Wisdom of the Talmud

THE TRUE FRIEND

A man had three friends. One friend he loved dearly; the second he also loved; but the third he regarded with less affection. One day the king commanded this man to appear immediately before him. The man was greatly alarmed. Had someone spoken ill of him or falsely accused him before his king? In fear and trembling, he called upon each of his three friends to accompany him.
     First, he turned to his dearest friend, and was greatly disappointed when this friend found it impossible to go with him to the king.
     He then turned to his second friend: "Will you go with me?" But the latter replied: "I will go with you only as far as the palace gates, but I cannot enter with you into the palace.
     In desperation, the man finally appealed to his third friend, the one to whom he had been least devoted. Without hesitation, this neglected friend assured him: "Of course I will accompany you, but first I'll go immediately to the palace and plead for you with the king.
     The first friend is a man's wealth which he must leave behind when he departs from this world, as it is written: "Riches profit not in the day of reckoning."
     The second friend is a man's relatives, who can only follow him to the graveside, as it is written: "No man can by any means redeem his brother from death."
     The third, least-considered friend, is the good deeds of man's life. These never desert him and even precede him to plead his cause before the King of Kings, as it is written: "And your righteousness shall go before you.”

Adaped from Pirke de Rabbi Eleazer