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from
A
Treasury of Jewish Folklore by Nathan
Ausubel
Ausubel books @ Amazon.com.US
@ Amazon.Canada
@ Amazon.co.UK
This Parable of the Two
Gems is a wonderful little parable that illustrates how we
cannot judge, ourselves, whether one religion is better than another.
If you enjoy this parable, then you should get Nathan Ausubel's book (click here
to read my review of his book) and add it to your library. I highly
recommend the book (as I write this page, it's my "read a few pages
every night at bedtime book"), or any other book by the author. You
might also enjoy The Parable of the
Three Rings which is at the bottom of this page.
The Parable of the Two Gems
From Liber Shebet Yahuda (The Book of
the Rod of Judah)
by Solomon ibn Verga (16th Century)
Adapted from the German translation in Der Born Judas,
compiled by M. J. bin Gorion. Insel-Verlag. Leipzig, 1919.
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Once,after he had
listened to his counsellor, Nicholas of Valencia, speaking evil against
the Jews, King Don Pedro was very much perplexed in his own mind.
"There is a wise man among the Jews whose name is Ephraim
Sancho," the king recalled. "Bring him to me."
So they brought Ephraim Sancho before the king.
"Which faith is superior, yours or ours?" the king sternly
demanded of Ephraim.
When Ephraim heard the king's question he was thrown into
confusion and said to himself: "Be wary, for the enemies of Israel have
laid a trap for you in order to do you harm."
But to the king he said: "Our faith, O King, suits us
better for, when we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, our God, by means
of many wondrous signs and miracles, led us out of the land of bondage
into freedom. For you Christians, however, your own faith is the better
because, by its means, you have been able to establish your rule over
most of the earth."
When King Pedro heard this he was vexed. "I did not ask you
what benefits each religion brings to its believers," he said. "What I
want to know is: which are superior -- your or our own precepts?"
And again Ephraim Sancho was thrown into confusion. He said
to himself: "If I tell the king that the precepts of his religion are
superior to mine I shall have denied the God of my fathers and shall
therefore deserve all the punishments of Gehanna. On the other hand,
should I tell him that the precepts of my religion excel his he will be
sure to have me burned at the stake."
But to the king Ephraim said: "If it please the King -- let
me ponder his question carefully for three days, for it requires much
reflection. At the end of the third day I will come to him with my
answer."
And King Pedro said: "Let it be as you say."
And for the three days that followed the spirit of Ephraim
was rent within him. He neither ate nor slept but put on sackcloth and
ashes and prayed for divine guidance. But, when the time arrived for
him to see the king, he put all fear aside and went to the palace with
his answer.
When Ephraim Sancho came before the king he looked
downcast.
"Why are you so sad?" the king asked him.
"I am sad with good reason for, without any cause
whatsoever, I was humiliated today," answered Ephraim. "I will let you
be my judge in this matter, O King."
"Speak!" said King Don Pedro.
Ephraim Sancho then began: "A month ago to this day a
neighbor of mine, a jeweler, went on a distant journey. Before he
departed in order to preserve the peace between his two bickering sons
while he was away, he gave each of them a gift of a costly gem. But
only today the two brothers came to me and said: 'O Ephraim, give us
the value of these gems and judge which is the superior of the two!'
"I replied: 'Your father himself is a great artist and an
expert on precious stones. Why don't you ask him? Surely he will give
you a better judgment than I.'
"When they heard this they became enraged. They abused and
beat me. Judge, O King, whether my grievance is just!"
"Those rogues have mistreated you without cause!" cried the
king. "They deserve to be punished for this outrage."
When Ephraim Sancho heard the king speak thus he rejoiced.
"O King!" he exclaimed. "May your ears hear the words your own mouth
has spoken, for they are true and just. Know that such two brothers as
these were Esau and Jacob, and each of them received for his own
happiness a priceless gem. You have asked me, O King, which of the two
gems is superior. How can I give you a proper answer? Send a messenger
to the only expert of these gems -- Our Father in Heaven. Let Him tell
you which is the better."
When King Pedro heard Ephraim Sancho speak thus he
marvelled greatly. "Behold, Nicholas," he said to his counsellor.
