(26) And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”
(ב) שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:
(2) Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly. He would say, "On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service and on acts of lovingkindness."
Another time a non-Jew came before Shammai and said, "I will convert if you can teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot." Shammai pushed the non-Jews aside with the ruler that was in his hand. The non-Jew came before Hillel and Hillel converted him saying, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor, that is the entire Torah, the rest is just commentary, now go and study."
Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9:4, 41c.
Rabbi Akiva said: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ This is a great principle of the Torah. Ben Azzai disagreed: The verse ‘This is the book of the descendants of Adam… the human whom God made in God’s likeness’ (Genesis 5:1) utters a principle even greater
הדרן עלך המקנא לאשתו
מתני׳ היה מביא את מנחתה בתוך כפיפה מצרית ונותנה על ידיה כדי ליגעה כל המנחות תחילתן וסופן בכלי שרת וזו תחלתה בכפיפה מצרית וסופה בכלי שרת כל המנחות טעונות שמן ולבונה וזו אינה טעונה לא שמן ולא לבונה כל המנחות באות מן החטין וזו באה מן השעורין מנחת העומר אע"פ שבאה מן השעורין היא היתה באה גרש וזו באה קמח ר"ג אומר כשם שמעשיה מעשה בהמה כך קרבנה מאכל בהמה גמ׳ תניא אבא חנין אומר משום רבי אליעזר (וכל כך למה) כדי ליגעה כדי שתחזור בה אם ככה חסה תורה על עוברי רצונו קל וחומר על עושי רצונו וממאי משום דחסה הוא דילמא כי היכי דלא תימחק מגילה קסבר
And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Lord your God shall you walk, and Him shall you fear, and His commandments shall you keep, and unto His voice shall you hearken, and Him shall you serve, and unto Him shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:5)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire.
He explains: Rather, the meaning is that one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He. He provides several examples. Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, visits the sick, as it is written with regard to God’s appearing to Abraham following his circumcision: “And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead.