Torah Study > Chapter 5: Self and Community > Text 6
What are the rabbis of the Mishna learning from the Biblical story of
Adam? Why do you think they are focused on the character of Adam?
What do you understand from the image of “the mold”?
What do you think the rabbis are trying to say about the value of the
individual?
This excerpt contains one of the strongest statements in Jewish literature
about the infinite value of a human being. Every person is a microcosm of
the whole world. If a person dies, it is as if a whole world has ended.
The rabbis chose to learn this value from the character of Adam because
he is the symbol of humankind (being the first human being, not the first
Jew). When Adam was created he was, of course, completely unique, and
the rabbis are claiming that every subsequent person is equally as unique
and valuable as the first.
The image of the mold is a very powerful metaphor. One might imagine
the “stamping” of human beings. But, of course, the text is claiming that
God is much more powerful than human beings. People create coins from
a single mold, and all the coins are the same. God manages to create
people that are all the same, and who share all the basic elements of
humanity, but who are also each unique. There is an equality of all humanity,
and there is also a uniqueness. Each individual is valuable because he
or she is the same as all others, and no one person is inherently more
important than another. Each individual is also valuable because he or
she is completely distinct from everyone else and so when one dies, that
person’s distinct nature is lost.
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The idea that a single human life is equivalent to a world is powerful.
But how useful is it? Are there instances when would you not want to
apply this principle? How might we act differently if we took this idea
seriously?
This text points to both the similarities as well as the differences
between people. In your experience, when has being with people
with similar backgrounds to yourself been a strength? A weakness?
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