The King's Garden: Understanding the Duality of Body and Soul
Yeshayahu 54:11 - 55:5
This week, we continue the series of ten Haftorot that are connected to the time of year rather than a haftorah thematically related to the weekly Parsha. The seven Haftorot that follow Tisha B’Av are known as the Shiva d’Nechemta, the Seven Haftarot of Consolation. This week’s Haftorah is the third of the Haftorot of consolation.
וְכָל־בָּנַ֖יִךְ לִמּוּדֵ֣י ה’ וְרַ֖ב שְׁל֥וֹם בָּנָֽיִךְ׃
And all your children shall be disciples of the LORD, And your children’s peace will be abundant.
The Midrash Aggadah on Vayikra 5:1 describes a dispute between the soul and the body. Each one claims innocence from sin - the soul blames the body for acting on the devious thought and the body accuses the soul of its nefarious plans. The Midrash offers a parable to appreciate the tension between the body and soul. A king has a garden with beautiful fruit trees. As he is worried that his workers will steal the fruit, he hires two watchmen - one who is blind and cannot see the beauty of the trees and one who is lame and is unable to easily move around. When the two men are left alone however, they come up with a clever plan to steal the alluring fruit. “Climb up on my back”, says the blind man to his lame partner in crime. “You will guide me and I will carry you and we will be successful in our mission”. Together they are successful and steal the fruit. When the king realizes that the fruit was stolen, he calls the two guards and accuses them of the crime. Each one denies the accusation, the blind man claiming he can’t see and the lame man saying he can’t walk. The king, no fool, says, “Perhaps alone you would be unable to accomplish this heist but together...you certainly can.”
This parable describes the relationship between the soul and the body, the Neshama and Guf. While each cannot act on its own, together they are able to sin. When Hashem will ask the soul why it violated the Torah strictures, the soul will claim that it was the that body sinned while the body will blame the soul. Hashem however recognizes that it was the two together that sinned and will judge the soul and body together as one. The Midrash cites our posuk in Yeshayahu to describe the ultimate and ideal soul and body relationship. When all of your actions are as your children and are the teachings of G-d, there will be Shalom, peace between the soul and the body as they both engage in the holy mission of serving Hashem. With the month of Elul approaching let us work to this spiritual synthesis between body and soul and may all of our actions be the true teachings of Hashem and usher in an era of everlasting peace.