“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?”

Then said Rabbi Joshua, “Hast thou children?”

“Yes,” was the answer.

“When a child was born, what didst thou?”

“I made a great rejoicing.”

“What cause hadst thou to rejoice?  Dost thou not know that they must die?”

“Yes, that is true; but in the time of enjoyment I do not think of the future.”

“So was it with God,” said Rabbi Joshua.  “He knew that men would sin; still that knowledge did not prevent the execution of his beneficent purpose to create them.”

One of the emperors said to Rabon Gamliel:—­

“Your God is a thief, as it is written, ’And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept.  And He took a rib from Adam.’”

The Rabbi’s daughter said, “Let me answer this aspersion.  Last night robbers broke into my room, and stole therefrom a silver vessel:  but they left a golden one in its stead.”

The emperor replied, “I wish that such thieves would come every night.”

Thus was it with Adam; God took a rib from him, but placed a woman instead of it.

Rabbi Joshua, of Saknin, said in the name of Rabbi Levi, “The Lord considered from what part of the man he should form woman; not from the head, lest she should be proud; not from the eyes, lest she should wish to see everything; not from the mouth, lest she might be talkative; nor from the ear, lest she should wish to hear everything; nor from the heart, lest she should be jealous; nor from the hand, lest she should wish to find out everything; nor from the feet in order that she might not be a wanderer; only from the most hidden place, that is covered even when a man is naked—­namely, the rib.”