The well-known contractors shied away from the royal project. They had no desire to spend
months thousands of kilometers away from the Palatial City on a deserted island. A poor handyman with no more than a hammer,
a saw, and a small bag of nails landed the job, for no one else submitted a proposal.
The King was undismayed. He trusted the poor handyman, and gave him a ship loaded with the
finest building materials – wood, marble, metal, and cement. The King's sailors packed the hold from top to bottom with
an entire year's food supply, clothes, utensils, temporary shelter, and every other amenity and necessity the handyman might
need in order to perform his task. The handyman agreed to complete the project of building the King's vacation home within
twelve months.
Following a lengthy voyage at sea, the ship finally reached the King's vacation island. Other
than a great expanse of sand and beautiful beach, there wasn't much on the island except for clumps of coconut palms and monkeys.
The sailors unloaded the cargo and set the handyman on shore. They told him that they'd return in exactly twelve months to
take him home.
For the first week, the handyman devoted all of his time to setting up his own tent and household.
The King gave him the best flour, dried fruit and nuts, preserved foods, and plenty of wine. Subsequently, the handyman would
spend an hour or two a day laying the foundations for the King's vacation home, and spend the rest of the day attending to
his own needs and pleasures - baking bread, sunbathing on the beach, and drinking wine.
By the time eleven months had transpired, the handyman had only completed the foundations,
the frame, and a portion of the roof. Even working around the clock, he'd need several more months to complete the job. With
no choice, he threw away the wine, baked no more bread, and ate nothing but dried nuts and raisins. Barely sleeping, he rose
before sunup to begin work; his hammer and saw wouldn't rest until after sunset.
At the end of the year, the royal ship approached the island, with the King on board. When
the monarch came ashore, he found a house with no doors or windows, and debris all over the place, despite the handyman's
last-minute rush. Monkeys pranced from room to unfinished room. Before the King had a chance to react, the handyman threw
himself at the King's feet, and said, "Your Majesty, what can I say, how can I justify myself? Your Majesty sent me here with
all my needs, but I pursued my own bodily gratifications rather than devoting myself to completing the royal vacation home.
Please forgive me! Please give me another year to complete this task. I'll do my best not to disappoint Your Majesty!"
The handyman's candor saved his life, converting the King's potential anger to mercy and
compassion. The Monarch granted the handyman another year – with all his needs – to complete the task.
The King in the parable is Yahveh. We are the handyman. Yahveh gives us our needs for the entire
year in order to "build his home" on a "faraway island". But, rather than doing the King's bidding, we use our heaven-sent
supplies – our health and our livelihood – for our own gratification rather than for His glory. When the
new year arrives, we make a last-minute rush to say Slichos early in the morning and to complete whatever Tshuva we can, but
our hearts are still far from being a worthy sanctuary for the King of Kings. With Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment, just around
the corner, we see that we're far from finishing our task, so we beg for another year.
By honestly requesting Yahveh's forgiveness for our shortcomings, Yahveh forgives us
and blesses us with an additional year of health and prosperity.
