GEN123 You, the person reading these words, are precious.  Your worth is not rooted in your wealth, physical attractiveness, or status in society, but derives from the fact that you, like every other human being, are created in God’s image.  During moments of self-doubt or even self-loathing, which almost all of us experience, remember the divine image inside you, and that God loves you: “Humans are beloved for they were created in the image of God. An extra measure of love is shown them by [God’s] making it known to them that they are created in God’s image” (The Ethics of the Fathers 3:14). A well-known passage in the Mishnah notes that, by originally populating the world with only one person, Adam, God intended to teach that each life is of infinite value: “Therefore was Adam created singly to teach us that he who saves one life it is as if he saved an entire world, and he who destroys one life it is as if he destroyed an entire world.” The Mishnah goes on to teach that each person, as Adam’s direct descendant, should say, “For my sake was the world created” Sanhedrin 4:5.  There is always some special mission for you, something in this world that only you can accomplish.  TELVOL 1:239-40