(ויקרא יט) ואהבת לרעך כמוך. רבי עקיבה אומר זהו כלל גדול בתורה. בן עזאי אומר (בראשית ה) זה ספר תולדות אדם זה כלל גדול מזה.
"And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." -- Rabbi Akiva said, "This is the great principle of the Torah. Ben Azzai said: "'This is the book of the generations of ADAM' This is an even greater principle than that."
(27) And God created HA-ADAM in His own image (tzelem), in the image of God God created him; male and female God created them.
(18) Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Adonai.
(1) This is the book of the generations of ADAM. In the day that God created ADAM, in the likeness of God made He him; (2) male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name ADAM, in the day when they were created.
(ג) דבר אחר: וכי ימוך, הדא הוא דכתיב (שם יא): גומל נפשו איש חסד, זה הלל הזקן שבשעה שהיה נפטר מתלמידיו היה מהלך והולך עמם. אמרו לו תלמידיו: רבי, להיכן אתה הולך? אמר להם: לעשות מצוה! אמרו לו: וכי מה מצוה זו? אמר להן: לרחוץ בבית המרחץ. אמרו לו: וכי זו מצוה היא? אמר להם: הן. מה אם איקונין של מלכים שמעמידים אותו בבתי טרטיאות ובבתי קרקסיאות, מי שנתמנה עליהם הוא מורקן ושוטפן והן מעלין לו מזונות. ולא עוד, אלא שהוא מתגדל עם גדולי מלכות. אני שנבראתי בצלם ובדמות, דכתיב (בראשית ב): כי בצלם אלהים עשה את האדם עאכ"ו!
(3) Another explanation: If thy Brother become poor (Lev. 25:25). Just as it's written: The merciful man does good for his own soul (Proverbs 11:17). This refers to Hillel the Elder who, once, when it came time to part from his students, walked along with them. His students inquired of him: "Master, where are you going?" He responded: "To do a mitzvah!" They said: "And what mitzvah is that?" He responded: "To wash in the bathhouse." They said: "Is that really a mitzvah?" He said: "Sure, look at the images/statues (ikonim) of the kings that stand in theaters and circuses--the guy who looks after them scrubs them and washes them and earns his living doing it. Not only that, he himself is an important person in the kingdom! I--I've been created in the Image (tzelem) and in the Likeness (d'mut), so how much more so [should I wash my body] as it is written: For in the image of Gd did Gd make the ADAM (Gen. 9:6).
(א) כי קללת אלהים תלוי. זלזולו של מלך הוא, שאדם עשוי בדמות דיקנו וישראל הם בניו משל לשני אחים תאומים שהיו דומין זה לזה, אחד נעשה מלך, ואחד נתפס ללסטיות ונתלה, כל הרואה אותו אומר המלך תלוי.
23 For he that is hanged is a reproach unto God. That is, a degradation of the [Divine] King, for the ADAM was made in the likeness (d'mut) of Gd, and Israel is among his children. A parable: There were twin brothers who were very alike one to the other; one became king, the other was arrested as a highway robber and hanged. Everyone who saw him said--the king has been hanged.