One of my acquaintances is a jeweler in Israel. One day, a 9-year-old girl came into his shop and said, "I would like to buy a bracelet”. She examined the various jewels on display and then pointed at a bracelet that cost $ 3,000! Surprised, the jeweler exclaimed:

- Do you really want to buy this bracelet?

-Yes, she replied.

- Well, you really have a lot of taste! And who would you like to offer it to?

- To my big sister.

- How kind of you! the merchant exclaimed. Tell me, why do you want to give this bracelet to your big sister?

-Because I have neither mother nor father, replied the little girl, "and it is my older sister who takes care of us. So we want to give her a gift, and I volunteered to pay for it''.

With these words, the little girl took out of her pocket a handful of coins which totaled to just under 8 Shekels, or about 3 dollars.

And the jeweler to exclaim: "Perfect! That is exactly the price of the bracelet! While wrapping the expensive present in a gift box, he suggested to his young client, "What if you write a card to your sister while I finish wrapping the bracelet?"

Then he handed the bracelet to the happy girl, wiping away the tears that flowed from his eyes.

A few hours later, the little girl's older sister entered the jewelry shop:

-I'm terribly embarrassed by what happened, she said. My sister should never have set foot in this shop, let alone take this bracelet without paying.

- What are you talking about? asked the shopkeeper.

- Sir, are you joking? My sister came home with a bracelet that costs several thousand dollars! She does not own such a sum of money, not even 10 dollars! Obviously, she did not pay for it.

"You are wrong," replied the jeweler. Your sister paid me cash ​​on the nail. She gave me 7 Shekels, 80 Agorot and a broken heart ... I want to tell you something. I am a widower, I lost my wife a few years ago. Many customers enter my shop: they come here, choose expensive jewelry and pay me cash. Yet when your sister came in, this is the first time since the death of my wife that I once again felt what love means.

Then he offered her the bracelet and showered her with good wishes ...

During the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we present ourselves before the Almighty and we desire something very precious: life. The problem is that we do not have the means. We do not have enough money to pay for it, nor the necessary merits.

So we stand in front of Hashem, and we empty our pockets by handing him the few merits that we do have, as well as some good resolutions for the future: "I'll pick up the phone and make a call to a lonely person," we promise. "I'm going to study an extra five minutes of Torah on Torah-Box". "I'm going to be kind and try not to say lashon hara (slander) for an hour a day.

G-d tells us, "You cannot imagine for how long I have not felt such love. He sees how much we love Him and really want to improve, then He tells us, "My children, I am deeply touched by your attitude. I grant you life, paid cash ​​on the nail."