A certain Jew once failed miserably in business, and try as he might, found no way of earning a living in his hometown. Unable to sit and watch his family suffer hunger and the humiliation of grinding poverty, he decided to go overseas and try his luck in a distant land.

The next day, he went to the nearest seaport and took passage on a ship about to sail. As it happened, the ship was headed for Africa, and there he landed and settled.

As he looked about him, he noted that the natives had no livestock, sheep or cows, probably because there was very little land suitable pasture. But he was familiar with dairy farming, and he believed that in the African climate, milk and dairy products could easily become popular. He imported a few cows from a neighboring country, raised a good crop of fodder for them on a field that he acquired, and began selling his dairy products. As he prospered, his herd of cows increased, and in a few years he was quite well-to-do.

From the start, he corresponded with his wife, sending her small sums of money every week. Finally a letter arrived from her, to tell him that "your daughters are now grown, and they are of an age for marriage. Heaven has blessed your way in life, and you have gathered wealth. Then it would be only right and proper for you to return, and [arrange to marry off your daughters] to good husbands from fine families."

As his wife was clearly right, he began to make plans to leave and return home. But then he thought, "Shall I just take back with me all the money I have made? There is no profit in that. My money won't be worth any more there than it is here. A hundred thousand dollars are always a hundred thousand dollars, never more. I would do better to take merchandise and sell it there." And what better merchandise could he take, he thought fatuously, than the same thing that was so successful here? He would take along plain cold milk. That always sold well, he told himself. Sure....

On the ship that would take him back he loaded his cargo: barrel after barrel of milk. Then he sent his wife a letter telling her what he had done and asking her to meet him at the port upon his arrival.

There was still an hour or two before his ship would sail, and he went into town to see if there were perhaps some last-minute purchases to make before he took off for home.

As he walked along the street he met a friend who dealt in gold and precious stones. "Well, well," said his friend, "so you are sailing home. You know, you really cannot go without buying some presents for your wife and daughters. Come, pick out a lovely ring, a bracelet, a necklace. Here I have some exquisite things."

"Oh, nonsense," said the man, with a shrug of contempt. "As I have plenty of money I can always buy anything I want wherever I am. Why buy these trinkets here and carry them with me all the way home? I would rather buy some merchandise that I can resell there at a profit."

His friend did his best, though, to convince him that it would pay to buy the jewelry here, since such things cost very little here, being in plentiful supply, while in Europe they were very expensive. With another shrug the man consented, picked out some jewels, and then found it was time to return to the ship.

When the vessel landed, there were surprises in store for him. First, not only his wife and daughters waited for him, eager to see him after a separation of years. All his old friends and townspeople were there, to give him a royal welcome, having heard how wealthy he had become while abroad. It was a joyous occasion, with everyone embracing him and shaking his hand warmly.

Soon he saw the cargo being unloaded, and he went to claim his barrels of milk. And now another surprise awaited him - but a nasty one. From afar he could already detect the powerful stench. The entire shipment of milk had turned rancid, and so terrible was the stench that people could hardly go near the barrels. There was nothing to be done but to dump the entire shipment into the sea... In utter despair the man watched his entire savings, all he had earned and saved in his years abroad, going down with those barrels to the bottom of the ocean. He had left this country a poor man. He now returned to it a poor man.

When his wife grasped what had happened, she began wringing her hands and crying bitterly at her calamitous fate. She could only see all her dreams shattered before her. How would they live? How would they ever marry off their daughters? "What cruel fate," she cried, "gave me such an addled idiot for a husband? You could not find any other merchandise to bring here, but only milk? We lack milk here? We need to get it from Africa? Every farmer around us gets more milk from his cows than he knows what to do with. The sun there must have gone to your head. Instead of sinking all your money into milk, why could you not buy gold and jewels? Then every daughter of ours could have found herself a fine husband!"

Miserable and wretched as he felt, the man looked up with a start. His wife's words rang a bell, reminding him of the jewels he had bought from his friend in Africa before boarding ship. Without a word he went to his traveling case and found the precious objects; then off he went to the local jeweler and sold them, receiving enough money to support the family for several years.

The soul of a person gets born with a physical body into this lowly world, and he finds himself well supplied with milk, butter, cheese... all kinds of food. Food is important in this world, necessary to keep a person alive. So a human being imagines that in all the world there is no merchandise more worthy than that, and he decides to invest all his energy and money and resources to acquire food. He works to keep his physical body well fed, and pays no attention to the spiritual gold and jewelry that are practically rolling underfoot and can be acquired with such little effort, at such little cost.

Wherever we turn, whatever we do, there is Torah to be learned; there are mitzvahs to be kept. And when we bring such "merchandise" to the world of truth, the afterlife, we will find that they are worth more than the finest gold and jewels. Yet when a human being's appointed time comes and he must depart this world to return "home," what "merchandise" does he take with him? He takes to the grave a body that was fed, all his years on earth, with milk and butter and cheese; that was stuffed with fine foods and delicacies of every kind. Like that fatuous simpleton who sailed home from Africa, he takes things that he believes have great value at his place of arrival. He travels confidently with his cargo, expecting to become "wealthy" upon his arrival, only to find that his merchandise has all turned rancid and foul.

He arrives there, and at the port of entry, the heavenly court of justice, he is asked: "Well, what have you brought with you? You know, you have come from a land of gold and precious stones - Torah and mitzvahs. Did you bring a large supply with you?" And there he will stand, hanging his head in shame, pointing to his cargo: the great load of milk, etc. that he brought - which by now has become thoroughly spoiled and rancid, exuding a vile stench, so that it is fit only for the worms and maggots to eat.

Well, as the human spirit stands there, suffused in mortal shame, he will suddenly recall that once, absent-mindedly, he gave a poor beggar a few pennies. At a certain dinner, in order to make a good impression on his neighbors, he gave a modest donation to a yeshivah. Once there had even been an appeal in the synagogue on behalf of a Torah scholar in unfortunate circumstances; and in a moment of weakness he pledged (and later gave) a fair sum. In short, he realizes now that without attaching too much importance to it, he did buy and bring with him a few valuable "bits of jewelry."

Of course, he will get full value for his few fine pieces of gold and jewels. But imagine his anguish and mortification at the thought that he could have brought such a great fortune with him, if only he had the sense to know which "merchandise" to acquire...