"Not so; happy is it that thou findest me in this condition, for thou
findest me no less righteous than before. God has preserved me, and my
faith in Him, and thus hereafter shall I explain the verse of Scripture,
'And Jacob came perfect.' Perfect in his physical condition, perfect in
his temporal condition, and perfect in his knowledge of God."
* * * * *
Antoninus, in conversing with Rabbi Judah, said to him:
"In the future world, when the soul comes before the Almighty Creator
for judgment, may it not find a plea of excuse for worldly wickedness in
saying, 'Lo, the sin is the body's; I am now free from the body; the
sins were not mine'?"
Rabbi Judah answered, "Let me relate to thee a parable. A king had an
orchard of fine figs, which he prized most highly. That the fruit might
not be stolen or abused, he placed two watchers in the orchard, and that
they themselves might not be tempted to partake of the fruit, he chose
one of them a blind man, and the other one lame. But lo, when they were
in the orchard, the lame man said to his companion, 'I see very fine
figs; they are luscious and tempting; carry me to the tree, that we may
both partake of them.'
"So the blind man carried the lame man, and they ate of the figs.
"When the king entered the orchard he noticed at once that his finest
figs were missing, and he asked the watchers what had become of them.
"The blind man answered:--
"'I know not. I could not steal them; I am blind; I cannot even see
them.'
"And the lame man answered:--
"'Neither could I steal them; I could not approach the tree.'
"But the king was wise, and he answered:--
"'Lo, the blind carried the lame,' and he punished them accordingly.
"So it is with us. The world is the orchard in which The Eternal King
has placed us, to keep watch and ward, to till its soil and care for its
fruit. But the soul and body are the man; if one violates the precepts,
so does the other, and after death the soul may not say, 'It is the
fault of the body to which I was tied that I committed sins;' no, God
will do as did the owner of the orchard, as it is written:--
"'He shall call from the heaven above, and to the earth to judge his
people.'
"He shall call from the 'heaven above,' which is the soul, and to the
'earth below', which is the body, mixing with the dust from whence it
sprung."
A heathen said to Rabbi Joshua, "Thou believest that God knows the
future?"
"Yes," replied the Rabbi.
"Then," said the questioner, "wherefore is it written, 'The Lord said, I
will destroy everything which I have made, because it repenteth me that
I have made them'? Did not the Lord foresee that man would become
corrupt?"