Why would Hashem say "Let us make..." when we know that Hashem by Himself made the world and everything in it? What made man along with Hashem?And what significance does that have to us a Jews and Humans?
(א) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם
וַיִּיצֶר ה' אֱלֹקִים אֶת הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן הָאֲדָמָה ויתן הוא יתברך הרוח מפי עליון כדכתיב (שם) וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים ואמר "בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ" כי ידמה לשניהם במתכונת גופו לארץ אשר לוקח ממנה וידמה ברוח לעליונים שאינה גוף ולא תמות ואמר בכתוב השני בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ
(1) And God said, "Let us make man:" with man He said, "let us make." That is to say, I and the earth - that was mentioned - let us make man: the earth will bring forth the body form the elements as it did with the beasts and the animals, as it is written (Genesis 2:7), "And the Lord, God, formed man, dust from the earth;" and He, may He be blessed, gave him the spirit from the mouth of the Highest, as it is written.
The Ramban writes that similar to when Hashem made animals, that the earth was told to form man's body, and Hashem would give man the image of God. The Tzelem Elo-kim is what separates us from animals. Biologically we are all animals, and the land made our physical bodies according to the Ramban, but Hashem blessed us with His spirit and image.
Question to keep in mind? What separates humans from animals?
ויאמר אלקים נעשה אדם וגו'.
ואמר נעשה כי הוא מקור הענוה לזה דבר בלשון רבים כי כן ידבר יחיד העניו, ולא חש לתת מקום לטעות, כי הקדים לומר ויאמר אלקים שם יחיד ה' הוא האלקים הוא בכבודו ובעצמו כביכול גבל עפרו והפיח בו רוח חיים. עוד ירצה באומרו נעשה בלשון רבים כי מדותיו של הקב"ה רבים הם י"ג מדות רחמים ושם אלקים שהוא מדת הדין הסכימו יחד לברוא אדם.
(1) And God said, "let us make man, etc.": And He said, "let us make," since He is the source of humility; for this reason, He spoke in the plural form, since this is how a humble individual speaks. And He did not get concerned with giving room for error [that there are other powers besides God which helped in the creation of man], since He preceded [it] by stating, "And God said," [which is in the] singular: the Lord, He is God, He, Himself in His glory - as if it were possible - molded the dirt and blew the spirit of life into it. Its stating "let us make" in the plural form also wants [to teach] that the attributes of God are many; the thirteen attributes of mercy and the name, Elohim, which is the attribute of judgment, agreed together to create man.
The Ohr HaChaim discusses the 13 midos of Hashem, Hashem created man with free will, with the ability to disobey Him. Why would Hashem do that? And how does that have to do with Hashem refering to himself in plural form? Hashem had to make the world with different aspects of himself, Din and Rachamim. Hashem will need judgement and mercy to deal with human imperfections, and we also need to implore Din and Rachamim in our lives.
(א) נעשה אדם. עַנְוְתָנוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ"ה לָמַדְנוּ מִכָּאן, לְפִי שֶׁאָדָם הוּא בִּדְמוּת הַמַּלְאָכִים וְיִתְקַנְּאוּ בוֹ, לְפִיכָךְ נִמְלַךְ בָּהֶם, וּכְשֶׁהוּא דָן אֶת הַמְּלָכִים הוּא נִמְלָךְ בְּפָמַלְיָא שֶׁלּוֹ, שֶׁכֵּן מָצִינוּ בְאַחְאָב, שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ מִיכָה רָאִיתִי אֶת ה' יֹשֵׁב עַל כִּסְאוֹ וְכָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם עוֹמְדִים עָלָיו מִימִינוֹ וּמִשְּׂמֹאלוֹ , וְכִי יֵש יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאל לְפָנָיו? אֶלָּא אֵלּוּ מַיְמִינִים לִזְכוּת וְאֵלוּ מַשְׂמְאִילִים לְחוֹבָה, וְכֵן בִּגְזֵרַת עִירִין פִּתְגָמָא וּבְמֵאמַר קַדִּישִׁין שְׁאֵלְתָא (דניאל ד'), אַף כָּאן בְּפָמַלְיָא שֶׁלוֹ נָטַל רְשׁוּת, אָמַר לָהֶם יֵשׁ בָּעֶלְיוֹנִים כִּדְמוּתִי; אִם אֵין כִּדְמוּתִי בַתַּחְתּוֹנִים הֲרֵי יֵשׁ קִנְאָה בְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית:
(1) נעשה אדם WE WILL MAKE MAN — The meekness of the Holy One, blessed be He, they (the Rabbis) learned from here: because the man is in the likeness of the angels and they might envy him, therefore He took counsel with them (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 18 and see Genesis Rabbah 8). And when He judges the kings He likewise consults His heavenly council, for thus we find in the case of Ahab to whom Micha said, “I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.” Has God, then, a right hand and a left hand? But it means that some stood on the right side to plead in favour of the accused and others stood on the left side to accuse; and similarly we read (Daniel 4:14), “the matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones”, — here, also, He consulted His heavenly council and asked permission of them, saying to them: “There are in the heavens beings after My likeness; if there will not be on earth also beings after My likeness, there will be envy among the beings that I have created” (Sanhedrin 38b).
Rashi's take on Na'aseh Adam is that Hashem is consulting the Malachim. He sits in Beis Din and consults with the angles on either side of Him. Why is this significant and how can we learn from this in our lives??
The Rav (יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק R') has an insightful take on the use of the plural "us". Who is us? The Rav says that "us" is intact us as humans, Hashem worked with humanity to create "Adam." Hashem worked with humanity to create humans as a species, and He created us with the ability to serve Him and disobey him, boundless potential with countless opportunities for failure.
This is an incredible drash on the passuk. Na'aseh Adam is Hashem working with humanity to create the first man. Hashem appeals to humanity, Hashem will create our physical body, create us in his image and the rest, our future, what will be made of man is up to man himself. Hashem creates us with our own free will, he blesses us with Tzelem Elo-kim but we are imperfect. Here we can learn profound, incredible things....