"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?'" p. 278 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 paced two watchers in the orchard, and that they themselves might not he 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 is it 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:
Source: Internet Sacred Text Archive, file jud/pol/pol36.htm.
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