"Consider the wisdom of this Jew. Since he has spoken justly then
justice shall be done to him. He deserves, not rebuke and harm, but
respect and honor. You, however, deserve to be punished, for you have
spoken nothing but evil slanders against the Jews.
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Can you see why I love this
parable. I do not want to be put in the position of choosing one
religion over another, because I believe that all religions are, to
some extent, equally correct. But I am not going to try to claim what
percentage that value would be. In my opinion, we will only know "how
correct" each of us have been when we are, ourselves, finally perfect,
and that will happen when we are again fully in God's presence,
whatever we call him/her/all-that-is. I'll comment more further below.
According to a footnote
in the back of A
Treasury of Jewish Folklore, "Lessing effectively adapted
this story for the parable of the three rings in Nathar the
Wise."
Here, for your enjoyment, is a copy of that Parable. You can find
another version of this parable at www.texaschapbookpress.com
and you can find THREE other versions of the
parable at www.Pitt.edu.
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An uneasy peace ruled in Jerusalem. Saladin's
victory against the Crusaders had cost the Muslims dearly, both in the
loss of troops and in the depletion of the royal treasury. Saladin was
resolved to rule with civilized humanity as far as possible. But it was
an uneasy peace, with Jews, Christians, and the newly victorious
Muslims all suspicious of one another.
Thus when Saladin requested an audience with Nathan, a
leading Jewish merchant, the latter was very apprehensive about the
Sultan's motivation. Nathan was known far and wide not only for his
successes in commerce, but also for his skills in diplomacy and
negotiation. Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike called him Nathan the
Wise.
Nathan's suspicions were well founded, for Saladin was
indeed looking to replenish his exhausted coffers with a loan or a gift
from his wealthy Jewish subject. Too civil to openly demand such a
tribute from the peace-loving Nathan, the Sultan instead masked his
request in the form of a theological question.
"Your reputation for wisdom is great," said the Sultan.
"You must have studied the great religions. Tell me, which is the best,
Judaism, Islam, or Christianity?"
"Sultan, I am a Jew," replied Nathan.
"And I a Muslim," interrupted Saladin, "and between us
stands the Christian. But the three faiths contradict one another. They
cannot all be true. Tell me the results of your own wise deliberations.
Which religion is best?"
Nathan recognized the trap at once. Any answer except
"Islam" would offend Saladin the Muslim, whereas any answer except
"Judaism" would place his own integrity under question. Thus, instead
of giving a direct answer, Nathan responded by relating a parable to
Saladin:
In the Orient in ancient times there lived a man
who possessed a ring of inestimable worth. Its stone was an opal that
emitted a hundred colors, but its real value lay in its ability to make
its wearer beloved of God and man. The ring passed from father to most
favored son for many generations, until finally its owner was a father
with three sons, all equally deserving. Unable to decide which of the
three sons was most worthy, the father commissioned a master artisan to
make two exact copies of the ring, then gave each son a ring, and each
son believed that he alone had inherited the original and true ring.
But instead of harmony, the father's plan brought only
discord to his heirs. Shortly after the father died, each of the sons
claimed to be the sole ruler of the father's house, each basing his
claim to authority on the ring given to him by the father. The discord
grew even stronger and more hateful when a close examination of the
rings failed to disclose any differences.
"But wait," interrupted Saladin, "surely you do not mean to
tell me that there are no differences between Islam, Judaism, and
Christianity!"
"You are right, Sultan," replied Nathan. "Their teachings
and practices differ in ways that can be seen by all. However, in each
case, the teachings and practices are based on beliefs and faith,
beliefs and faith that at their roots are the same. Which of us can
prove that our beliefs and our faith are more reliable than those of
others?"
"I understand," said Saladin. "Now continue with your
tale."
"The story is nearly at its end," replied Nathan.
The dispute among the brothers grew until their
case was finally brought before a judge. After hearing the history of
the original ring and its miraculous powers, the judge pronounced his
conclusion: "The authentic ring," he said, "had the power to make its
owner beloved of God and man, but each of your rings has brought only
hatred and strife. None of you is loved by others; each loves only
himself. Therefore I must conclude that none of you has the original
ring. Your father must have lost it, then attempted to hide his loss by
having three counterfeit rings made, and these are the rings that cause
you so much grief."
