B'tzelem Elohim: In G-d's Image
(כו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃ (כח) וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(26) And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ (27) And God created man in God's own image, in the image of God created him; male and female God created them. (28) And God blessed them; and God said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.’
Discussion Questions
- What do you think it means to be made b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God?
- What do you think this text is trying to relate about the purpose of humanity?
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Is there any way to redeem the concept of b’tzelem Elohim if you do not believe in God? If so, how? If not, why not?
Living Your Best Life
בֶּן עֲזַאי אוֹמֵר זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם, זֶה כְּלַל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה,
רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר (ויקרא יט, יח): וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ, זֶה כְּלַל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה
שֶׁלֹא תֹאמַר הוֹאִיל וְנִתְבַּזֵּיתִי יִתְבַּזֶה חֲבֵרִי עִמִּי, הוֹאִיל וְנִתְקַלַּלְתִּי יִתְקַלֵּל חֲבֵרִי עִמִּי.
אָמַר רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא אִם עָשִׂיתָ כֵּן דַּע לְמִי אַתָּה מְבַזֶּה בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אוֹתוֹ.
[What is the most important value in the Torah?]
A. Ben Azzai taught: “These are the generations of Adam" [that we were all created in God's image] -- this is the greatest principle in the Torah.
B. Rabbi Akiva taught: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' (Lev. 19:18). - this greatest principle in the Torah:
C. Meaning that one should not say, 'Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.'"
D. Rabbi Tanchuma says, “If you do this -- know that God made the person you are shaming in God's own image."
Discussion Questions
- According to Ben Azzai, how does one live their best life?
- According to Rabbi Akiva, how does one live their best life?
- Which principle do you prefer and why?
- What does paragraph C and D add to your understanding of the commandment in Leviticus that we must "love our neighbor" as ourselves.
- Which value feels easiest for you to live by, and which feels most difficult for you to exemplify and why?
#OnlyOneLifeToLive
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (20th C, as quoted by Rabbi Arthur Green)
Why are we forbidden to make images of God? It is not because God is beyond all images, so that no image could possibly depict God. If that were the case, images would merely be harmless.
God has and image, and that is you.
You may not make the image of God because you are the image of God. The only medium in which you can make God's image is the medium of your entire life, and that is precisely what we are commanded to do. Everything you do, everything you say, each moment and the way you use it are all part of the way you build God's image. To take anything less than a full, living human being - like canvas or a piece of marble - and call it the image of God would be to diminish God, to lessen God's image.
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This is the “torat” of man: (Num 19:14) It is known that there are 600,000 thousand letters in the Torah, parallel to the 600,000 soul roots [in Israel]. Even though the number of Jews is greater, their essence lies in this number; the rest result in the subdivision of the sparks. |
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Each one of Israel has a particular letter of the Torah. But Torah and God are one; this then refers to the part of God within the person. That is the precise letter in which that soul is rooted. From that letter, the bounteous and holy flow of life energy comes into the person. |
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We need to note that the letter dwells in the person’s mouth. Since each letter contains the entire Torah, all of Torah is present in each person’s mouth. |
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Regarding a Torah scroll, if a single letter is missing it is considered unfit and is not regarded as Torah. Each letter is considered [a vital part of] Torah as they are all joined together. The entire service of YHVH depends on this, each person drawing close to his own [inner] root, comprising the whole Torah, all 613 mitzvot. The person too is made up of 248 limbs and 365 sinews, as is known. Just as a Torah scroll that lacks one letter is unfit, so too our sages taught that “Whoever destroys one soul of Israel is as though he had destroyed the entire world, and whoever sustains a single soul is like one who sustained the entire world.” That is why we recite before each prayer service: “I hereby accept upon myself the positive commandment to love my neighbor as myself.” We are all an absolute unity, just as the scroll comes to be a Torah only when all the letters are joined together. Even if you see some wickedness in your fellow, you should despise the evil within him, but love the holy part, like your own self. The Bal Shem Tov taught that the perfect Tzaddik who has no evil within him, does not see evil in any person. If you do not see evil in others, you are like one looking in a mirror. If your face is dirty, you’ll see a dirty face in the mirror; if your own face is clean, nothing amiss will appear in that mirror. As you are, so do you see. That is the meaning of “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev 19:18) As yourself means “as you are with yourself.” If you know there is some problem within you, that does not make you hate yourself, just that problem. Be the same with your neighbor since we are all one. Your neighbor too has a part of God within him, a letter of the Torah. |
If you have extra time, feel free to read the following texts in chevruta:
כדמתנו AFTER OUR LIKENESS — with the power to comprehend and to discern.
בצלם אלהים הנה מלת אלהים על צד ההדמות תאמר על כל עצם שכלי בפעל שלם נבדל מחומר ובזה הוא נצחי בהכרח. ולכן תאמר על האל ית' ועל מלאכיו וכמו כן תאמר על השופטים ע"ש החלק השכלי הראוי בהם. אמנם בהיות כי השכל האנושי אע"פ שפעולת השכלתו הוא בלתי שום כלי חמרי ותתפשט על בלתי מוחש ועל קצת עתידות ולא יחלש בהרבותו פעולת השכלתו ולא בעת זקנת הגוף אבל יוסיף אומץ ומכל אלה התבאר שהוא נבדל מחמר בלי ספק כי אמנם הפך כל אלה יקרה לכחות הגוף החמריות מ"מ קודם שיתבונן כהיותו אז משולל מכל שלמות אשר הוכן לו לא יקרא אלהים אבל יקרא צלם אלהים בלבד עד שיקנה שלמות בפרט בחכמה אשר בה יקנה אהבת האל ויראתו כי אז יהיה עצם שכלי בפועל שלם נבדל מחומר ומזה יתחייב שיהיה נצחי וקיים גם אחרי מיתת הגוף. ובהיות בבחירת האדם לקנות זה השלמות בהשתדלו להתבונן בחכמה הנז' הנה התבאר שכאשר ימנע עצמו מזה ישאר כחו השכלי על חיותו משולל מכל שלמות בפעל שמו שהיה בתחלה ויעלה בתהו ויאבד כאמרו אדם ביקר ולא יבין נמשל כבהמות נדמו ואת כל אלה הורה האל ית' בשתי מדות כאמרו בצלם אלהים:
בצלם אלוקים, when the word אלוקים appears as a descriptor as in our verse, it refers to creatures who are spiritual in their essence, not just that they possess spiritual potential.
Whereas it is an undisputed fact that the human intellect operates without direct dependence on any part of the body, that it does not age along with the remainder of the body it inhabits, but, on the contrary, sometimes improves while the body ages and becomes barely able to sustain the soul which inhabits it, and while it is also a fact that exercise of the intellect does not result in fatigue, it is still not called אלוקים, something divine, but only צלם אלוקים, “something which mirrors something divine.”
Until this intellect has acquired חכמה (true wisdom), it follows that it is humanity's task to perfect his G’d given intelligence by acquiring knowledge and insights...
Discussion Questions
- How do these texts expand your understanding of what it means to be created "in the image" of G-d?
- What is Sforno's argument in your own words?
- How might these ideas influence your outlook on your own life choices this year?
Totally random text for this source sheet, but interesting nonetheless...