Save a Life, Save the World

I’m not what you’d call a morning person. I don’t normally jump out of bed in the morning, and especially not on a Monday. But this week was an exception. I woke up and hurried to my phone to check the news. I was filled with relief and joy as I saw that the living hostages had actually been released from Gaza. Seeing the videos and photos of their reunions with their families after two years of hell made me more than a little verklempt. I know I wasn’t alone. My email inbox was filled with messages from the many Jewish organizations that have me on their lists, sharing their joy and their relief that this day had finally come. When we danced with the Torah in celebration of Simchat Torah on Monday night, it felt just a little bit lighter.

And yet, our joy is anything but pure. The freed hostages and their families still have a long road to healing in front of them. The best that other families are hoping for is the ability to bury their loved ones. And the devastation in Gaza, the thousands killed and wounded and displaced, is almost too overwhelming to grasp. In the face of such suffering, it seems almost grotesque to celebrate. Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist, writes about this moment: “...Haaretz columnist Uri Misgav, waxed poetic on the X social network: ‘The victory of spirit over despair, of light over darkness, of good over evil.’ No less. While Misgav was waxing poetic, hundreds of thousands of people were making their way, carrying their few remaining belongings, through the ruin and destruction of their land, on their way back to their non-houses.”  

I can understand Levy’s disgust over the way the ceasefire and hostage deal has been covered. It seems that some of the media and some politicians want to just declare victory and move on without any self-reflection or accountability. And in the grand scheme of things, it may very well be irrational to celebrate that after two years of war and tens of thousands of deaths, these twenty men are now home, safe and somewhat sound. It may be irrational, but it’s also very Jewish.

One of the most famous teachings from the Mishnah is this: “Anyone who destroys one life is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And conversely, anyone who sustains one life is considered as if he sustained an entire world” (San. 4:5). The full passage is actually, “For this reason was Adam created alone, in order to teach you that anyone who destroys one life is considered as if he destroyed an entire world.” The plain meaning of the text is that since humanity descended from one person, if that person had been killed, all of humanity have been erased. And similarly, if a person takes another’s life, he is responsible not only for that life, but also for wiping out the generations of descendants that would have come after. But Rabbi Yitz Greenberg suggests the deeper meaning of this text, and the reason that it’s become so well-known. He writes, “The Mishnah is trying to communicate the Godlike quality and weight of human life… The Mishnah is stating that any human–by dint of being born a human…–is of infinite value. If you save one times infinite value, you have saved infinite value. If you save eight billion times infinite value, you have saved infinite value.” 

Greenberg goes on to argue that human beings have three essential dignities, the dignity of infinite value, the dignity of equality, and the dignity of uniqueness. It is our job as Jews to “recognize and honor these dignities in ourselves and in all human beings” and to work towards a world that recognizes and honors these dignities in every person. 

If you’re wondering how we know that human beings have infinite value, so that saving one life is akin to saving the world, the answer is found in this week’s Torah portion.

וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃

And God created humankind in the divine image,

creating it in the image of God—

male and female God created them (Gen. 1:27). 

No one really knows exactly what it means to be created b’tzelem Elohim, in the divine image. Certainly it can’t be interpreted literally, since God has no physical form. Some have suggested that it refers to human consciousness, others that it refers to our intellect. It could be that what makes us like God is that we have free will or that we have the ability to do good. Rabbi Greenberg argues that being b’tzelem Elohim really means that we are loved by God. He writes, “...God loves every human being… Such a boundless love confers the dignity of infinite value and equality on all human beings and evokes their uniqueness, even if they live in a society that denies their dignity or their humanity. In God’s eyes, humans are always in this state of dignity.” That’s why, Rabbi Greenberg explains, the Mishnah teaches, “Rabbi Akiva used to say: Beloved is the human, who was created in the image [of God]. Especially beloved is he, for it was made known to him that he had been created in the image [of God]” (Pirkei Avot 3:14). Rabbi Greenberg continues, “Rabbi Akiva confirmed that being an image of God–with its attendant dignities–means that one is in a constant state of being loved…. Given that human society does not act on this truth and treat all people as they deserve to be treated, God reveals to people that they are loved and made in the image of God.” This revelation is meant to both comfort those who might not otherwise know that they’re valued, and to motivate all of us to see one another as God sees us so that we treat one another accordingly.

“Anyone who saves one life is considered as if he saved an entire world.” Twenty worlds were saved this week. There is no way to put a price on that, no way to measure what their lives mean —to their loved ones, to all Israelis, to the whole Jewish people. All we can do is rejoice with them, and keep working towards the day when all lives are as precious to us as they are to God.