The judge continued: "Or it may be that your father,
weary of the tyranny of a single ring, made duplicates, which he gave
to you. Let each of you demonstrate his belief in the power of his ring
by conducting his life in such a manner that he fully merits -- as
anciently promised -- the love of God and man.
"Marvelous! Marvelous!" exclaimed Saladin. "Your tale has
set my mind at rest. You may go."
"Sultan, was there nothing else you wished from me?" asked
Nathan.
"No. Nothing."
"Then may I take the liberty to make a request of you. My
trade of late has brought me unexpected wealth, and in these uncertain
times I need a secure repository. Would you be willing to accept my
recent earnings as loan or deposit?"
The Sultan gladly acceded to Nathan's wish.
And thus Saladin gained from his wise Jewish subject both
material and spiritual benefit, and Nathan the Wise found a safe haven
for his wealth and earned the respect of the Islamic Sultan.
- Source: Abstracted from Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan
der Weise, a drama in five acts (1779). Events leading up to
Nathan's telling of the parable are depicted in act 3, scenes 4-7. The
parable itself is contained in act 3, scene 7.
- © 1999 by D. L. Ashliman.
- Link to the text of the entire play (in German): Nathan der Weise.
- Note that in Lessing's version of the three-ring
parable, unlike its precedents, all three rings are deemed to be false.
- Saladin (born 1137 or 1138, died 1193), Sultan of Egypt,
Syria, Yemen, and Palestine, was the greatest Muslim hero of the middle
ages.
I hope that you've enjoyed these two variations of the same
theme. I know
I enjoyed the first one when I discovered it in one of my books, and
while
preparing this web page, I was delighted to find the second version.
It is my hope that you, the reader, will demonstrate your
belief in the power
of 'your ring' by conducting your life in such a manner that you fully
merit
-- as anciently promised -- the love of God and man. I know that I am
conducting
my life so that I will hopefully merit God's love completely, and I
look
forward to meeting you in the world-to-come, when we are again in
Allah's
presence, to use another of God's names.
The world we live in is built up of the different experiences
that each of
us have had. Some of us have managed to share our experiences with each
other.
All of us have our specific beliefs in the infinite being that some of
us
call God, that some of us call Jehovah, that some of us call Allah, and
that
some of us call by other names, and some of us believe that only we
have
the exact truth of God. But let us imagine if we had grown up in
another
culture. If I had been born in Iran, my belief in the infinite would be
completely different than my belief having been born in Portland,
Indiana,
USA.
If you look at The Parable
of the Blind Men and the
Elephant, you will see another parable that illustrates why
each of us
must have only a portion of the truth about God. Each of those blind
men
had a different view of the elephant that were "seeing" and in the same
way,
each of us have a different view of God that we are seeing with our
imperfect
eyes. It is only when we are perfect that we will be able to see 100%
of
the truth, and on that day, we will see that all of us have, to some
extent,
been equally correct.
As we read, and listen, and experience, we establish the basis
for a closer
understanding of what others experience, and thus we can -- in the end
--
find that we have much more to agree on than to disagree about.
It
is when we stop learning that we begin to build the barrier that keeps
us
from understanding other people -- and perhaps finding common agreement
with
them.
I really enjoy spiritual parables because they speak to how
differently each
of us view God. If we were to think about God as being equivalent to
the
elephant in The Parable of the
Blind Men and the
Elephant, then each religion on Earth might be considered
equivalent
to each of the blind men. No religion has had time to see ALL of God
so,
from each of their limited perspectives, they try to describe the God
that
is the basis of their religions. When their descriptions disagree with
each
other, the religions accuse each other of being wrong. Instead,
wouldn't
life be so much better if, instead of everyone being wrong, we could
think
about everyone being right, to some extent. None of us is perfect.
Let's
pray for the day that we can agree that we all honor and/or worship the
same
God, and that God Loves EVERYONE, not just certain sects.
If you enjoyed this page, we invite you
to
to GodLovesEveryone.org.