City on a Hill

There were once two brothers, both farmers, who lived on opposite sides of a hill in central Israel. One was married and had a house full of kids. The other lived by himself.

One night, the first brother thought to himself, "I have a whole family to support, while my brother, who produces the same amount of crops that I do, keeps it all for himself. It would only be fair for me to take some of his crops, to even things out." He decided to steal some of his brother's crops.

Simultaneously, the second brother was thinking. "I envy my brother who has a whole family to support him. What if I get hurt or sick and there is nobody to help out? I need to build up a surplus, just in case." He too decided to steal from his brother.

That night, the brothers set out to steal from one another. But the next morning, they were amazed to find that they had no more wheat in their storehouses than they had the day before. This scene repeated itself several days in a row.

One night the two brothers bumped into each other, carrying bundles of wheat. They each realized what the other had been doing, and started beating each other up.

Many years later, on that exact spot, it was decided to build the Knesset.