And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' And God created human in God’s own image, in the image of God, God created him; male and female God created them. And God blessed them; and God said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth.' And God said: 'Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed--to you it shall be for food; and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food.' And it was so. And God saw every thing that God had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
[JPS translation]
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What responsibilities come with this level of power?
You shall not subvert the rights of your needy in their disputes. Keep far from a false charge; do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoer. Do not take bribes, for bribes blind the clear-sighted and upset the pleas of those who are in the right. You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.
[JPS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
"ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם."
זה דרך התורה לפרוט ולכלול בכיוצא בזה כי אחרי אזהרת פרטי הדינין בכל משא ומתן שבין בני אדם לא תגנוב ולא תגזול ולא תונו ושאר האזהרות אמר בכלל ועשית הישר והטוב (דברים ו יח) שיכניס בעשה היושר וההשויה וכל לפנים משורת הדין לרצון חבריו כאשר אפרש (שם) בהגיעי למקומו ברצון הקב"ה.
"Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy."
Initially, God said that you should observe the laws and statutes which God had commanded you. Now God says that, with respect to what God has not commanded, you should likewise take heed to do the good and the right in God’s eyes, for God loves the good and the right. And this is a great matter. For it is impossible to mention in the Torah all of a person’s actions toward his neighbors and acquaintances, all of his commercial activity, and all social and political institutions.
[AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What are the values this text offers that are meant to guide "a person’s actions toward his neighbors and acquaintances, all of his commercial activity, and all social and political institutions"?
3. How are we, as a society, measuring up to Ramban's standards?
רבי פנחס אומר לא היו שם אבנים לבנות את העיר ואת המגדל מה היו עושין היו מלבנים לבנים ושורפין אותן כיוצר חרש עד שבנו אותו גבוה שבעים מיל ומעלות היו לו ממזרחו וממערבו אלו שהיו מעלין את הלבנים היו עולים ממזרחו ואלו שהיו יורדין היו יורדין ממערבו ואם נפל אדם ומת לא שמי' את לבם עליו ואם נפלה לבנה אחת היו יושבין ובוכין ואומרין אוי לנו אימתי תעלה אחרת תחתיה. ועבר אברם בן תרח וראה אותם בונים את העיר וקללם בשם אלהיו ואמר בלע יי' פלג לשונם.
Rabbi Pinchas said that they did not have enough bricks to build the city and he tower [of Babel]. What did they do? They would make bricks and count them, like an artisan, until they had built the tower to a height of seven levels. This height was accomplished on its east and its west. The builders brought the bricks up on the east side and brought them down on the west. If a man fell down and died, no heed was given to him. But when a brick fell down, they stopped work and wept, saying, “Woe unto us! When will another be brought up in its stead?” When Abraham son of Terach passed by and saw them building the city and the tower, he cursed them in the name of his God: “Oh God, confound their speech!”
[AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. In what ways are material goods valued more than human life today?
(יד) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי:
[Hillel] used to say: If I am not for myself who will be for me? Yet, if I am for myself only, what am I? And if not now, when?
[AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What power dynamics are at play?
3. In what ways is helping others also being for ourselves? In what ways is being for ourselves related to being for others?
(יד) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ט) כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם.
[Rabbi Akiva] would say, ‘Human beings are beloved because they were created in the image of God. This special love is known to him because it says, "and in the image of God were people created."
[AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. How might our dealings with every human being change is we were truly able to remember this?
3. What makes it difficult to maintain this?
לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי ללמדך שכל המאבד נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם מלא ומפני שלום הבריות שלא יאמר אדם לחבירו אבא גדול מאביך ושלא יהו המינים אומרים הרבה רשויות בשמים ולהגיד גדולתו של הקב"ה שאדם טובע כמה מטבעות בחותם אחד כולן דומין זה לזה ומלך מלכי המלכים הקב"ה טבע כל אדם בחותמו של אדם הראשון ואין אחד מהן דומה לחבירו לפיכך כל אחד ואחד חייב לומר בשבילי נברא העולם.
For this reason, the first human being was created alone to teach that whoever destroys a single life is as though he had destroyed an entire universe, and whoever saves a single life is as if he had saved an entire universe. Furthermore [the first human being was created alone] for the sake of peace among peoples, so that no one could say to another, “My ancestor was greater than yours.” And so that nations would not say that there are many celestial beings but rather will proclaim the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be God, for when a human being strikes many coins from one mold, they all resemble one another, but the supreme Sovereign of sovereigns, the Holy One, blessed be God, fashioned every human being in the stamp of the first person, and yet not one of them resembles another. For this reason, every human being is obligated to say, “For my sake, the world was created.”
[AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. What are the implications of this text on cross-cultural awareness and diversity issues?
2. What changes might we make to our daily behaviors if we kept this thinking present in our minds?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?
אֲפִלּוּ הָעַכּוּ''ם צִוּוּ חֲכָמִים לְבַקֵּר חוֹלֵיהֶם וְלִקְבֹּר מֵתֵיהֶם עִם מֵתֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּלְפַרְנֵס עֲנִיֵּיהֶם בִּכְלַל עֲנִיֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִפְּנֵי דַּרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם. הֲרֵי נֶאֱמַר (תהילים קמה, ט) "טוֹב ה' לַכּל וְרַחֲמָיו עַל כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו". וְנֶאֱמַר (משלי ג, יז) "דְּרָכֶיהָ דַרְכֵי נֹעַם וְכָל נְתִיבוֹתֶיהָ שָׁלוֹם":
Our sages commanded us to visit the non-Jewish sick and to bury the non-Jewish dead along with the Jewish dead, and support the non-Jewish poor along with the Jewish poor for the sake of peace. As it says, “God is good to all and God’s mercies extend over all God’s works” (Psalms 145:9), and “[The Torah’s] ways are pleasant and all its paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17).
[AJWS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. What does it meant to do something for the sake of peace? What are other reasons are there to do things?
2. Who are the players in this text - seen and unseen?
Abraham Joshua Heschel, “The Reasons for My Involvement in the Peace Movement” Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996)
The more deeply immersed I became in the thinking of the prophets, the more powerfully it became clear to me what the lives of the prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings. It also became clear to me that in regard to cruelties committed in the name of a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible.
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Who are the players in this text – seen and unseen?
2. What constitutes a cruelty?
3. What social justice themes emerge from this text?