshaya Steiner of Kerestirהרב ישעיה בן משה שטיינרProfile ›
Reb Shayele fed and sheltered anyone who came to Kerestir, from great scholars to ordinary Jews who had nowhere else to go. Among the regular guests was a man called Pinchas'l, a troubled wanderer who was unkempt and often rude. He spent much of his time on the Rebbe's balcony, and he smoked there even on Shabbos.
The gabbaim were deeply troubled. They worried about the honor of Shabbos and the dignity of the Rebbe's home, and they feared that Pinchas'l might influence others. They came to Reb Shayele and asked him to have the man stay somewhere else, away from the Rebbe's house and the beis midrash.
Reb Shayele was astonished. "Should I send a Jew away from my home?" he asked them. He told them he would sooner give up everything, his place as Rebbe and all he owned, than turn anyone away. "I will be finished as a Rebbe, I will close my shop, I will give it all up. But a Yid will never be sent away from Kerestir."
Those who tell the story hold it up as the way of the true tzaddikim, who see a Jew's worth before they see his faults. The Rebbe called himself the Aibishter's kecher, God's cook, whose task was to feed whoever sat at the table, and a cook does not decide who has earned the meal.
Source: The Jewish Link, "Ahavas Yisrael", 24 June 2021, by Rav Judah Mischel.
It is easy to say that everyone is welcome and still quietly arrange things so that difficult people are somewhere else. Think of one person whom you tend to leave out, because they are awkward, loud or hard to like. This week, invite that person to a meal, or sit beside them at a gathering, and give them your full attention for ten minutes. You are not required to approve of everything about them. You are only asked to refuse to send them away.