Siblings: In Honor of My Uncle Max’s Eighth Yahrzeit

There’s a beautiful story that many children in Israel learn while still in nursery school. It’s about two brothers, one blessed with a large family and little else, the other blessed with material wealth but neither a wife nor children. They live near each other, separated by a hilltop. With sensitivity both feel the other’s lack and each one resolves to give his brother a gift from his heart. Stealthily, In the middle of the night, they make their way to each other’s property planning to secretly leave their present on the other’s land. Suddenly at the top of the hill they meet. Understanding the other’s intention they embrace. That hilltop was Mt. Moriah, the future site of the Holy Temple.

Although I didn’t learn this story until I was an adult I love it as much as if I’d known it all my life. In a way I did know it all of my life for I see in it a parable of the relationship between my father and his brother, my Uncle Max.

Granted my father didn’t have a large family, just one child and a loving wife with whom he was privileged to have built a most successful marriage. He wasn’t poor either but he certainly wasn’t rich with material wealth. Sadly my Uncle Max never married. He did have a very lucrative cattle business and was most generous. Many were the recipients of his generosity, especially his brothers’ children and grandchildren. In return my father and Uncle Fred raised their children to love and appreciate our Uncle Max as a close second to our parents. Each brother gave what he could to the other.

In synagogues all over the world we are now reading the book of Shemot, Exodus, in the Torah. Unlike Beresheit, Genesis, which is full of brotherly strife, we see in the beginning of Shemot the beautiful relationship between the two brothers, Aharon and Moshe. Aharon, as the first Cohen, is the religious leader. Moshe epitomizes the political ruler. Working together, without jealously, they represent the perfect coalition in serving HaShem and the Jewish people.

Many say that the story of the two brothers meeting on Mt. Moriah is nothing more than a legend. That may be so but there’s an important lesson inside it. On my uncle’s recent yahrzeit I explained to my grandchildren that their great-great-uncle was an excellent example of someone who gave tzedakah, did many acts of loving kindness, and, just as important, was a good sibling.

I don’t have any siblings. Still, I can look at my fellow human beings as part of one family. I can learn from the brothers in the story/legend and from my Uncle Max. I can look at what others lack and try to fill the gap. And then, I pray, my efforts will help rebuild the Holy Temple on Mt. Moriah.

My Uncle Max with my firstborn