There's an interesting article in the JWR today about "Shul Shame." For a group of people who can play a solid game of Jewish Geography with strangers met in distant parts of the country or globe, we tend to be far more blase about those who we encounter on a regular basis, or who are our neighbors. And possibly a reason why hachnosas orchim in our own neighborhoods sometimes suffers; you'd have to know someone's name to be able to invite them to your home or to offer them some help.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0909/rosenblatt_shul_shame.php3
3 comments:
That was great. I don't think the name tag suggestion was a bad idea either. My friends and I joke about not remembering names and dates, but we blame it on almost being, being, or past being age 50. The truth is, I always had trouble with names, and that only gets worse as you get older. If you know you know the person sitting next to you and just can't remember their name, just blame it on a senior moment and reintroduce yourself at the same time. They may be in the same boat you are. Then just repeat their name in conversation a few times. it helps to remember.
Another one here who has always had trouble with names, especially for people I don't see every day. Always happy in shul when someone has their name or at least initials sewn on their talis sacks.
Name tags would do it for me. And I can't claim I'm getting older as a reason. Just never was good at names.
I am not [yet] past age 50, but even at age 10, 20, and 30, I was bad with names and connecting them to faces. Even if people wore name tags one shabbat, I would forget them after a week or two.
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