Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Other Two Brothers

Once, on a hilltop in Jerusalem, two brothers shared a field, split straight down the middle. Each brother enjoyed half of the field's yearly produce. Yet, these two brothers could not be more different.
One brother lived as a bachelor, alone but unburdened. He needed only enough sustenance for himself, and no one else.
The other brother was the head of a large family. Although his sons assisted in the work, he nevertheless found himself with the burden of providing for the many hungry mouths.
One day, the bachelor brother, evaluating the situation, said to himself: "My brother has many children. When he grows old his children will help him, provide for him and care for him. I, on the other hand, will be alone. Who will provide for me?"
So, each night, he crept to the fence dividing the shared field and stealthily "borrowed"from his brothers pile of grain, adding to his own.
That same day, his brother too thought to himself, "I have a large family and many mouths to feed. My brother, on the other hand, is alone. Why should we equally divide the yield of our field when my burden is so much greater?"
So, that night, he crept to the opposite side of the field, taking from his brother's pile and adding to his own.
The next morning, to their amazement, both brothers awoke to find themselves with the same amount of grain that they had at nightfall. Each night this same scene took place, and each morning, to the brothers' bewilderment, the outcome remained the same.
One night, both brothers happened to arrive at the fence at the same time. In an instant, they realized what had been happening each night for so long.
"You've been stealing from me!" the first brother angrily accused.
"Me, stealing from you? I was only returning that which was rightly mine! It is you that has been stealing from me!"
And, with that, the brothers entered into a lengthy, draw-out and bloody fistfight.
Looking on from the side, a tear welled in the eyes of David, visibly moved by the brotherly scene.
"That," said Ben Gurion, "is the most beautiful sight that I have ever seen! This hill is where I will build the Knesset."

(Hear from my friend David)

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