When the Image of God Vanishes

הוא היה אומר, חביב אדם שנברא בצלם; חיבה יתרה נודעת לו שנברא בצלם, שנאמר "כי בצלם אלוהים, עשה את האדם" -אבות פרק ג

The Torah tells us that man was created in the image of God.

"And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." (Genesis 1:27). "Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul ." (Genesis 2:7).

There is something in humanity which distinguishes it from the rest of creation. Man has the capacity to reach great spiritual heights. On the other hand, man can enlist the great spiritual gifts he received from the Creator to perform acts of evil that even the most savage of beasts is incapable of.

"And He said: 'What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground."(Genesis 4:10).

Last week in Mumbai the world became acquainted with two extremes of the human race. On one end are the righteous, those precious souls that devote themselves to giving to others at the expense of their own comfort. Such were the those emissaries of Chabad, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who devoted themselves to helping their fellow Jews in any and every way that they could.

חביבין ישראל שנקראו בנים למקום; חיבה יתרה נודעת להם שנקראו בנים למקום, שנאמר "בנים אתם, לה' אלוקיכם" (אבות פרק ג')

On the other end of the spectrum are those low-life filth, the Islamic terrorists, those cowards that murder and maim unarmed civilians. They are the foulest of creations in that they harness the gifts that were given to them by the Creator, gifts that were given to them in order to settle the world, in order to destroy it.

Here is Israel we have to deal with this malevolence on a daily basis. The rest of the world gets a wake up call every so often in different locations: the Twin Towers in New York, the subway in London, the subway in Madrid, and all over the place in Mumbai . Then, with the help of their unwillingness to face reality, the rest of the world goes back to sleep, hoping that it was only a bad dream.

I don't believe in moral relativism. Evil must be confronted. Evil must be subdued. Evil must be smashed. There is no other way.