“I will take blood and fashion bone. I will establish a savage, ‘man’ shall be his name. truly, savage-man I will create. He shall be charged with the service of the gods. That they might be at ease!”… They bound [Kingu]…. They imposed on him his punishment and severed his blood vessels. Out of his blood they fashioned mankind.
(26) And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”
(27) And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
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.
- How do these 2 opinions change the way you understand the notion of equality?
- Which Rabbi's statement feels like it is a stronger defense of universal equality?
...the Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta 5:4): One sustains poor gentiles along with poor Jews, and one visits sick gentiles along with sick Jews, and one buries dead gentiles along with dead Jews. All this is done on account of the ways of peace, to foster peaceful relations between Jews and gentiles.
“The essence of neighborly love consists in loving all mankind, all who walk on two legs, of whatever people and whatever tongue, by virtue of their identical humanity….The meaning of the verse ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is not confined to Jews only, but the sense is ‘your neighbor who is a human being as yourself’-- people of all nations are included, any fellow humans.”
~Sefer Heberit (Greenberg, Studies, 387).
(ח) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר קַ֖יִן אֶל־הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יו וַֽיְהִי֙ בִּהְיוֹתָ֣ם בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה וַיָּ֥קָם קַ֛יִן אֶל־הֶ֥בֶל אָחִ֖יו וַיַּהַרְגֵֽהוּ׃(ט) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־קַ֔יִן אֵ֖י הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר אָחִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי׃(י) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֑יתָ ק֚וֹל דְּמֵ֣י אָחִ֔יךָ צֹעֲקִ֥ים אֵלַ֖י מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃
(8) Cain said to his brother Abel … and when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him. (9) The LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (10) Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!
(ו) שֹׁפֵךְ֙ דַּ֣ם הָֽאָדָ֔ם בָּֽאָדָ֖ם דָּמ֣וֹ יִשָּׁפֵ֑ךְ כִּ֚י בְּצֶ֣לֶם אֱלֹהִ֔ים עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הָאָדָֽם׃
(6) Whoever sheds the blood of man, By man shall his blood be shed; For in G-d's image, G-d makes humankind.
- What precept do you think this verse is trying to teach about the value of human life?
(ה) ...הֱווּ יוֹדְעִין שֶׁלֹּא כְדִינֵי מָמוֹנוֹת דִּינֵי נְפָשׁוֹת. דִּינֵי מָמוֹנוֹת, אָדָם נוֹתֵן מָמוֹן וּמִתְכַּפֵּר לוֹ. דִּינֵי נְפָשׁוֹת, דָּמוֹ וְדַם זַרְעִיּוֹתָיו תְּלוּיִין בּוֹ עַד סוֹף הָעוֹלָם
שֶׁכֵּן מָצִינוּ בְקַיִן שֶׁהָרַג אֶת אָחִיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ד) דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צֹעֲקִים, אֵינוֹ אוֹמֵר דַּם אָחִיךָ אֶלָּא דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ, דָּמוֹ וְדַם זַרְעִיּוֹתָיו.
דָּבָר אַחֵר, דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ, שֶׁהָיָה דָמוֹ מֻשְׁלָךְ עַל הָעֵצִים וְעַל הָאֲבָנִים.
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.
How are witnesses questioned in capital crimes? ...Know that capital cases are not like monetary ones. In monetary cases, [a false witness] can return the money and achieve atonement. But in capital cases, the blood of [the victim [and all his future offspring hang upon you until the end of time.
For thus we find in regard to Cain, who killed his brother, "The bloods of your brother scream out!" (Genesis 4:10). This verse does not say blood of your brother, but bloods of your brother, because it was his blood and also the blood of his future offspring [screaming out].
D'var Acher: for his blood was splattered over the trees and rocks [there was more than one pool of blood].
It was for this reason that man was first created as one person [Adam], to teach you that anyone who destroys a life in Israel is considered by Torah to have destroyed an entire world; and anyone who saves a life in Israel is as if he saved an entire world."
And also, to promote peace among the creations, that no man would say to his friend, "My ancestors are greater than yours."
...And also, to express the grandeur of The Holy One: For a man strikes many coins from the same die, and all the coins are alike. But the King, the King of Kings, The Holy One [blessed be He] strikes every man from the die of the First Man, and yet no man is quite like his friend. Therefore, every person must say, “For my sake the world was created.”
- How does the Mishnah interpret the word "bloods" in a way that teaches a deeper message about the value of a given human life?
- What inherent problems exist in this teaching?
In 1971, an academic biblical scholar named Dr. Ephraim Urbach published an article in an Israeli journal called Tarbitz. He teaches that the oldest surviving codex of the Mishnah comes from 13th Century Parma, Italy. In this codex, the Mishnah from Sanhedrin 4:5 reads:
“Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.”
After comparing 100 different codices of the Mishnah, Urbach declared that the original version of "whoever saves a life" precept was the one without the limiting phrase "in Israel" which was a later interpolation.
