Hospitality

In Middle Eastern Culture, it was considered a cultural norm to take care of the strangers and foreigners living among you. These norms are reflected in many Biblical commands and examples.

“You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. Ex 23:9

“Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Lev 19:33

The obligations of both guests are stern. The bond is formed by eating salt under the roof, and is so strict that an Arab story tells of a thief who tasted something to see if it was sugar, and on realizing it was salt, put back all that he had taken and left.

In many cultures, to eat together creates a bond. When I was traveling in Jerusalem I was invited in to the back room of many market stalls to have a cup of hot sweet tea as we discussed our 'business'. Whether that was true hospitality or not, this weary traveler appreciated.

On Derrida’s Politics discusses Jacques Derrida wrestling with the concept of hospitality & your visitors' identity.

Michael Naas engages Derrida’s notion of hospitality and inheritance by looking at Derrida’s writings and reflecting on his own personal encounters with Derrida. The central question “Alors qui êtes-vous?”or ‘who are you?’ marked the beginning of Naas’ first interaction with Derrida. Naas views this question as an invitation, not ‘who are you’ as in ‘what are you doing here’, but rather, ‘what is your name’ and ‘tell me more’.

Naas argues that for Derrida the inquiry as to someone’s name is central to hospitality. For Derrida the problem of hospitality is how you accept the other. Do you accept her/him unconditionally, or do you question them by asking their name and anything else? This is a significant problem. Does one question the other upon arrival, implying that hospitality is contingent upon their answers? Derrida contends that this would not be true hospitality. Hospitality requires an unconditional welcoming of the other.

Derrida argues that one has to both accept the other unconditionally and question them. The critical point is that the questioning must not be a condition. Hospitality must not depend upon what the other person’s identity is, but rather on acknowledging the other person’s distinct identity. This is a fragile distinction, but it is crucial. The extension of hospitality requires creativity. Naas quotes Derrida in saying that hospitality is “an art and a poetics” despite its political and ethical aspects, and that it should be reinvented every time (10). This focus on a hospitality that can be reshaped for each situation is very significant in its limitlessness, because it allows for any arrivant. An artful hospitality is an unconditional hospitality and one that deconstructs borders.

Reminds me of when I went to a conference and we were asked to take off our watches and to share only our first names, withholding our occupations, credentials & other false indicators of value in society. We were to be, not achieve or compete or judge. It was freeing, and a bit disorienting, all at the same time.