The Lame and the Blind Watchmen and the Soul That Sinned

"A soul, when it sins" (Leviticus 4:1-2). Ten things serve the soul, and these are they: the gullet for food, the windpipe for the voice, the liver for anger, the gallbladder for jealousy, the lung for drinking, the maw for grinding, the spleen for laughter, the stomach for sleep, the tongue for speech, the heart for understanding, the kidneys for counsel - and the soul is above them all. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the soul: I made you above them all, and you go out and sin, as it says, "A soul, when it sins." Rabbi Yishmael taught a parable: it is like a king who had an orchard with fine early figs, and he set in it two watchmen, one lame and one blind. He said to them: be careful with the early figs. The king departed. The lame one said to the blind one: I see fine early figs. The blind one said: bring them and let us eat. The lame one said: but can I walk? The blind one said: but can I see? What did they do? The lame one rode upon the back of the blind one, and they took the early figs and ate them, and they went and each sat in his place. After some days the king came and said to them: where are the early figs? The blind one said: but can I see? The lame one said: but can I walk? What did the king, who was clever, do? He set the lame one upon the back of the blind one and judged them as one. He said to them: thus you did and ate. So in the time to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the soul: why did you sin? And it says before Him: Master of the universe, it is the body that sinned, for from the day I left it, am I not cast before You like a shard? And the body says: from the day the soul left me, am I not cast before You like a shard? What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He returns the soul to the body and judges them both as one. This is what is written, "He calls to the heavens above" (Psalms 50:4) - to bring the soul - "and to the earth" - to bring the body - and afterward, "to judge His people." Rabbi Hiyya taught a parable: it is like a priest who had two wives, one the daughter of a priest and one the daughter of an Israelite. He gave them dough of terumah, and they defiled it. He contended with the daughter of the priest and let the daughter of the Israelite be. She said to him: my lord priest, you gave it to both of us as one; why do you contend with me and let her be? He said to her: you are a priest's daughter and learned it in your father's house; this one is an Israelite's daughter and did not learn it in her father's house; therefore I contend with you. So in the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the soul: why did you sin before Me? It says before Him: Master of the universe, I and the body sinned as one; why do You contend with me and let this one be? He says to her: you are from the upper realms, from a place where they do not sin; therefore I contend with you. A parable: to what may the matter be compared? To two men who sinned against the king, one a provincial and one a son of the palace. He saw that both had committed the same sin. He turned to the provincial and gave the son of the palace a sentence. The members of his palace said to him: both committed the same sin; you turned away from the provincial and gave the son of the palace a sentence. He said to them: I turned from the provincial, for he does not know the customs of the kingdom; but the son of the palace is with me every day and knows the customs of the kingdom, and yet he sins. So too the body is the provincial - "And the LORD God formed the man" (Genesis 2:7); and the soul is the son of the palace from above - "and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" - and both sin. Therefore Scripture expresses wonder: "A soul, when it sins." What is "unintentionally, from any of the commandments"? To teach you that whoever sins unintentionally is as one who transgressed the commandments of the LORD. And so it says, "And when you err and do not perform all these commandments" (Numbers 15:22), and it says, "Errors, who can discern them? Clear me from hidden faults; keep Your servant also from willful sins" (Psalms 19:13-14) - an error in study mounts up to a willful transgression. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: in this world, because the evil inclination rules over you, you sin; but in the time to come I will uproot it from you, as it says, "And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).