Brookwrite

Sibling Revelry

by Doug Brook
Southern Jewish Life columnist

Why can't we all just get along? This question rings especially loud in recent times, as historically opposed forces face off like never before, with the entire world watching.

But while the New York Mets will surely triumph over the Goliathesque Y*nkees in the long run, the Bible beckons to remind us of the shared heritage of all humanity that's best epitomized by the moniker of Philadelphia: the City of Brotherly Love.

Psalm 133 begins with the familiar phrase "Hinei Mah Tov Umanayim," popularized in contemporary song without paying royalties to the estate of King David. As almost several of you know, this simple Jewish classic means, "How good it is and pleasant for brothers to dwell together."

This notion of sibling serenity is based on a recurring theme in the Torah, from its very beginning all the way through the five books that you neglected to learn in Religious School.

The world's first brothers, Cain and Abel, got along better than any siblings before them. They evenly distributed the chores, with one working the land and the other being the hunter. And Cain killed Abel in a fit of jealousy.

Okay, but then there were Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Yaffet. After the flood, Noah got drunk and fell asleep in his tent and nothing else. Ham saw this, and tattled to his more sympathetic brothers. Noah cursed Ham, driving a wedge between the other brothers and Ham, and dooming all pork products to be unkosher.

However, Abraham had two sons, Isaac from his wife Sarah, and Ishmael from her handmaid Hagar. They got along perfectly well, except for the issues their parents had with each other. And that sending away of Hagar and Ishmael. And the issue of who was Abraham's rightful heir.

It got better with Isaac's two sons, Jacob and Esau. Their relationship was defined before their birth, kicking around inside Rebecca like they're playing for the FA Cup. But after they were born they got along great, so close that when Esau was born first Jacob wouldn't let go of his ankle. Well, at least Jacob didn't do anything rash like steal the birthright.

Fortunately, the women of the Torah bring some sense to things, as one would expect. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, but was tricked into marrying her sister Leah first instead. The sisters shared Jacob's husbandry with grace, as Leah tried to sway Jacob's heart from Rachel by popping out son after son after son (and a daughter). Rachel gave Jacob her handmaid to provide sons on her behalf. Leah, feeling unthreatened, did the same, providing her own handmaid so she could keep up her lead.

What about all those sons? Surely they all got along great. None of them liked Joseph, but that means that ten of them had that in common. Good thing that none of them had second thoughts about selling Joseph, or pretending he was dead, or in leaving one of them behind as prisoner in Egypt, or in risking Benjamin during the famine. Still, the law of large numbers says that two of them must have gotten along.

All of that was just in Genesis. There's four more books in which there must have been many examples of siblings who got along. At a minimum, the Torah never documents a single instance of one sibling forcing another to endure the music of Barry M*nilow. So that's something.

Of course, of the Five Books of Moses, the last four actually talk about Moses. Who better to prove the point? His brother Aaron eventually became the Kohen Gadol, whose hand salute made him the patriarch of the Vulcan race. His sister Miriam is a figurehead for Jewish women to this day. And none of them ever threw each other into a pit, sold each other into slavery, stole each others' birthrights, or rooted for the Y*nkees.

Sure, they might have treated baby Moses like a basket case, and sent him up the river. But they were doing it for his own good, so he could survive. At least, that's what they told their mother later when they got caught...

On second thought, the City of Brotherly Love is the home of the Phillies. Never mind.

Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who was not responsible for his fraternity brother waking up his ROTC girlfriend at 3 a.m. by playing Reveille on his trumpet. But he thought it was pretty funny. For more information, past columns, other writings, and more, visit http://brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, become a fan at facebook.com/the.beholders.eye.