The Lame Man and the Blind Man Judged as One Before God

In the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring forth the soul and say to it: "Why did you transgress the commandments?" And it answers: "The body transgressed the commandments. From the day I departed from it, have I ever sinned?" He turns and says to the body: "For what reason did you transgress the commandments?" It says to Him: "The soul sinned. From the moment the soul departed from me, have I ever sinned?" What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brings them both and judges them as one. To what may the matter be compared? To a king who had an orchard, and within it were grapes and figs and pomegranates and early-ripe figs. The king said: "If I set there a watchman who can see and walk, he will eat the early-ripe figs for himself." He set there two watchmen, one lame and one blind, and they sat and guarded the orchard. They smelled the early-ripe figs. The lame man said to the blind man: "I see fine early-ripe figs in the orchard. Come, carry me, and we will bring them and eat them." The lame man rode upon the back of the blind man, and they brought them and ate them. In time the king came; he sought the early-ripe figs and did not find them. He said to the blind man: "You ate them." He said to him: "Do I have any eyes?" He said to the lame man: "You ate them." He said: "Do I have any feet?" He mounted the lame man upon the back of the blind man and judged them as one. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the soul and casts it into the body, as it is said (Psalms 50:4): "He calls to the heavens above" — this is the soul; "and to the earth, to judge His people" — this is the body. And David foresaw how the Holy One, blessed be He, would judge His creatures, and he began to plead for mercy for his soul. He said: "Master of the World, when You judge Your creatures, do not judge me as one of them. [And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for no living being is righteous before You] (Psalms 143:2). Rather, deal righteously with me, as it is said (Psalms 17:15): 'As for me, in righteousness I shall behold Your face.'" The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "In this world, because the evil inclination ruled over them, you were sinning; but in the world to come I will uproot it from you, as it is said (Ezekiel 36:26): 'And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.'"