In the village of Ecksburgh, many years ago, there were two taverns operated by Jewish families, the Melameds and the Levis.  One tavern was located where the high road led into town from the north, and the other, where the road led out of Ecksburgh, going south. 

 Both taverns were operated under an agreement with the local poritz, who demanded a pretty sum each year for the rights he deigned to grant the tavern keepers.

One year the winter was particularly long and hard.  People traveled only if they had no choice.  Both the taverns suffered from the lack of traffic, and at the end of the year, neither the Melameds nor the Levis had the funds they needed to pay the poritz his due.

"What shall we do?" Boruch Melamed asked Itzik Levi one day in shul.  "It's been such a bad year; We have hardly enough money to buy grain for bread, much less to pay the poritz. 

"What about you, Itzik? Are you going to pay the poritz next week, when the year is up?" he asked.

"How can I?" moaned his friend.  "I've had just as bad a year as you, and I have even more mouths to feed!"

Both families pleaded with the poritz to have mercy on them.  He grunted, and did nothing.  Another month went by, and another, but the situation remained the same.  Neither family could pay its debt.  After three and a half months of delay, the poritz lost his patience.  He sent his men to take both families to the dungeons beneath his castle.

Boruch lost no time.  He turned to his jailer and asked to be taken to the poritz himself.  "What good does it do you to keep me and my family in that dark, damp hole?" he asked.  "I am young and strong; I am a good, talented worker.  My wife and my children also know how to work.

"Let us leave the dungeon and start to work for you here on your estate for one full year.  Instead of paying us wages, deduct whatever we earn from our debt to you."

His words made sense to the poritz.  Boruch started working as the poritz's bookkeeper.  His wife tended to the cows, and milked them, and his children helped look after the herds.    

Itzik noticed what was happening with Boruch and asked him one night, "What did you do to get out of the dungeon?

Boruch explained how he had asked to be taken to the poritz, and the proposal he had made.  "I may have to work my fingers to the bone for a year or so, but at least, that way, I'll work off my debt and be a free man again!" he told his friend.

Itzik was taken aback.  "What?  You don't mind living like a slave for a whole year?  You, and your wife, and your children?  All day long, you're ordered here, you're ordered there.  'Do this, do that!'  How can you stand it?" he asked.  "I could never put up with it."

The next day, Itzik also asked to be taken to the poritz.  He was a convincing speaker, and now he put his case before the master of the castle:

"What do you gain by keeping me and my family here?  You just have to feed us, and to pay guards to watch over us and see we don't escape.

"It makes more sense to let us go free. Let us return to our inn, so we can try to make money to pay our debts.  Now that we have tasted life in the dungeon, we will work day and night to stay free.  We will be willing to make do with the absolute minimum, if only we can stay out of prison."

The poritz was reasonable; Itzik's words made sense, and he agreed to send them back to their tavern, with a stern warning that in one year's time, they would be asked to pay their debts in full.  Should they fail, they would again be imprisoned, with no mercy.

The next day the Levis were released.  The Melameds watched enviously as their friends climbed up onto the wagon that would take them back to the village and their own home, and while they went back to their chores on the grounds of the castle.

How happy the Melameds were to be back at their own inn!  They tried to save a bit of money here and there, but so few customers came to the tavern that they hardly earned enough to feed themselves, much less pay back any debts.

 Two months went by, three months, and six.  Half a year, and they had yet to save a single penny towards their debt.  They tried harder; Rivky had no shoes and Chayim's shirt had patches on its patches.  They all were hungry, day and night, and even so, they could not manage to save a single kopeck toward their debts.

Nothing seemed to change.  The tavern brought in a bit of money, but it was far from enough, even without a burden of debt. 

One day, Boruch came into the village to tend to some urgent matters for the poritz.  He met Itzik, and the two began to compare notes. 

"How lucky you are to be back home!" Boruch said to Itzik.  "You are your own boss, you sell drinks to the farmers and earn money for yourselves.  I work day and night, but I don't earn a single copper for myself. 

"We're just counting the days until we can move back home the way you did!"

"You're jealous of us?  Just the opposite; you are the ones who should be happy!" exclaimed Itzik.

"What do you mean, Itzik?" Boruch asked in surprise.  "Aren't you happy that you are back in your own home?"

"Yes, and no," answered Itzik, pensively.  "We are also counting the days, but for us, every day that goes by brings us that much closer to a horrible fate – the dungeon again. 

"When you and your family think about the future, you can look forward to something pleasant and positive.  You will be back in your own home, and you will be free of debts!  What could be better! 

"How often I think of you, and regret that we didn't make the same arrangement with the poritz! True, it's not easy for you now, but when the year is up and your debt is paid, what a heavy stone will roll off your heart.  You'll be able to walk with your head high, and to look everyone in the face, because you know you don't owe anything to anyone.

"Every day, your debt grows smaller. Soon you will be free of all your debts, both those of the past, and the rent for the current year.

"As for us, every day our debt grows that much larger, and what is worse, we have no more means of paying it today than we had yesterday or the day before."   

 "In the long run, you have no reason to envy us; it is we who have every reason to envy you and your foresight!

"You were the wise ones, who looked ahead and planned astutely for the future. When the time comes, you will enjoy the full fruit of your efforts today!"

*******

A year ago, we stood before our Maker and admitted: "It is true that we have a great debt to You.  Please, give us another year of life, good health, and peace.   We will make a major, all-out effort to pay You back for everything."

That year has almost drawn to a close.  Have we proved ourselves?  Did we live up to our promises?  How will we feel when we face our Maker on the Day of Judgment? 

Are we not like Itzik, who was so happy during the year to live in comfort, in his own home, but was fiercely jealous of his friend by the end of the year?