Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

The Two Brothers: A Story of G’milut Chasadim (acts of loving kindness)
A very long time ago there lived a farmer with
two sons. They lived on top of a hill where
they grew wheat for many years.
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When the farmer became very old and died,
he left one side of the hill to his elder son, and the other side of the hill to his younger
son. As time went on the younger son got married and had children, but his older brother
lived alone.
Each year, when the harvest began, the
brothers cut the wheat and bundled it
into sheaves so they could sell it at the
market. They worked very hard each
day and were quite tired by sunset. One
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night, the older brother lay awake in his bed thinking, “My younger brother has such a big
family to feed. I live by myself. He needs so much more than I do.” So he got out of bed
and went to his fields and carried several sheaves of wheat from his side of the hill to a
field on his brother’s side. He returned home and went to bed happy, knowing he gave his
brother some more wheat to sell.
That very same night, his brother lay awake in his bed on the other side of the hill
thinking, “I am so lucky. I have a wonderful family and a good life. My children
will help take care of me when I am old. But my brother lives all by himself. Who
is there to take care of him?” So he got out of bed and
went to his fields and carried several sheaves of wheat
from his side of the hill to a field on his brother’s side.
He returned home and went to bed happy, knowing he
gave his brother some more wheat to sell.
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The next morning, the brothers rushed to their fields
waiting to see the other brother’s surprise. They
couldn’t understand why the piles of sheaves of wheat were exactly the same as they had
been the day before! So that night, the older brother got up again and carried several
sheaves of wheat across the top of the hill to his brother’s field. The younger brother also
got up again and carried several sheaves of wheat across the top of the hill to his brother’s
field. The next morning they were very surprised to see piles of sheaves of wheat exactly
the same, as they had been the day before!
On the third night the brothers each got up again and carried wheat across the hill to his
brother’s field. This time, they went at just the same time and bumped right into each other
at the top of the hill! “What are you doing here?” they asked at exactly the same time. They
realized they had the same idea and started to laugh and hug each other. From that time on,
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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