In The Image Of God,Rabbi Harry Maryles

There is a lot of hate going around the Torah world that passes for righteousness. One often hears the frummest of Jews talking about non-Jews in a most appalling manner. In many cases these are otherwise fine and upstanding people - some even communal leaders - yet they think nothing of using the most disparaging of terms when referring to fellow human beings. I have even heard non-Jews referred to as subhuman - beheimos, animals, etc.

This attitude may be attributable in part to a leftover bias against non-Jews brought over from Europe where Jews had been singled out for pogroms and general abuse. Though perhaps understandable from a historical perspective, it nevertheless is an attitude that is both unfair and counterproductive in a country that has been called a medina shel chesed by no less an authority than Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt"l. And it's an attitude that must be overcome.

It is particularly troubling that some of this attitude may stem from the belief that the Torah says we are an am hanivchar - a people chosen by God Himself. In my view, it is a gross misunderstanding of the concept to say that being a chosen people makes us inherently superior. The status, rights, and privileges a Jew derives from his being chosen by God require greater obligations than are imposed on a non-Jew. A Jew is not superior because of inherent traits. We are an am hanivchar - not an am hanolad.

Certainly we Jews can say we have inherited some traits from our forefathers, such as the chesed of Avraham. But this trait is not found exclusively among Jews. What exactly is it that makes us better? Is it our genetic composition? I don't think so. Our "superiority" derives from our elevation through Torah and mitzvos.

What should our behavior be toward non-Jews? As my rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik, zt"l, wrote in his book Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind, the concept of kavod habriyos, the dignity of Man, is a halachic imperative that constitutes the basis of human rights, and the basis of all civilized jurisprudence.

As the Rambam says in Hilchos Sanhedrin (24:8-10), these rights apply even to pagans. "Tzedek tzedek tirdof." Why should the Torah repeat the word tzedek? Rabbenu Bachaye interprets it to mean that the same standard of righteousness should be applied toward all non-Jews.

As an example of this attitude, Rabbi Soloveichik related the following story from the Talmud Yerushalmi (Bava Metzia):

Shimon Ben Shetach worked in the flax business. His students advised him to give up that business and buy a donkey which would provide a better income. Shimon Ben Shetach agreed. So his students went to a pagan Arab and bought a donkey for him. After the purchase they discovered a large diamond tied to it. They brought the animal and the jewel to their rebbe who thereupon asked them, "Did the Arab know that there was a diamond tied to the donkey?" They answered, "No." Shimon Ben Shetach told his students to immediately go back and return the diamond. But the students knew the laws regarding returning lost objects to idolaters. They knew that they were not required by halacha to do so. Why, they asked their rebbe, did he ask them to return it? He answered, Do you think that I am a barbarian? I am more interested in hearing the exclamation, "Blessed be the God of the Jews" from pagans than I am in earning a living.

There was a book written in Hebrew a few years ago that claimed an inherent superiority of Jews to non-Jews and was given approbation by Rav Malkiel Kotler, rosh hayeshiva of Lakewood. When the book's contents were exposed in the secular media, Rav Kotler quickly removed his haskama and said he had not realized the book stated this; that he did not believe this way himself; and that he'd mistakenly given approbation based on the character of the author, one of the brighter students in his school. Or so he thought. He apologized and then followed the apology up by stating that the Torah view is that all mankind is created b'tzelem Elokim, in the image of God.

But what does that really mean? Does God have an image? Is He physical? Of course not. The Rambam points out that God is pure Form whereas everything else in creation is a combination of Matter and Form. It is difficult for us to grasp the concept of pure form, so this limits our ability to understand the nature of God and, therefore, how to define His "image." So the best man can come up with is a finite definition of the Infinite trait of tzelem Elokim.

To me, the image of God in which we are created is one of a refined and high moral character. We must try to live up to the image in which God created us and not lower ourselves by debasing God's creations, especially our fellow human beings who are also created in His image.

What gives us the means to act in God's image are the faculties of reason and knowledge. This is the unique way in which Man differs from animals. In this way we can begin to understand God's creation of Man b'tzelem Elokim. It is rational thought, combined with the ability to distinguish and discern, deduce and learn, communicate and teach; the ability to know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and ultimately build up the world.

Man is also given bechirah chofshis, freedom of choice between good and evil. In this way Man can earn Divine acceptance by choosing good over evil, and thereby refine his tzelem Elokim.

Level of intellect is unimportant. It is not one's intelligence that makes him "in the image of God." It's not the level of knowledge or deeds measured against someone else that God judges, but the level of knowledge or deeds measured against one's own potential. And to the level that we emulate His traits is to the level that we achieve worth. To the level of our mitzvah observance is to the level we achieve higher value.

So in the end, being born a Jew is of minimal consequence if we do not take our own tzelem Elokim seriously. Being born a Jew does little for us if we squander that gift. Who has greater value in the eyes of God, the Jew Binyamin "Bugsy" Siegel or the non-Jew Raoul Wallenberg? The Jew Meyer Lansky or the non-Jew Oskar Schindler? The Jew Louis "Lepke" Buchalter or the non-Jew Chiune Sugihara?

It is not who we are when we are born, but what it is we do afterward.

This divine spark is part and parcel of all of mankind - of each and every person, Jew or non-Jew. It behooves us to recognize this simple truth and treat all our fellow human beings with the respect that a creation in the image of God deserves.

Rabbi Harry Maryles received s'micha in 1972 from Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik at the Hebrew Theological College. He has been active in Jewish education in Chicago for more than 30 years. He currently maintains a blog called Emes Ve-Emunah located at haemtza.blogspot.com.

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In The Image Of God , Rabbi Harry Maryles