Avos 3:14

בס׳ד

אבות ג:יד

He used to teach: Humanity is beloved, having been created in the Image; And an even greater act of love is that it was told that it was created in the Image, as it is said: “In the image of God He made humanity” (Bereshis 9:6). Israel is beloved, having been called Children of the Source; And an even greater act of love is that they were told that they are called Children of the Source, as it is said: “You are children of HaShem your God” (Devarim 14:1). Israel is beloved, having been given a marvelous Tool; And an even greater act of love is that they were told that they had been given a marvelous Tool through which the world was created, as it is said: “For a fine implement Have I given you - My Torah, do not abandon it” (Mishlei 4:2).

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ט) כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יד) בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה שֶׁבּוֹ נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ד) כִּי לֶקַח טוֹב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם, תּוֹרָתִי אַל תַּעֲזֹבוּ:

        Believe it or not, it is possible to find among the great Sages the opinion that Jews somehow have a richer humanity then Gentiles; that Jewish lives are in some sense more important to HaShem than the lives of Gentiles.  An example comes from this passage of Bavli Yevamos 60b-61a: “So taught Rabbi Shimon ben Yahai: the graves of idolators do not convey uncleanness in an enclosed space, for it is said of Israel: ‘For you, my sheep, my sheep that I protect, are human’ (Yehezkel 34:31) - you are called human, but idolators are not called human.”  This and other isolated parts of the Talmud contribute to an unfortunate tendency, especially in Kabbalah and Hasidus, to draw a total distinction between the “superior” humanity of Jews and the “lesser being” of non-Jews.  For example, a basic idea in the Alter Rebbe’s otherwise great book, the Tanya, is the notion that Gentiles share with Jews an Animal Soul (nefesh behamis), but only Jews have a Divine Soul (nefesh elokis).

        Many Sages stood against this dangerous line of thought.  You can, for example, look at the comments of Tosfos on the very page of Talmud I’ve just mentioned: “This is shocking!  For in the beginning of tractate Avodah Zara 3b and in Sanhedrin 59b we have learned that idolators who engage in Torah study are equivalent to the Kohen HaGadol, as it is said: ‘these are the commandments through which a human will live.’  The passage doesn’t specify Kohanim, Leviim, or Israelites, but ‘a human’!”

        But the most important source for the common humanity of Jews and non-Jews is the mishnah of Rabbi Aqiva that we just read.  In Rabbi Aqiva’s opinion, what distinguishes Jews from non-Jews is not some difference in their basic humanity, but the special obligation of Jews to shape their humanity through the world-creating and world-sustaining powers of the Torah.

        God loves all His creatures equally, but he has expressed his love for Israel through a unique commission: to demonstrate that the essence of humanness is found in perfect obedience to the order of reality embodied in the Torah.  The reasons for this choice of Israel for this mission are beyond our comprehension and the subject of many derashes.  But one thing is clear.  Many Jews have failed in their commission, while many Gentiles, who’ve had no special mission thrust upon them, have succeeded in modeling true devotion to HaShem.

        The Tiferes Yisroel has a long and wonderful meditation on this in his commentary on Rabbi Aqiva’s mishnah.  He begins by offering a list of Gentiles who made marvelous and selfless contributions to human well-being (he includes, for example, Edward Jenner, who invented the smallpox vaccine and the man who brought the potato to Europe!).  Then he continues: “The point is that both Jews and the nations of the world have their own innate qualities of distinction.  The nations of the world, in fact, are superior to Israel insofar as, through their own free choice and power of will, they created themselves as moral beings devoted to God.  In this they exceed Israel, who were dragged by their payis by Divine Power to their completion as humans.  In view of this, Jews have nothing to pat themselves on the back about.  For the only distinction they have is one that HaShem imposed upon them, and that was because of the merits of their ancestors.”  The Tiferes Yisroel knew how to give a potch!  I wish more Jews knew his words and took them seriously.

        We live now in a time of deep human divisions, between Jews and non-Jews, between one sort of Jew and another sort of Jew.  I believe our obligation is to seek those sources of Torah that help us overcome divisions with respect and gentleness, rather than to hunt up reasons for division and bitterness.  As Rabbi Tarfon taught us at the end of Chapter 2 - we may not be obliged to complete the work, but we have no right not to try.

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