As he explains, the more modern copies of the Mishnah probably inserted the words “in Israel” because the situation discussed in Sanhedrin applied only to Jews. Meaning, in Mishnaic times, Jewish courts in Palestine had no jurisdiction over non-Jewish populations. In the course of time, the addition came to be regarded by many copyists and commentators as an intrinsic part of the precept, to which a more particularistic interpretation was then given.
For complete article: https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2016/10/the-origins-of-the-precept-whoever-saves-a-life-saves-the-world/
(9) You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.
One of the questions the sages asked was about the difference between “ill-treatment” and “oppression.” “Oppression,” they concluded, meant monetary wrongdoing, taking financial advantage by robbery or overcharging. “Ill-treatment” referred to verbal abuse – reminding the stranger of his or her origins.
According to Rabbi Eliezer in the Talmud (Baba Metzia 59b) the Torah “warns against the wronging of a ger in thirty-six places; other say, in forty-six places.”
Sometimes the stranger is mentioned along with the poor; at others, with the widow and orphan. On several occasions the Torah specifies: “You shall have the same law for the stranger as for the native-born.” Not only must the stranger not be wronged; he or she must be included in the positive welfare provisions of Israelite/Jewish society. But the law goes beyond this: the stranger must be loved:
When a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
The term ger itself is undefined in the Torah. There are other words for stranger, namely zar and nochri, both of which have a stronger sense of “alien” or “foreigner,” a visitor from elsewhere. The word ger, by contrast, signifies one who is not an Israelite by birth but who has come to live, on a long term basis, within Israelite society. The oral tradition accordingly identified two forms of the ger: the ger tzedek, or convert (Ruth is the classic example), and the ger toshav, a “resident alien” who has chosen to live in Israel without converting to Judaism but instead agreeing to keep the seven Noahide laws mandatory on all mankind. Ger toshav legislation represents the biblical form of minority rights.
What does the kindling of the light of the tabernacle have to do with how we treat strangers?
According to Rabbeinu Bachya (1250-1340) of Spain,
King Solomon gives us a hint as he teaches:
"Oil and incense gladden the heart; the sweetness of a friend is better than one's counsel." (Proverbs 27:9)
(2) In this verse Solomon warns man to have pity on the stranger who has been exiled from his birthplace and from his homeland. Seeing that the Torah has already warned us on numerous occasions not to take unfair advantage of gerim neither with words nor with money, as is written in (Ex. 22:20, 23:9), Solomon adds some additional dimension to this legislation.
When meeting people who have been uprooted from their homeland and families we owe such people that we 1) provide them with the physical requirements such as food, clothing and lodging, as well as 2) to help their mental state by treating them in a friendly manner.
Solomon uses the preceding verse to compare wandering birds to wandering, homeless strangers. A person who had to leave his home environment is compared to a bird which had to leave its nest.
The simile of “oil and incense” used by Solomon in Proverbs refers to the physical sustenance we have to give to strangers, while the simile of “sweetness of a friend” represents the friendly attitude we are to display towards the stranger. This is to be augmented by friendly encouraging words on our part....
Adherents of plain meaning, who look for a clear bottom line in everything including matters of faith, upon seeing the mighty struggles of opposing views, will ask in agitation: How can Torah be learned in this way? If there are two mutually exclusive ways of interpreting a single statement, and each carries its own truth, do we not have dualism?
But the pillar of their faith need not fail. Is it possible to have a living Torah without the struggle of opposites, without disputes, without the many permutations of ideas?
God created ideas, Janus-like, in complements; what is sought is one, but the paths to it are two. Two modes of thought, vision and reason appear to us as separate and distinct, vying and competing with each other. But in truth, they are but two stakes of the same tent that support each other, with each unable to stand firm but for the presence of the other. Both share the same crown. One who stands outside sees an infringement of domains; one who stands within sees a blending of domains.
(ח) כֹּהֵן קוֹדֵם לְלֵוִי, לֵוִי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַמְזֵר, וּמַמְזֵר לְנָתִין, וְנָתִין לְגֵר, וְגֵר לְעֶבֶד מְשֻׁחְרָר. אֵימָתַי, בִּזְמַן שֶׁכֻּלָּן שָׁוִין. אֲבָל אִם הָיָה מַמְזֵר תַּלְמִיד חָכָם וְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל עַם הָאָרֶץ, מַמְזֵר תַּלְמִיד חָכָם קוֹדֵם לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל עַם הָאָרֶץ:
(8) A priest supersedes a Levite, a Levite supersedes an Israelite, an Israelite supersedes a product of a forbidden relation, a productof a forbidden relation supersedes a Natin [member of a caste of Temple servants, historically descended from the Gibeonites], a Natin supersedes a convert, and a convert supersedes a freed slave. When? When they are all equal. But if the product of a forbidden relation is a Sage and the high priest is an Am Ha'Aretz [one who is lax in observing tithes and purity laws], the product of a forbidden relation who is a sage supersedes the high priest who is am Am Ha'Aretz.