The House Across the Street

Today the neighbor's house burned down. And when I say down, I mean, the entire inside is likely destroyed, however the shell remains intact. The occupants, an orthodox Jewish family, stood on the sidewalk and watched sadly as seven fire trucks, about 30 firefighters, and two ambulances battled the flames. My boss stood beside me and made comments about how each night they would have a fire in the fireplace large enough to see from across the street. My boss likes to be right about things, and to think of himself as someone who knows how to run a household. I suggested we give them an umbrella, and so we did. Then, I thought, perhaps they would like some hot tea. So I made two cups of tea, one for the husband, and one for the wife. Their 6/7 children were not around. I brought the tea over and the woman thanked me graciously, smiling even. The husband looked at my hand, holding the tea, and suddenly I remembered that orthodox men cannot touch the hand of another woman. I carefully gave him the paper cup without touching him, but judging from the expression on his face, he would have probably prefered not having the tea. This made me very sad. If you cannot reach out to your neighbors in a time of difficulty, what is the purpose of having neighbors? And what is the purpose of a religion?

VA