Please find a study partner and read these sources to each other at your own pace.
If you prefer to read them to yourself, you are welcome to do so.
Questions to consider:
1. What does Kavod HaBriyot mean?
2. What can we learn from these sources about what it means to honor each other?
3. Is there a time you felt like your dignity was upheld at KT? Was undermined?
4. What is one way you want to commit to embodying this value?
(א) בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר...
אֵיזֶהוּ מְכֻבָּד, הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת...
(1) Ben Zoma said...Who is honored?
One who honors fellow human beings...
כָּבַד (v) heb
- to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honorable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honored
ת"ש גדול כבוד הבריות שדוחה [את] לא תעשה שבתורה
Come and hear: Great is human dignity, as it overrides a prohibition in the Torah.
חִסְדָּא:
מַהוּ לְהַעֲלוֹתָם אַחֲרָיו לַגַּג?
אֲמַר לֵיהּ:
גָּדוֹל כְּבוֹד הַבְּרִיּוֹת שֶׁדּוֹחֶה אֶת ״לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה״ שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה.
Ḥisda: What is the halakha with regard to carrying stones up to the roof to use to wipe oneself after defecating if the bathroom is on the roof? Is it permitted even though carrying in this way is prohibited on shabbat? He said to him: It is permitted; great is human dignity as it overrides a prohibition in the Torah.
לְפִיכָךְ נִבְרָא אָדָם יְחִידִי, לְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁכָּל הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא.
וּמִפְּנֵי שְׁלוֹם הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ אַבָּא גָדוֹל מֵאָבִיךָ. ...
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. :
"It was for this reason that man was first created as one person [Adam], to teach you that anyone who destroys a life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed an entire world; and anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world."
And also, to promote peace among the creations, that no person can say to their friend, "My ancestors are greater than yours." ...
And also, to express the grandeur of The Holy One: For a person prints many coins from the same mold, and all the coins are alike. But the King, the King of Kings, The Holy One, imprints every person from the cloth of the first person, and yet no human is quite like their friend. Therefore, every person must say, “For my sake the world was created.”
- Rabbi Irving Greenberg, The Jewish Way