Question

I am doing a booklet for my girls' B'not Mitzvah and they want a page devoted to friendship. Are there any wonderful prayers, teachings, quotes of any kind which would be appropriate for them to lead with in their little speech? Something profound, interesting, loving, about friendship would be greatly appreciated.

Answer

At the time of the Roman Empire, two Jewish boys had grown up together in Israel and become very close friends. After awhile, they moved far apart - one living under Roman control, and the other living under Syrian control. Yet they remained very close friends.

One time, when the fellow from Rome was visiting in Syria, someone falsely accused him of being a spy. So they brought him to the Syrian Emperor, and he was sentenced to death.

As he was being led out to be executed, they asked if he had any last requests. "Please, let me go back to Rome to settle my affairs and say goodbye to my family. Then I'll come back and you can execute me."

The Emperor laughed. "Are you crazy? What guarantee do I have that you'll come back?"

The Jew said, "I have a friend here in Syria who will stand in for me. He'll be my guarantor. If I don't come back, you can kill him instead."

The Emperor was intrigued. "This I've got to see. Okay, bring your friend."

The Syrian Jew was called in. Sure enough, he agreed to take his friend's place in prison, and be killed instead if the friend did not return.

The Emperor was so startled by this arrangement that he agreed to let the Roman Jew go. "I'll give you 60 days. If you're not back by the dawn of the 60th day, your friend is dead."

The Roman Jew raced back to say goodbye and put his affairs in order. After a hectic time and a lot of tears, he started back in plenty of time before the 60 days were up. But those were the days of sailing galleys, and sometimes you could sit for days waiting for the right wind to come. As luck would have it, there was no wind for several days, the sailboat was delayed, and by the time the Roman Jew arrived in Syria, dawn of the 60th day was breaking.

As agreed, the jailors took the Syrian Jew out for execution.

In those days, an execution was a gala affair. Early in the morning the crowds began to gather. Finally, as they were just about to perform the execution, the Roman Jew came running in. "Wait! I'm back. Don't kill him!"

But the Syrian Jew protested: "You can't kill him. He came too late. I'm the guarantor. You've got to kill me instead!"

Each friend was equally adamant. "Kill me!" "No, kill me instead!" The executioner didn't know what to do. The crowd was in an uproar!

Finally, the Emperor was called. In wonder and amazement, he turned to the two of them and said, "I'll let both of you go free on one condition. That you make me your third friend!"