When I was growing up, it was the thing to do….
When someone new came into your home, you would walk them around and show them your house. It was just what was done. It was the reason one kept the bed made and the house in beautiful shape. I found this to be so in so many different cultures too.
When I came into an Orthodox Jewish community I was puzzled as to why this was not happening.
Then, with HaShem’s help I found it….
King Hezekiah….
If you do not know who he was, he was a tremendous king that led the tribe of Judah in the years that the ten tribes were removed from Israel. He brought everyone in Judah to learning and before the 10 tribes were exiled, he even helped them come back to Torah (Kings II). I could go on for hours about him, but I won’t.
Anyhow, he received some visitors from Babylonia one day and he graciously did what I was brought up doing, showed them around the palace and the Bais Hamikdash. Little did he know at the time that these people were the ones that would destroy the Bais Hamikdash (Holy Temple) and take all of those spoils. Isaiah, the prophet of the times, came afterwards and told him he did the wrong thing by showing off the Temple and his palace and who these people were.
So, is it that one should be afraid of Babylonians coming to take over one’s house? No, not at all. There is a commandment not to covet your neighbor’s belongings, there is an understanding that one’s privacy should be respected, and there is a command to judge another favorably.
When one shows off their house or their belongings – if they are wealthy it can create jealousy and coveting, if they are poor, it can lead to one not judging favorably, and it violates the privacy G-d so praised us for in the desert through Biliam.