GEN97 Because every human being was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; 5:1), each person has an inherent dignity that must not be compromised by poverty. This requires that we aid the poor and that the process of collecting the principal on a loan after it has expired must be a dignified one. “When you make a loan of any sort to your neighbor, you must not enter his house to seize his pledge. You must remain outside, while the man to whom you made the loan brings the pledge out to you” Deuteronomy 24:10-11). The dignity of the poor person is also the governing value of the famous hierarchy of modes of charity that Maimonides created, culling together and organizing previous sources in his characteristically thoughtful, ordered, and sweeping way. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:7-14)

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GEN122 There are … compelling reasons for rejecting the hedonistic doctrine that ethics revolves exclusively around considerations of pleasure or pain. As the bearer of the image of God, each human being possesses irreducible dignity, sanctity, and inviolability. Quantitative or qualitative factors do not affect that status.  According to the Tanna Ben Azzai, this is the pivotal doctrine of the entire Torah. J. Nedarim 9:4. Concern for the sanctity of life always overrides considerations of social utility. It is categorically prohibited to commit suicide or to kill an innocent person, no matter how much such acts would contribute to the general welfare. “Active euthanasia,” however noble the motive, can never be condoned, even if intended solely for the purpose of ending the suffering of a patient. Because of the absolute sanctity of every human life, it is strictly forbidden to take one life in order to save another life, however valuable. Ohalot 7:6, Terumot 8:12. One may not sacrifice even one individual in order to save a large number of people.  Maimonides, M.T. Yesodei Hatorah 5:5.  The only exception to this rule is when dealing with an aggressor. Be it in self-defense or in defense of another person, if there is no other way to save the victim, Jewish law mandates that one should kill the aggressor. Similar considerations rule out accepting the offer of terminally ill persons to sacrifice their lives for the benefit of another individual. However hopeless their condition, they are not permitted to donate their organs for transplants, if the procedures will inevitably shorten their lives – even if only by a few minutes. Depriving an individual of chayei sha’ah (a minimal duration of life) represents an act of killing, which cannot be condoned. Yoreh Deah 339:1. Obviously, were our ethical norms solely based upon social utility, we would adopt an entirely different attitude.  But since the overriding concern for the sanctity of life is based upon the biblical doctrine that [this verse], it is totally irrelevant that the donor of the organ is anyhow on the verge of death, whereas the prospective recipient might yet make vital contributions to society.  As bearers of the image of God, both possess equal value. ETHRESP 59-60

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GEN85 According to Scripture, the human being is created in the image of God. Genesis 1:26. Postbiblical Jewish religious literature takes this to mean that one should imitate the ways of God, that one should act in a godly manner, for example, “as God is merciful and compassionate, so should human beings be merciful and compassionate.”  Sifre on Deuteronomy, Finkelstein, ed. “Ekev” para. 49, p. 114.  As God is creative, so too should human beings be creative.  As God is an artist, so too should human beings be artists.  God’s most superlative artwork is the human being.  It is the human task to complete God’s unfinished artistic masterpiece-the human person.  Ethics is a way in which one creates life as a work of art.  HTBAJ xiv

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GEN89 For Maimonides (following Aristotle), the intellect is the quality that makes one truly human.  The intellect is the human feature that we share with the divine.  As Maimonides wrote, “It is on account of this intellectual apprehension that it is said of man [this verse].  Guide of the Perplexed, Pines, Book I, ch. 1, p. 22. Complete love of God, attained by means of intellectual self-development, represents the acme of human existence according to Maimonides.  … For Maimonides, intellectual apprehension of God is the epitome of love of God.  The greater the apprehension, the more intense the love.  HTBAJ 34

