GEN109 Since God does not have a physical image, there are many interpretations of what this verse signifies.  But it is clear that more than any other creature, man has the ability to imitate God’s greatness and uniqueness through his actions.  AMJV 103

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GEN110 Ethics is defined as the science of proper human behavior. This definition presupposes a clear perception of propriety. That is a false assumption. There is no single standard of ethics by which the rectitude of human conduct can be measured. What we have come to label as civilized deportment reflects the moral values of a particular civilization in a particular era. All of man’s values derive from religion and mores and are conditioned by economic necessities and geographic exigencies. Perfection is an abstract term subject to development and change. This precludes the establishment of a universal uniform standard of ethics.  Sociologists speak of a Judeo-Christian civilization. To the extent that major religions have accepted the Decalogue as the foundation of morality there is a significant consensus among them. However, divergent developments have created many differences which are not insignificant. It is therefore proper to speak of Jewish ethics, Christian ethics, Islamic ethics, and other sets of ethics. They are all designed to serve the same purpose.  Jewish ethics are primarily based on the Bible, the whole range of rabbinic literature, and ancient traditions. Their structure and evolvement were predetermined by a single sentence in Genesis: “And God created man in his image” [this verse]. The psalmist restated it as follows: “Thou hast made him but little lower than God and hast crowned him with glory and honor” Ps. 8:6. The attribution of Godliness to earthly man had a dual effect. It heightened the degree of concern and respect that man must manifest in relations with his fellowman. It also imposed on man the duty to express his Godliness through an emulation of the divine qualities attributed to God in the Scriptures. The biblical assertion that God created man in his image marked a radical departure from pagan theology, which created its deities in the image of Man. Like man, they warred, lusted, and committed murder. Paganism urged man to propitiate his deities but not to emulate them.  BLOCH 3-4

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GEN111 … beyond any doubt … compassion for others is a Jewish value.  This value comes out of the commandment, “Love your fellow as yourself” Leviticus 19:18, which is a manifestation of the core Jewish belief that each of us is created in the image of God [this verse and Genesis 5:1]. As such, we must preserve not only the life and the health of others, but their dignity as well.  DORFF-RUTTENBERGSOC 141

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GEN113 See [[DEUT1355]] Deuteronomy 24:10 enter DORFFDRAG 136-7

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GEN112 According to Jewish tradition, the dignity of all human beings – that which raises us above the status of other animals – derives from the fact that we are created in God’s own image [this verse]. The primary way in which humanity is like God is in our abilities to understand and follow an argument for justice, to know right from wrong, and to choose the right.  To do these things is both the privilege and the responsibility of being created in God’s image. As Jews, God has given us the Torah to help us make the right decisions, and hence study of the tradition is an aid to good practice. B. Shabbat 127a Even without a thorough Jewish education, though, we may not hide from the implications of being created in the divine image.  M. Avot 3:18  Thus a variety of biblical and rabbinic sources demand that we preserve not only the lives of the poor but their dignity as well.  Deuteronomy 24:10-11, M. Ketubbot 13:3, S.A. Yoreh De’ah 251:8, Even Ha-Ezer 112:11, B. Ketubbot 43a and S.A. Even Ha-ezer 112:16, 93:4. So, for example, if someone injures another person. The attacker must compensate the victim for the injury itself (lost capital value), the pain involved, the medical expenses, the time lost from work, and degradation. M. Bava Kamma 8:1 When discussing payment for degradation, the Talmud’s basis for comparison is the embarrassment involved in poverty. That is, the clear case of degradation, to which other cases can be instructively compared, is the embarrassment involved in being in need. B. Bava Kamma 86a Since poverty is an affront to the dignity inherent in us as creatures of God, all those who can are obliged to help. By the same token, the poor themselves must take care to protect their own dignity. One way of doing this is to give charity—no matter what one’s economic state. “Even a poor person who lives entirely on charity must also give charity to another poor person.” B. Bava Kamma 119a, B. Gittin 7b, M.T. Laws of Gifts to the Poor 7:5, and S.A. Yoreh De’ah 248:1, 251:12. Also, the poor who need aid are encouraged to apply to the community fund and are discouraged from door-to door-begging, because it diminishes their own dignity. B. Bava Batra 9a and S.A. Yoreh De’ah 250:3-4 DORFFDRAG 136-7

