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-----Original Message----- Shalom friends I had a wonderful time in Jerusalem. On Shemini Atzeret (which is also Simchat Torah in Eretz Yisrael), I had lunch at Rabbi Yaacov Fogelman’s home in the Jewish quarter of the “Old City” of Jerusalem. According to Rabbi Fogelman, there are two popular opinions about who Hashem is speaking to when He says, “Let us make man in our image;” but it is probably a third opinion which is the correct one. The first opinion is that Hashem is talking to the angels. The second opinion is that Hashem is talking with Himself. The third opinion, however, is that Hashem is speaking to the man himself. Obviously it is the “spiritual image” that Hashem is speaking of and not the “physical image.” Because man has free will, the creation of man in the spiritual image of Hashem requires the co-operation of man and a joint effort between Hashem and man to accomplish this task: Hence, “Let US create man in our image.” It is, of course, the purpose of man to elevate himself, with the help of Hashem, to a higher spiritual level. Gutman Locks states in his book There Is One (http://www.thereisone.com/):
CONSIDER: With a life that is all spiritual, one
could inadvertently walk off a cliff. With a life that is all physical, one
might just as well walk off a cliff. The spiritual purpose of life must be
worked out in the physical place of creation. It is exactly for this reason
that the soul has “become” physical. We do not escape from the physical into
the spiritual, but rather we are to elevate the physical until we are able to
see the spiritual in it. A completely physical life is futile, for it will soon
turn to dust. What is physically accumulated? This physical life ends when the
body falls away, and only the mitzvoth and transgressions remain.
Kol tov,
P.S. Rabbi Fogelman sends
out a weekly parsha commentary. You can subscribe by emailing him at
top@actcom.co.il
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