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GEN118 The biblical doctrine of man is based on the presumption that man is the creature of God, and as such must acquire the proper perspective of his place in the world. While the uniqueness of man in the Divine order is constantly emphasized, it is equally made clear that the besetting sin of man is pride.  Man the creature forgets his status and arrogates for himself the prerogatives of his Creator. The Scriptures express their estimate of man by affirming that he was created in the image of God [this verse, 5:1, 9:6]. This judgment implies that there is a similarity, in some profound sense, between man and his Maker. Yet ultimately man resembles God no more than a shadow resembles a real person. [The Hebrew word tzelem is derived from tzel (“shadow”). Cf. Mandelkern’s Concordance, s.v. tzelem. See, however, the Lexicon of Gesenius-Brown (Oxford, 1959), where tzelem is derived from the root meaning “To cut out.” Cf. Also commentary of Sampson Rafael Hirsch to Genesis 1:26 who derives the word from salmah, meaning an external frame or cover.] In the first chapter of Genesis the creation of man in God’s image is narrated. The second chapter relates how man succumbed to the temptation of striving to be like God. The serpent persuades man that God is envious of him, for if he were to eat of the forbidden fruit he will become like God, knowing good and evil (ibid. 3:5). Man is enjoined to walk in God’s ways Deut. 10:12; 11:22; 26:17 and to be like Him: “Holy shall ye be, for holy am I the Lord your God” Leviticus 19:2.  But the path trodden by those who aspire to holiness is fraught with grave hazards and disastrous pitfalls. See Mahsheboth Harutz by Rabbi Tzadok ha-Kohen of Lublin, No. 1. This paradox constitutes the terrible predicament of man’s life and the tragedy of his history. Cf. Reinhold Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, passim and his other works. The doctrine of man as created in the image of God is the ground for the mandate of imitatio Dei. Simultaneously, imitatio Dei defines the extent to which the doctrine of the image of God can be applied. While the image of God describes the essential nature of man, its relevance is restricted to the sphere of action. Man is not God, he cannot become God, but his behavior can be Godlike.  It is thus clear that holiness to which man is called is not so much a holiness of essence as a holiness of conduct. This distinction clarifies the chasm that obtains between Judaism’s imitation of the ways of God and pagan concepts of apotheosis and identification with, and absorption in, Deity. [The attempt to relate the imitatio Dei of Judaism to pagan notions, as is done by Israel Abrahams (Pharisaism and the Gospels, II, pp. 138-139), appears to this writer to be misleading. The imitation of the ways of God is the very antithesis of man’s striving to be God. The first is man’s great virtue, the second his greatest blasphemy. See the direct contrast in Exodus Rabbah 8:1-2: God shares His greatness with men; but there have been men who, because they have been divinely endowed with great gifts, proclaim themselves God! It is just as likely that man’s striving to become God is a distortion of the imitatio Dei which enjoins man to follow in the ways of God as that imitation Dei is an emergent of the former.] (By David S. Shapiro, "The Doctrine of the Image of God and Imitatio Dei") KELLNER 127-8

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GEN86 Although the Torah tells us that we are made in the image of God, some rabbis see this not as a statement of our present condition but of our potential.  Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, for example, helps us identify just where we can locate that image of God in which we were made: “The image of God is in His character traits.  When you love kindness, you become the image of God.” MORINIS 191

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GEN119 The challenge that you and I face in our lives is nothing less than the developmental story of our species, which means doing what we can to free ourselves from the dictates of our primitive natures and establish the governance of our higher self, the soul.  “A man should always incite his good inclination against the evil impulse Berachot 5a is how the rabbis of the Talmud put it.  Every day many times a day each of us engages in this struggle.  … In every decision and choice you make, there will be an option that represents the way of the higher self, and another that answers the call of the lower self.  MORINIS 39

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GEN90 Foundational Jewish values… shape Jewish understandings regarding the distribution of health care. Among these, the Book of Genesis (1:27) teaches that God created humans in God’s image, betzelem Elohim. The ancient Rabbis and later Jews have treasured this verse as expressing the intrinsic value and dignity of each human being. … The Bible and later Judaism understand this fundamental, divine value of each person and related values to require support to meet the needs of the poor. The Torah mandates practices in the context of a farming community. The corners of one’s fields, gleanings, and forgotten produce are to be left for the poor to take, in addition to a tithe for support of the needy. [Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 14:28-29, Deuteronomy 26:12]. Rabbinic Judaism developed the Hebrew Bible’s value of justice (tzedek) and institutions for support of the needy into tzedakah. That which is given to the poor never simply belonged to the giver, but was always God’s, and was owed to the needy as their right. [See citations at 348, ft. 4]. (By Aaron L. Mackler, "Jewish Bioethics: The Distribution of Health Care") OXFORD 345-6

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GEN92 In today’s society, where people are often disconnected from their community, a discussion of “victimless crimes” may have traction.  Judaism’s approach to criminal justice is based on its more communitarian understanding of who we are.  The designation of certain acts as violating society’s ethics makes the community, not just an individual, one of the victims of every crime.  By their very nature, actions designated as crimes harm the moral fabric of society.  Moreover, in Judaism people do not have the right to consent to harm.  Given that each person is made in the image of God [this verse] and belongs to God [Deuteronomy 10:14, Psalms 24:1], we have a fiduciary duty to maintain our own life and health as well as that of others.  Therefore the Mishnah prohibits self-injury [M. Baba Kamma 8:6], and modern rabbinic rulings include in that category repeated drunkenness, illegal drug use, mutilation, and even unsafe sexual activity [See citations at 484 ft. 38]. (By Laurie L. Levenson, "Judaism and CriminalJustice" OXFORD 478

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GEN93 Jewish ethicists searching for universal norms within Jewish tradition will be drawn first to that body of norms specifically designated as binding upon all people.  Known as the “Noahide laws” (since they apply to all descendants of Noah) … [t]he standard list … includes prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, sexual sins, theft, eating from a live animal, and the requirement to establish law courts.  … all Jewish authorities agree that these Noahide laws are the moral norms God expects all human beings to observe. … Among these laws one stands out as pertinent to issues of medical ethics, namely the prohibition against bloodshed. The rationale for this prohibition is twofold. First, it represents a fundamental requirement for a stable society.  Natural tendencies toward hostility and violence must be curbed to permit the flourishing of human relationships and social institutions.  Second, the prohibition against murder follows from the view that all human beings are created in God’s image [this verse].  As [Genesis Rabbah 34:14] put[s] it, “whoever sheds blood it is as if he diminished the Divine likeness because…”in the image of God he made man.’ PASTIMP 210-11

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