The Stranger in Your Tent

What do returning lost property, a desert tent, and the Arabic greeting—adopted by many Hebrew speakers—Ahlan wa sahlan (“welcome”) have in common? 

They all have a connection to the Semitic root: א-ה-ל (A-H-L).

While Hebrew kept Ohel (אֹהֶל) as the physical tent, Arabic came to use ahl (أَهْل) to mean the family living inside it. Saying “Ahlan!” conveys the idea: “You are family here. Step into my tent.”

In Parashat Ki Tetze, the Torah commands Hashavat Aveidah—returning lost property. But it adds a key rule: if you find a lost item and cannot return it immediately, “you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your peer claims it.“ (Deut. 22:2)

You don’t say “it’s someone else’s property so it’s their problem.” Instead, you open your home—or your tent—to shelter it, treating a stranger’s belongings as if they were the property of your own ahl—your family.

Today, those who practice Protective Presence in the West Bank, such as Bnei Avraham and Rabbis for Human Rights, are practicing a courageous form of this mitzvah. They stand with Palestinian families to shield their homes, land, and property from settler terrorism—often tacitly approved by the Israeli Army.

By standing guard over other people’s homes and livelihoods, they are protecting another person’s figurative ohel and treating those people as ahl—as family.

Yasher Koach & Shabbat Shalom.