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The Book of Leviticus – ‫חומש ויקרא‬

Torah Portion Va'Yikra

The book of Va'Yikra deals with offerings. In the first Torah portion of this
book appears the verse:

"Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: Anyone who shall sin
through error, in any of the things which G-d has commanded not to
be done…" (Vayikra 4:2)

In this verse there is a special expression "one who shall sin," which can be
literally translated as "a soul that shall sin" – speaking about the soul of a
person.

And the Midrash says: After a person dies, G-d asks the soul: Why did you sin?
And the soul says: It's not me, it's the body!
G-d asks the body: Why did you sin?
The body says to Him: It's not me, it's the soul!

And this situation is like in the parable:
A king had an orchard and it bore beautiful fruits. He wanted to guard the fruits,
but was scared that if he would appoint a guard, the guard himself would eat the
fruits. What did the king do?
He appointed two guards in the garden: one lame and the other blind.
The king thought: the lame one sees the fruits, but he cannot reach them,
therefore he will not eat the fruits. The blind one can reach them, but he cannot
see them and thus he also will not eat the fruits. What did the guards do? The
lame one said to the blind one: I see beautiful fruits, but I cannot reach them.
Come put me on top of you and I will tell you where to go and I will bring the
beautiful fruits and we will eat together. The two guards did just that and ate the
fruits.

The king came and saw that someone ate the fruits. The king asked the lame
one: Who ate the fruits?
The lame one answered: It wasn't me – I can't walk!
The king asked the blind one: Did you eat the fruits?
The blind one answered: It wasn't me – I can't see!

What did the king do? He put the lame one on the blind one and judged them
together! So too, G-d does this with the body and the soul. He returns the soul
to the body and revives the dead and thus judges the soul and the body
together…

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