Amiram Hayardeny's My China Experience

Keep It Alive!

I know, the title sounds a little cryptic.

In Jewish history, King Solomon is considered to be the wisest man who ever lived. There are many stories about the wisdom of King Solomon. Here's one.

One day two women came before the King. They carried with them a little baby, which was set down on the floor, at the foot of Solomon’s throne.

“O my lord,” said one of the women, “five days ago I gave birth to a child. This woman and I live in the same house, and three days later she also gave birth, but that same night her child died, and at midnight she arose and, while I was sleeping, took my son away from me, and laid her dead child in its place. When I awoke in the morning I thought at first that my son was dead, until I realized that it was not my child.”

“No,” interrupted the second woman, “she is lying, my lord, she is lying! The living child is mine and the dead is hers!”

“No,” cried the first woman, wildly. “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.”
King Solomon raised his hand for silence.

“One of you says ‘my child lives and yours is dead ’, and the other says ‘your child is dead and my child lives’: there is a simple way to resolve the matter. Bring me a sword.”

A sword was brought, and the assembly waited to see how the King would proceed.

“Very well,” he said, “ cut the child in half, and give half to one mother, and half to the other.”
The first woman turned pale. “O my lord,” she said in a faltering voice. “Pray, give her the child. I beg you, do not kill it.”

But the other woman’s face remained hard. “Let it be neither mine nor yours,” she said, “divide it as the King has ordained.”

Then Solomon arose, and pointed to the first woman. “The child belongs to her, ” he said. “Give her the child, and do not kill it. She is its mother.” Word of this judgment spread throughout Israel, and people marveled at the wisdom of the King.

The lesson of this story is rather simple. It is easy to spot the people who really care: they are willing to give up their half in order to keep the whole alive. In short, sometimes insisting on getting your fair share is still a losing strategy...

Posted at 08:19PM Feb 05, 2007 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[1]