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GEN81 … [the Rabbis’] strong conviction of the sanctity of human life, expressed especially in the early chapters of Genesis [this verse, 5:1, 9:6] that we are created in the image of God … is reflected in the Rabbis’ ruling that a man without children of his own was [sic] eligible to judge a capital case, T. Sanhedrin 7:3; B. Sanhedrin 36b; M.T. Laws of Courts (Sanhedrin) 2:3 presumably because his lack of experience in having children makes him insufficiently appreciative of the value of human life. Children bring a renewed sense of the preciousness of life, both that of victim, in the case of someone accused of murder, and that of the culprit. DORFFLGP 67

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GEN95 Judaism certainly prohibits embarrassing someone else publicly. Indeed, rabbinic statements compare public shaming of a person to killing him or her, for one Hebrew way of saying “shaming another” is malbin p’nai havero b’rabbim – literally,” making his friend’s face white in public,” just as it becomes white in death. B. Bava Metz’ia 58b  Moreover … an assailant must pay for the embarrassment caused to the victim and his or her family for causing a personal injury. The Talmud, in fact, engages in a sophisticated discussion of the nature of shame, asking whether the heart of it is the victim’s degradation in the public’s esteem, in the victim’s own sense of self-worth, or in the victim’s family’s embarrassment. The sources within the tradition that proscribe shaming others are all corollaries to the underlying theological principle of Judaism that human beings are worthy of respect as creatures of God created in the Divine image [this verse].  Some things, though, take priority over this prohibition. Specifically, as in the case of defamatory speech, when shaming another is not done out of meanness or indifference but is rather an outgrowth of a practical or moral necessity, it is justified, permitted, and, in some cases, required. For example, if someone is committing fraud, a person who discovers this is not only allowed but is also duty bound to expose the fraud. Even though that will inevitably embarrass the perpetrator, the overriding needs are to protect any future victims and to enable those who have already been defrauded to recover what they can. If such monetary protections supersede the concern of shaming another, preventing bodily injury or even death does so all the more. As in the case of defamatory speech, we may not stand idly by but must rather expose the abusers so as to stop the abuse and get help for his or her victims. This is demanded … both under the laws of rodef (the pursuer) and also under its legal roots, the requirement to violate all but three of the Commandments of the Torah [i.e., adultery/incest, idolatry, murder - AJL] in order to save the life of another (pikkuah nefesh). Identifying an abuser will inevitably cause him or her shame, and we should not do that anymore than necessary. The Torah, after all, demands that we respect even the executed body of a murder by not letting it remain unburied overnight.  Deuteronomy 21:23 But we are not only permitted but also required to override our concern for the perpetrator to stop the abuse and to get help for the victims.  DORFFLOV 183-4

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GEN114 Being created in God’s image imparts value to human life, regardless of the individual’s level of capacity or incapacity. The American way of thinking is thoroughly pragmatic: a person’s value is a function of what that person can do for others.  That view, so deeply ingrained in American culture, prompts Americans to value those who have unusual abilities, who succeed—and, conversely, to devalue those who are disabled in some way.  In sharp contrast, the Torah declares that God created each of us in the divine image [this verse].” DORFFLOV 21-2

