{"id":31460,"date":"2016-08-05T02:38:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T08:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=31460"},"modified":"2016-08-05T20:05:48","modified_gmt":"2016-08-06T02:05:48","slug":"temptation-is-not-seduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/temptation-is-not-seduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Temptation is not seduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

By TED ROBERTS, the\u00a0SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ted_Roberts\"

Did I tell you I love figs? Did I mention I have three trees of my own? But NOT like this lady. There are as many species, even individual varieties, of figs as there are of the human race. This species was royalty \u2013 figs the size of plums \u2013 approaching the color of red roses. And best yet, shielded by shrubs and other non-fig bearing superfluous greenery, from the greedy fig lovers who lived in the house and owned the fig tree.
\nI bided my time until the fruit was ripe. Then one day with jealousy, envy, and lust brimming in my heart I extended a clutching hand to a cluster of three figs that called out to me in a language that drowned out Mrs. Potiphar\u2019s pleading.<\/p>\n

Waitaminute<\/em> \u2013 this wasn\u2019t my yard, my tree, or my figs. This was thievery. The dumbest attorney could build an ironclad cage of a case. Everyday I brushed past that tree and everyday I plunged my hands into my pants pocket. I am not a thief. My conscience literally shouted at that corrupting tree. After all, in the view of this scribbler who never attended or even walked by a Yeshiva, Judaism is a religion of deeds, not impulse or intention. Not even of faith. Remember, our progenitor, Jacob, wrestled with G-d, we are told in the Chumash. Deeds, not inclinations or even intentions, which are sometimes beastly, are the bar we Jews must clear.<\/p>\n

Finally, the day came. That bunch of figs was ready. OY! I had waited too long. Hungry, but immoral, birds, bees, and insects that likewise didn\u2019t own yard, tree, or figs had eaten into my booty. I was barred from sin. I plunged my hands back into my pockets. It seems that He who monitors even the planet\u2019s trivia intervened for the sake of goodness.<\/p>\n

Remember a few decades ago when President Jimmy Carter \u2013 during a TV interview – admitted to sin? The interviewer gasped. Why? Because I lusted after a woman, replied the red-faced, model Christian. Not a Jewish answer. Lusting, which the hybrid human heart cannot control, isn\u2019t seduction. We judge on deeds, not inclinations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that the anomalous 10th Commandment somewhat mars my thesis. But I\u2019m not lusting for my neighbor\u2019s 78-year-old wife (they do have a young maidservant) or his chipped and dented 1998 Chevy. And even if I did, as long as I dammed my flood of desire, I\u2019d see myself as pure as Elijah. Deeds, that\u2019s the measure of Judaism. Temptation is not seduction.<\/p>\n

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