“... Harmony: Sharing ideals and sharing possessions. Essential words in the discussion of kinship ties were harmony, concord and unity (in expressions like “being of one soul,” “one mind” and the like). Again focusing on the relationship of siblings, Plutarch writes that “through the concord of brothers both family and household are sound and flourish, and friends and intimates, like a harmonious choir, neither do nor say, nor think, anything discordant” (“On Fraternal Affection” 2 [Mor. 479A]). Such an ideal is just as widely cherished in Jewish culture, from the famous opening of Psalm 133, which declares “How good, how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to live in unity” (Ps 133:1, my translation) to the celebration in 4 Maccabees of the unanimous decision of seven brothers to accept martyrdom for the sake of keeping Torah: “O sacred and harmonious concord of the seven brothers on behalf of religion! . . . Just as the hands and feet are moved in harmony with the guidance of the mind, so those holy youths . . . agreed to go to death for [piety’s] sake. O most holy seven, brothers in harmony!” (4 Macc 14:3, 6-7) ...”