A Jewish legend tells of two brothers who inherited their father’s field and continued to work it together, dividing the harvest equally between them at the end of each season. After some time, one of the brothers got married and had several children, while the other remained single.
One day, the single brother thought: “It isn’t right that we divide the produce equally, because my brother has a larger family than I do and needs more money to feed his children.” However, he knew that if he suggested his brother take a larger share, his brother would refuse. So he decided to secretly take a sack of grain from his own share every night and place it among his brother’s sacks, so his brother would accept it without realizing.
The married brother, on the other hand, thought: “It isn’t right that we divide the produce equally, because when my brother is no longer able to work, he will have no one to provide for him since he has no children. He should receive more so he can save for when he can no longer work.” He also knew his brother would never agree to take more than an equal share, so he decided to secretly take a sack of grain every night and place it among his brother’s sacks.
And so, the two brothers began secretly giving each other a sack of grain. Every morning, when they went to their granaries, they were surprised to find that even though they had given away a sack of grain, the number of sacks hadn’t decreased. “What a mystery!” they each said to themselves, without discussing it with the other.
One night, they met each other while carrying a sack of grain to the other’s granary. They understood the mystery, and the legend says that God, who had been watching this brotherly love, declared: “I declare this place holy, for it is filled with love.” This Jewish legend also says that Solomon built the Temple on that very spot.
It is a beautiful story of true brotherly love or friendship, because the concern of each of these brothers was not their own well-being but that of his brother. This is the essence of true love: seeking the good of the beloved. This is why it is said that a friend is a friend to the friend and not to oneself, for one does not look for a friend to receive something from him but to give something to him.
Hence, in friendship that reaches a certain depth, as seen in the legend we just shared, a kind of ecstasy occurs, in which the one who loves steps outside of himself (represented by the thought “my brother needs more than me” in the legend), seeking to provide for the good of the beloved without considering his own good.
But there is still a deeper lesson: the declaration of the place where such true love is found as “holy.” In light of Christ’s teachings, this is no longer a physical place but rather the place where this love truly resides – the soul of the one who possesses it. Thus, God begins to dwell in that place (represented by the Temple built by Solomon) where such love exists: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him (Jn 14:23).
