Well, Friday night is my lonely night.
I prepare for the Sabbath meal, light my candles, daven the Prayers for Welcoming the Shabbat, then eat alone. Unless my granddaughter happens to be spending the weekened with me.
After eating a simple meal--I don't see the point in an elaborate meal for just me--I like to study the Torah portion for the week, and other study material that I've collected and saved for Sabbath study.
But there's no one to discuss the Torah portion or the other study material. I'd love to have someone who can say..."But have you looked at it this way?" Or explain something I don't understand. Or argue with me on the meaning of a certain passage. Is there such a thing as a farbrengen for two?
Anyway, the dilemna is that there's no single Jewish person within walking distance of my home. And those people I know who are within walking distance (for them)have families. And even if I were invited to someone's home for Sabbath celebration, I couldn't go because no one I know lives within *my* walking distance. And being Orthodox, Shomer Shabbat, I don't drive from sunset Friday until after sunset Saturday.
So, I'm wondering...would it seem like proselytizing (which we DON'T do) if I asked a single Gentile neighbor to share my Sabbath with me? Would she be offended if I read Torah and wanted to talk about the meaning of certain passages, or specifically how the Parsha affects my thinking?
Come to think of it, though, there are a couple of very young women who are interning at the shul. Wonder if they'd be interested?
Saturday poses a problem, too. I come home alone. Try to read, but end up falling asleep. One friend has dropped in a couple times, and it felt good to offer her the hospitality of my home. The congregation is mostly families, and they go to their own homes. I think it wouldn't be "seemly" to ask one of the single men to spend a Saturday afternoon in my home.
But I would love to have my living room known as a place of hospitality.
Any ideas, anyone?
Shalom