body is destroyed and the soul goes up never to return."

Ibid., fol. 152, col. 2.

Clever answers to puzzling questions like the above, are of frequent
occurrence in the Talmud; and we select here a few out of the many
specimens of Rabbinical ready wit and repartee.

Turnus Rufus once said to Rabbi Akiva, "If your God is a friend to the
poor, why doesn't he feed them?" To which he promptly replied, "That we
by maintaining them may escape the condemnation of Gehenna." "On the
contrary," said the Emperor, "the very fact of your maintaining the poor
will condemn you to Gehenna. I will tell thee by a parable whereto this
is like. It is as if a king of our own flesh and blood should imprison a
servant who has offended him, and command that neither food nor drink
should be given him, and as if one of his subjects in spite of him
should go and supply him with both. When the king hears of it will he
not be angry with that man? And ye are called servants, as it is said
(Lev. xxv. 55), 'For unto me the children of Israel are servants.'" To
this Rabbi Akiva replied, "And I too will tell thee a parable whereunto
the thing is like. It is like a king of our own flesh and blood who,
being angry with his son, imprisons him, and orders that neither food
nor drink be given him, but one goes and gives him both to eat and
drink. When the king hears of it will he not handsomely reward that man?
And we are sons, as it is written (Deut. xiv. 1), 'Ye are the sons of
the Lord your God.'" "True," the Emperor replied, "ye are both sons and
servants; sons when ye do the will of God; servants when ye do not; and
now ye are not doing the will of God."

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 10, col. 1.

Certain philosophers once asked the elders at Rome, "If your God has no
pleasure in idolatry, why does He not destroy the objects of it?" "And
so He would," was the reply, "if only such objects were worshiped as the
world does not stand in need of; but you idolaters will worship the sun
and moon, the stars and the constellations. Should He destroy the world
because of the fools there are in it? No! The world goes on as it has
done all the same, but they who abuse it will have to answer for their
conduct. On your philosophy, when one steals a measure of wheat and sows
it in his field it should by rights produce no crop; nevertheless the
world goes on as if no wrong had been done, and they who abuse it will
one day smart for it."

_Avoda Zarah_, fol. 54, col. 2.