The Parable of the Long Spoons 

One day a man said to God, “God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”

God showed the man two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with many dishes of wonderful food. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and though each found it possible to reach whatever they wanted, because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. Although the man looked at God questionly, wondering at his cruelty, God simply said, “You have seen Hell now I will show you heaven.”

Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same. There was the same large round table with many dishes of wonderful food that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The man said, “I don’t understand.”

God smiled. “It is simple,” he said. “Love only requires one skill. These people learned early on to share and feed one another. While those in the other room thought only of how they could feed themselves.”

– attributed to Rabbi Haim of Romshishok