זה ספר תולדות אדם. שאפי' סרגול הספר, מסר לו הקב"ה, לאדם הראשון. ובת"כ מסיק, ואהבת לרעך כמוך, אמר רבי עקיבה, זה כלל גדול בתורה. בן עזאי אומר, זה ספר תולדות אדם, גדול יותר. פי', אסיפיה דקרא קאי, בדמות אלהים עשה אותו, דמקרא דר"ע לא שמעינן, אלא דעלך סני לחברך לא תעביד, ובא בן עזאי ואמר, שאף אם הוא אינו חושש לכבוד עצמו, יש לו לחוש לכבוד חבירו, לפי שרואה דמות חבירו, ואינו רואה דמות עצמו, ולזה אמר, שמקרא זה כולל יותר, ממקרא דואהבת לרעך כמוך: זה ספר תולדת אדם, “this is the book of the history of mankind.” G–d even gave Adam an outline of the family trees of future generations. Some of this is reflected by the interpretations given by famous sages to the verse in Leviticus 19,18: ואהבת לרעך כמוך, (normally translated as “love your fellow man as yourself). In Torat Kohanim Rabbi Akiva is quoted as saying that that verse teaches us “a great rule, an all inclusive concept,” (a variation of Hillel who summed up the essence of Judaism as don’t do to others what you would not have do them to you.) Ben Azzai understands the words as applying to the end of the verse, i.e. אני ה', “I am the Lord,” a reminder that all human beings have been created in the image of the Lord, so that no race can feel superior to another race, [regardless of the colour of their skin. Ed.] He applies the verse even to people who due to their humility have a low esteem of their own value as not being allowed to forget that we are all descended from the same origin. Everyone must respect his fellow man’s dignity and honour, regardless of how unassuming he himself happens to be. He must look at the likeness of his fellow man seeing that he cannot look at himself objectively. [We are not speaking of mirror images. Ed.] It follows that our verse is more far-reaching in meaning than the verse quoted from the Book of Leviticus.