(כו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
Genesis 1:26 God said: Let us make humankind, in our image, according to our likeness! Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the heavens, animals, all the earth, and all crawling things that crawl about upon the earth!
Genesis 1:27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God did he create it, male and female he created them.
Hassidic Story:
Rabbi Nahman Kossover, would look out at his community as he would lead them in prayer, and he would see the letters of God's name reflected back at him. But then times changed and the rabbi was forced to become a merchant. In the marketplace, amid the rapid pace of buying and selling, he found it harder always to concentrate on the name of God. So he hired an assistant who came with him wherever he went. That person's function was to remind him of God's name. Whenever he looked at the face of his assistant, Rabbi Nahman would remember the name of God.
תוספתא מסכת סנהדרין (צוקרמאנדל) פרק ט הלכה ז
היה ר' מאיר אומ' מה תלמ' לומר כי קללת אלהים תלוי לשני אחים תאומים דומין זה לזה אחד מלך על כל העולם כולו ואחד יצא לליסטייא לאחר זמן נתפס זה שיצא לליסטיא והיו צולבין אותו על הצלוב והיה כל עובר ושב או' דומה שהמלך צלוב לכך נאמר כי קללת אלהים תלוי.
Tosefta Sanhedrin 9:7
Rabbi Meir said: What does it mean that “a hanging corpse is an affront to God”?
It is like two brothers who were twins and
looked alike, one was the king of the whole
world and one became a thief. After some time, the thief was caught, and they were about to crucify him. Every passerby said: It seems that the king is being crucified!
תלמוד ירושלמי נדרים פרק ט: הל' ד
/ה"ד/
ואהבת לרעך כמוך ר' עקיבה או' זהו כלל גדול בתורה בן עזאי אומ' זה ספר תולדות אדם זה כלל גדול מזה .
Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:4
Rabbi Akiva taught: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19). This is the major principle of the Torah. Ben Azzai says “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him” (Genesis 5:1). This is an even greater principle, because it encompasses the other.
Hassidic Story:
A Jew once told his friend Rabbi Kaiman of Cracow that among his disciples there was one in whose face one could still see the full image of God. Kaiman took a candle and went to the House of Study where the disciples slept. He studied every face intently, but did not find what he was seeking. “I guess you didn’t look behind the stove,” said the Yehudi when his friend told him of his vain search; and he accompanied him back. Behind the stove they found young Shelomo Leib. Rabbi Kaiman looked at him for a very long time by the light of his candle. “It is true,” he said then. “It is true.”
(ג) לֹֽ֣א יִהְיֶֽה־לְךָ֛֩ אֱלֹהִ֥֨ים אֲחֵרִ֖֜ים עַל־פָּנָֽ֗יַ (ד) לֹֽ֣א תַֽעֲשֶׂ֨ה־לְךָ֥֣ פֶ֣֙סֶל֙ ׀ וְכָל־תְּמוּנָ֡֔ה אֲשֶׁ֤֣ר בַּשָּׁמַ֣֙יִם֙ ׀ מִמַּ֡֔עַל וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩ בָּאָ֖֨רֶץ מִתַָּ֑֜חַת וַאֲשֶׁ֥֣ר בַּמַּ֖֣יִם ׀ מִתַּ֥֣חַת לָאָֽ֗רֶץ
Exodus 20:3 You are not to have any other gods before my presence.
Exodus 20:4 You are not to make yourself a graven-image or any figure that is in the heavens above, that is on the earth beneath, that is in the waters beneath the earth;
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:
The reasons that graven images are forbidden is not that God has no image, but rather because God has just one image: the image of every breathing and living human being.