...לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי, לְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁכָּל הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וּמִפְּנֵי שְׁלוֹם הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ אַבָּא גָדוֹל מֵאָבִיךָ. וְשֶׁלֹּא יְהוּ מִינִין אוֹמְרִים, הַרְבֵּה רָשֻׁיּוֹת בַּשָּׁמָיִם. וּלְהַגִּיד גְּדֻלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁאָדָם טוֹבֵעַ כַּמָּה מַטְבְּעוֹת בְּחוֹתָם אֶחָד וְכֻלָּן דּוֹמִין זֶה לָזֶה, וּמֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא טָבַע כָּל אָדָם בְּחוֹתָמוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן וְאֵין אֶחָד מֵהֶן דּוֹמֶה לַחֲבֵרוֹ. לְפִיכָךְ כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד חַיָּב לוֹמַר, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם. וְשֶׁמָּא תֹאמְרוּ מַה לָּנוּ וְלַצָּרָה הַזֹּאת, וַהֲלֹא כְבָר נֶאֱמַר (ויקרא ה) וְהוּא עֵד אוֹ רָאָה אוֹ יָדָע אִם לוֹא יַגִּיד וְגוֹ'.
...Therefore but a single person was created in the world, to teach that if any man has caused a single life to perish , he is deemed by Scripture as if he had caused a whole world to perish; and anyone who saves a single soul from, he is deemed by Scripture as if he had saved a whole world. Again [but a single person was created] for the sake of peace among humankind, that one should not say to another, “My father was greater than your father”... Again [but a single person was created] to proclaim the greatness of the Holy Blessed One; for humans stamp many coins with one seal and they are all like one another; but the King of kings, the Holy Blessed One, has stamped every human with the seal of the first man, yet not one of them are like another. Therefore everyone must say, “For my sake was the world created.” And if perhaps you [witnesses] would say, “Why should we be involved with this trouble”, was it not said, “He, being a witness, whether he has seen or known, [if he does not speak it, then he shall bear his iniquity] (Lev. 5:1).
The ultimate worth of man is due neither to his virtue nor to his faith. It is due to God’s virtue, to God’s faith. Wherever you see a trace of man, there is the presence of God.
There is an evil which most of us condone and are even guilty of: indifference to evil. We remain neutral, impartial, and not easily moved by the wrongs done unto other people. Indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself; it is more universal, more contagious, more dangerous. A silent justification, it makes possible an evil erupting as an exception becoming the rule and being in turn accepted.
The prophets’ great contribution to humanity was the discovery of the evil of indifference. One may be decent and sinister, pious and sinful.
The prophet is a person who suffers the harms done to others.
http://utzedek.org/files/Civil%20Rights%20and%20the%20Dignity%20of%20Man.pdf
The concept of “dignity of Man” is not only a metaphysical concept but it also has a legal counterpart, whose scope is broad enough to include all human beings since all were created in the image of God. This idea is contained in the saying of ben Azai, “Despise not any man” (Avos 4:3). The expression “any man” implies, as the commentaries say, that even pagans must be treated with respect, and it is a sin to despise them. The commandment of “Despise not any man” does not represent a mere extra act of piety but it represents a Torah transgression that emanates from the verse of “Neither shall you go by steps onto My altar, that your nakedness not be exposed on it” (Exodus 20:23). Rashi says that here we have a logical a fortiori: If in regard to the stones of the altar we must beware not to show disrespect, then in the case of other human beings created in the image of the Creator, how much more certain is it that we should not treat them disgracefully. This saying of Chazal is the source for the obligation to mete out respect to everyone created in the image of God. This key concept of k’vod habriyos, the dignity of all human beings, constitutes the basis of human rights. The maxim of “Man was endowed by his Creator with certain inalienable rights” was not an innovation of the founders of the American republic. These men were impressed with the doctrine of human rights which flows naturally from the concept of “the dignity of Man” and the “image of God in which He created Man,” as they knew from their Biblical background. The concept of k’vod habriyos is the basis of all civilized jurisprudence, as well of all the laws of justice in the Torah. Civil law and the misphatim (rational laws) of the Torah, on the whole, bear a remarkable correspondence for the simple reason that every law in modern jurisprudence is based exclusively upon the doctrine of human rights which the nations of the world adopted from the Scriptures. For example, it is a crime to commit homicide, to commit assault and battery, or to trespass upon another’s property, because every human being has a fundamental right to be secure in person and property against any attack, assault or molestation. Everyone has such a right since everyone was created in the image of God and consequently deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
And especially when that blood is shed by sheluhei didan, by our agents. The government, the police, they are sheluhei didan (our agents) and we are responsible for their actions...
The gemara in Shabbat (54b) states, “Kol me she-‘efshar limhot ve-lo mihah nitpas `al ‘oto `avon” - anyone who can make a protest and does not do so, is held responsible for that sin. There is a difference between tokhahah (rebuke, Leviticus 19:17) and meha’ah (protest). Tokhahah, the mitzvah of rebuke, is only a mitzvah if it will be effective or at least might be effective. If it stands no chance of succeeding, it’s not a mitzvah and sometimes it’s an aveirah (a sin). But meha’ah is relevant even if it won’t succeed. It is as much for the one who is making the protest as for the target of the protest. To stand by and remain silent makes one an accessory. Thus, when a fellow human being, with a tzelem Elokim (endowed with the image of God) just like ours, is murdered and we witness it with our own eyes, how can we let the moment pass without some reaction? Every act of murder is terrible, and every loss of innocent life is a tragedy. But when it happens at the hands of the organs of justice of our society, and the system of justice fails to recognize what has happened, some kind of meha’ah is in order.