(6) Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man
- We are all valued and beloved by God
- God has given us a special gift, one we must protect and take care of..
- Shmirat HaGuf - Jewish Values - To Take care of your body
(4) And command thou the people, saying: Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you; take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore;
- Take good care of yourselves
- Why is this important enough to be in the Torah?
(17) The merciful man doeth good to his own soul; But he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
- A Kind person takes care of his/her self
- Hillel the elder was this kind of person
(1) Vayikra Rabbah 34, reports that they said about Hillel the elder, that whenever he took leave of his students, he would walk with them for a short distance. When the students used to enquire where he was going, he told them that he went to perform an act of loving kindness for a guest in his house. Upon the enquiry of the students if he then had guests in his house every day, Hillel said "is not the soul a guest in the body? One day it is here and the next day it is gone." To this phenomenon, he applied the verse "he who does his soul a favour, is a pious man." (Proverbs 11,17)
- What was Hillel going to go do?
The story is told of Hillel that when he had finished a lesson with his students, he accompanied them part of the way. They said to him, “Master, where are you going?” He answered, “To perform a religious duty.” They asked, “Which religious duty?” He answered, “To bathe in the bathhouse.” They questioned, “Is that a religious duty?” He answered them, “If somebody is appointed to scrape and clean the statues of the king that are set up in the theaters and circuses, and is paid to do the work, and furthermore associates with the nobility, how much more so should I, who am created in the divine image and likeness, take care of my body?”
(כח) ושרט לנפש. כֵּן דַּרְכָּן שֶׁל אֱמוֹרִיִּים לִהְיוֹת מְשָׂרְטִין בְּשָֹרָם כְּשֶׁמֵּת לָהֶם מֵת:
(כט) וכתבת קעקע. כְּתָב מְחֻקֶּה וְשָׁקוּעַ שֶׁאֵינוֹ נִמְחָק לְעוֹלָם שֶׁמְּקַעְקְעוֹ בְּמַחַט וְהוּא מַשְׁחִיר לְעוֹלָם:
(28) ושרט לנפש [YE SHALL NOT MAKE] ANY CUTTINGS [IN YOUR FLESH] FOR THE DEAD — This was the practice of the Amorites (a general term for heathens) to make cuttings in their flesh when someone belonging to them died.
(29) וכתבת קעקע [NOR SHALL YE IMPRESS] ANY WRITING BY ETCHING [UPON YOU] — i. e. a writing engraved (more lit., dug into) and sunk into the flesh and which can never be erased because it is pricked in with a needle and remains black forever.
(ו) הכותב כתבת קעקע, כתב ולא קעקע, קעקע ולא כתב, אינו חיב עד שיכתוב ויקעקע בדיו ובכחול ובכל דבר שהוא רושם. רבי שמעון בן יהודה משום רבי שמעון אומר: אינו חיב עד שיכתוב שם השם, שנאמר (ויקרא יט) וכתבת קעקע לא תתנו בכם אני ה'.
(6) One who tatoos: If he writes without engraving, or he engraves without writing, he is not liable for lashes, until he writes and engraves with ink or pigment or anything that leaves an impression. Rebbi Shimon ben Yehudah said in the name of Rebbi Shimon [bar Yochai]: He is not liable until he writes a name [of idolatry] there. As it says (Vayikra 19): "Do not tatoo yourself, for I am G-d."