Since I’m American, I’ll translate ushpizin to “guests” and go from there. As a family with six kids, including two teenagers, the number of times we are invited out as guests has dwindled considerably from the days my husband and I were newlyweds, and spent every other Shabbos away from home. These days, to be invited out as a family for a one-off Shabbos meal is a major event! I get why. Inviting another family brings the added pressure of more food and needing to look slightly more presentable, which can be a gargantuan effort. But, despite the added work, I have realized it is necessary in order to keep the long Shabbos afternoons full of connection and interest. Shabbosim where we don’t host any guests just seem to lack that extra excitement.
But as much as I love guests, the whole experience really makes me nostalgic for my seminary/college life when it was so easy to call up a family, or call up a friend, and make a Shabbos or yuntif chavaya (experience). You could get all the benefits of a full-blown Shabbos social life without any of the obligations. The seminary life is full of these stories. But even as a student at Touro I would drive to Norfolk, Va, with a friend for chag, followed by a Shabbos on the Upper East Side, followed by another Shabbos at an open-house rebbetzin in Boro Park, all the while meeting new people from all walks of life. These days, if I want any sort of Shabbos experience, I have to put in the prep work myself. Hashtag #PayBackTime #JewishAdulting #Ushpizin.