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GEN115 A central concept of Judaism’s understanding of ourselves and others is that each of us was created in the image and likeness of God [this verse and Genesis 5:1].  We are not an accidental happenstance produced by blind forces of nature; we are rather the conscious and purposeful creation of God.  Moreover, we share some of God’s characteristics. Like God, but, of course, not to the same degree, we are capable of sustained thought, creativity, and awareness of ourselves, our world, and God; the light of God is imminent in our spirit. Proverbs 20:27 We share in God’s dominion over the earth, Genesis 1:26, 28, and we have the divine attribute of free will, Genesis 3:5 and Deuteronomy 30:19 for we can recognize the difference between right and wrong, good and bad.  We are privileged to commune with God and, in rabbinic terms, even to be God’s partner in ongoing acts of creation.  B. Shabbat 10a, 119b DORFFLOV 75-6

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GEN96 Exactly which feature of the Divine being reflects this divine image is a matter of debate within the tradition. The Torah seems to tie it to humanity’s ability to make moral judgments—that is, to distinguish good from bad and right from wrong, to behave accordingly, and to judge one’s own actions and those of others on the basis of this moral knowledge. Genesis 1:26-27; 3:1-7, 22-24.  Another human faculty connected to divinity by the Torah and by the later tradition is the ability to speak. Genesis 2:18-24; Numbers 12:1-16; Deuteronomy 22:13-19 Maimonides claims that the divine image resides in our capacity to think, especially discursively. Guide for the Perplexed, part I, ch. 1. Locating the divine image within us may also be the Torah’s way of acknowledging that we can love, just as God does, Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18, 33-34; note that the traditional prayer book juxtaposes the paragraph just before the Shema, which speaks of God’s love for us, with the first paragraph of the Shema, which commands us to love God or that we are at least partially spiritual and thus share God’s spiritual nature. [Consider the prayer in the traditional, early morning weekday service, Elohai, neshamah she-notata bi, “My God, the soul (or life-breath) that you have imparted to me is pure. You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me; You guard it within me …” Harlow, Siddur Sim Shalom, p. 11. Similarly, the Rabbis describe the human being as part divine and part animal, the latter consisting of the material aspects of the human being and the former consisting of that which we share with God; See Sifrei Deuteronomy, par. 306; 132a. Or consider this rabbinic statement in Genesis Rabbah 8:11: “In four respects man resembles the creatures above, and in four respects the creatures below. Like the animals he eats and drinks, propagates his species, relieves himself, and dies. Like the ministering angels he stands erect, speaks, possesses intellect, and sees [in front of him and not on the side like an animal].”  In the biblical account, humanity was not only created in the divine image; was also created, initially, in the form of one human being: Adam. In an oft-quoted passage in the Mishnah, the Rabbis spell out several implications of God’s first creating a single human being. Two of those ramifications add further to the worth of each individual.  First, killing one person is also killing all of his or her potential descendants—indeed “an entire world.” Conversely, someone who saves an individual “saves an entire world.” That makes murder of any one individual all the more serious and saving a human life all the more praiseworthy.  It also ascribes value to each of us as the possible progenitor of future generations.  Second, when people use a mold to create coins, the image on each coin in exactly the same. God, however, made each human being unique.  In accordance with the laws of supply and demand, a one-of-a-kind thing demands a far higher price than something that is plentiful on the market.  Think, for example, of the comparative value of a Picasso original, or each of a few hundred prints of that work, and finally, of a photograph of that work: the more unique the produce, the greater its value. The fact that each of us is unique imparts to each of us immense value.  Thinking that the world was created for your sake (as this Mishnah in Sanhedrin [4:5] suggests) can, of course, produce more than a little arrogance. The following lovely Hasidic saying introduces an appropriate balance: “A person should always carry two pieces of paper in his/her pockets. On one should be written, “For me the world was created,’ and on the other, “I am but dust and ashes” [quoting Genesis 18:27].”  Rabbi Bunam, cited by Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim (New York: Schocken, 1948), vol. II, pp. 249-250 We must have humility before God and before other people, then, while still appreciating our own immense worth and that of every other human being by virtue of our creation in the image of God. DORFFWITO 31

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