GEN248 Judaism regards life as of immeasurable value.  In the most famous formulation of this belief, a passage in the Mishnah teaches: “Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he saved an entire world.” Sanhedrin 4:5  The Rabbis based this teaching on the fact that God created humankind with only one person, Adam. Had he been killed, all humanity would have been destroyed; and, if he were saved, all humanity would survive.  Because God deemed it worth creating the world for the sake of one person, Judaism reasons that each person’s life, like Adam’s, is of infinite value.   TELVOL 2:379-80