This sheet on Genesis 5 was written by Chaim Sabato for 929 and can also be found here
The Image of God: Dominance, Creativity, Knowledge, Choice, Kindness
The image of God. This is the title with which humankind is crowned. It is the most sublime title imaginable. What is the nature of this attribute captured by being “created in the image of God?”
Dominance
Nature stands at the service of man. It is in man’s power to utilize nature for the purpose of repairing the world or destroying it. The Sages in Midrash Kohelet Rabbah would say (Kohelet Rabbah 7:28): “When the Holy One Blessed One created the first man, God said to him, "Look how good My deeds are!" Make sure you do not destroy my world!”
Creativity
One of humanity’s unique abilities is the ability to create. A human being can be called “the image of God” because the first thing that is told about God is that God created. The concept of creativity is broad--from physical concepts to legislative creativity, artistic creativity and more.
Knowledge
What is the uniqueness of the human mind? Freedom. The mind works freely. And therefore its consciousness is unique and novel in the world of reality. In this lies a human being’s superiority over animals.
Choice
A person has autonomy, or freedom of choice, and this is what it means to be in the image of God, for this is the only area in which a person is completely not dependent on anything or anyone.
Kindness
Kindness and generosity with no expectation of reward is the most intrinsic quality in humans, for just as God gives to the world without anything in exchange, so too has God implanted this attribute as His image in each person.
These five attributes bring joy to human beings. All of them can be degraded, or nurtured until the person is crowned with the sublime title of having been made a “little less than divine” (Psalms 8:6).
Rabbi Chaim Sabato co-founded the yeshiva in Ma’aleh Adumim and has written several novels.
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