GEN78 In Jewish tradition, man is a microcosm, a world in miniature. Think, if you will, of a military general planning a campaign. Before him lies a small-scale representation of the field or theatre of battle, and on it he places and moves little objects.  Is he amusing himself with some innocent child’s game? -- hardly.  The little objects represent soldiers and equipment; the little movements that he makes with them will be translated into large-scale action.  And as a result, men will live or die, emerge whole or injured; battles—perhaps an entire war—will be won or lost.  Even so, Jewish tradition indicates, is man the micrososm in relation to the world without.  All that goes on within him is translated into far-reaching effects; his influence radiates into the far reaches of the macrocosm.  In Jerusalem stood the Sanctuary, the Holy Temple. When the people grew thoroughly wicked and would pay no heed to the prophets of the Almighty, the Temple was destroyed, the people were expelled, the entire land became desolate.  Similarly, man is the temple of creation so to speak, and the human heart is the holy of holies.  If we entertain thoughts that are immoral or emotions that are unworthy, it is as if we had defiled the holy of Holies itself.  To do this is to call down destruction upon the entire world.  For man is the sole connecting link between heaven and earth, bearing within him the essence of all life on earth and all the spirituality in heaven.  Indeed, when the Almighty said, “Let us make man in our image,” one Safe explains that He addressed the creations of heaven and earth: [this verse] as it were, He invited them to join in making man.  Thus only the human is both spirit and matter, a mind functioning in and through a physical organism.  He alone can bridge the division between spirit and substance that cuts the world in two.  Only man can bring sanctity into the world of brute matter, can infuse the light of spirituality into an animalistic realm, by translating into action the Divine guidance of Torah. As the Almighty’s ambassador on earth, if he fails in his mission, he fails the King.  SINAI3 8