On Monday night of Parshas Vayechi, I had a dream: A Yid I had known several years earlier appeared to me. He reminded me of his name, and he spoke to me strongly. “You’re holding my money!” he said.
I woke up in a terrible state. My heart was beating wildly; I felt these were not simply words. I asked my wife, “Do you remember so-and-so? Do we owe him money?”
“Yes, yes,” she said. “We owe him a large sum of money, I don’t recall exactly how much, but I remember that it’s close to $10,000.”
With a little more probing, the picture became clear. Several years ago I was in very difficult financial straits, and my business was collapsing. I declared bankruptcy. This was a very difficult time – I wouldn’t wish such an experience on anyone. The last person I bought merchandise from on credit was that Jew who appeared to me in the dream. In all the confusion, I had neglected to add him to my list of creditors. I forgot about him and about the debt entirely, and now he had come to demand his money back.
