Bearing in mind the continuation of the Pasuk, "be'Tzelem Elokim Bara Oso", what does the Torah mean when it writes that Hashem "va'Yivra Elokim es ha'Adam be'Tzalmo"?
Rashi: The Torah means that Hashem created man in man's own individual form. 1 All the other creations came into being via a command, whereas Adam was created with His Hands. 2
Lev Eliyahu (Bereishis, p. 11): The first instance of the word "Tzelem" means potential. "Tzelem Elokim" is what is actualized. Man was created to attain Elokus - connection and clinging to Hashem. 3 Also in this world, the corridor to the world-to-come, to some extent one can delight in the radiance of the Shechinah.
Avos de'R. Nasan: Irrespective of the question, "be'Tzalmo" teaches us that he was made perfect, in which case he must have been created circumcised.
Gur Aryeh (to 1:26): Why doesn't Rashi explain, "in His mold", i.e. using the mold belonging to Hashem? Everything belongs to Hashem [i.e. one cannot specify just one thing as belonging to Hashem]. Rather the Pasuk means, "the mold made especially for man."
See also Targum Yonasan.
As expressed by the Pasuk, "ve'Atem ha'Deveikim... Chayim Kulchem ha'Yom" (Devarim 4:4).
Rashi cites the verse: "Can you transform your image like clay?" (Iyov 38:14). What does Rashi prove from there?
Gur Aryeh: Rashi shows that man is called "Chosam" (seal or image), because he was not created by utterance, but by hand, like a coin. Nonetheless, each person is different, like clay that can be changed to different shapes.
What is the definition of "Tzelem Elokim"?
Rashbam: In the mold of the angels. 3
Seforno: 'Elokim' is a term that is used to describe what is not physical and therefore Eternal. This is why, not only does the Torah use this term to refer to Hashem Himself, but also to the angels, as well as judges, due to their superior knowledge.
Ohr Yechezkel (Midos, p. 199): It means that his actions are amidst understanding and intelligence. Mere imitation is the level of animals.
Lev Eliyahu: Refer to 1:27:1:2.
Targum Yonasan: 'In a form Hashem created him 4 - with two hundred and forty-eight limbs, three hundred and sixty-five sinews which he covered with skin, which in turn, he filled wth flesh and blood'.
Do not say that just like man has eyes, ears, hands... also Hashem. Rather, because Hashem has Midos called eyes, ears, hands..., He created man with limbs that parallel these Midos of Hashem (Heard in the name of Rav Gifter).
Gur Aryeh: I.e., if the man that emerged from the mold was be'Tzelem Elokim, then the mold from which he was created, must also be a mold in the semblance of his Maker.
See Na'ar Yonasan.
According to Maharal, what is Tzelem Elokim? We know that Hashem has no image or physical form!
Maharal (Derech Chayim 3:14, p. 142) #1: Tzelem loosely translates as 'image'; that which can be perceived. The physical structure of man 1 teaches us about aspects of Hashem in ways that are non-physical. As an analogy, we see a garment and infer about the image of its wearer, despite that it is not the wearer himself. For example, man stands erect, which indicates majesty. Man was to rule over the lower realms, just as Hashem rules over all; this is his Tzelem Elokim. 2
Maharal (ibid. p. 143) #2: Tzelem Elokim refers to the light, or radiant countenance of man. 3 Hashem is also referred to as 'light,' because light is corporeal and non-physical. 4
Maharal (ibid. p. 144) #3: Light represents existence, just as darkness represents absence. Man exists on a higher level than the other creations. All other creations are subservient to man; whereas man, like a king, is subservient to nothing else physical; this is the Tzelem Elokim of man. 5
Maharal (ibid. p. 147) #4: Man is granted free choice. Like Hashem, man is not forced in his actions. 6 For each of these four approaches to explain "Tzelem Elokim," Maharal shows how it applies to man alone, and not to the angels. The Mishnah exclaims, "How beloved is man, who was created 'b'Tzelem!'" (Mishnah Avos 3:14); obviously man is more beloved than the animals! The Mishnah must mean that man is even more beloved than the angels.
Maharal (Tif'eres Yisrael Ch. 4, p. 77; Derush l'Shabbos Teshuvah p. 77): The 248 limbs of the body are man's Tzelem Elokim. Maharal at first cites the Rambam (Yesodei ha'Torah 4:8; Moreh Nevuchim 1:1) and Radak (Sefer ha'Shorashim, Samech-Pei-Kuf) that it is man's ability to reason that is his distinction (Tzurah) and Tzelem, not his physical structure. Maharal asks, don't the angels also have reason? (See Answer 4.)
Similarly, man has two eyes, reflecting how Hashem observes and judges man positively or negatively.
See Daniel 3:19.
This radiance that a person carries is even more Divine than the angels. Maharal (ibid. p. 145) adds that the highest level of Tzelem is in the World to Come, when man is greater than the angels. This explains why one who humiliates his fellow and thus disgraces his Tzelem, loses his share in the World to Come (Mishnah Avos 3:11)
Maharal: The Gemara teaches, "When one is forced to accept human charity, the radiance of his face dims" (Berachos 6b). Though dependence on others, he loses his Tzelem.
Where is a person's Tzelem Elokim found?
Maharal (Derech Chayim 3:14, p. 145): The Tzelem is found mainly on a person's face. Tzelem (lit. "image") means Tzurah that can be perceived, and thus distinguishes itself from others. Man is visibly unique and distinct from everything else in the lower realms; just as Hashem is distinct among His hosts.
Is Tzelem Elokim common to all mankind?
Maharal (Gevuros Hashem, Ch. 67, p. 311): We can infer from Chazal, who teach that the title "Adam" does not apply to all (Yevamos 61a). For most of mankind, man's Tzurah (purpose) and Tzelem Elokim have become subservient to his Chomer (base physicality). 1
The reverse should be the case; our Divine image was meant to rule over and elevate our physicality. Also refer to 9:25:2.1:3**.
Since the Torah will describe the creation of woman in 2:21-22, why does it mention here that Hashem created "male and female"?
Rashi #1: It is the way of the Torah to first present the general principle, and then to go into detail. Hence it informs us here that on the sixth day Hashem created Adam and Chavah, and later it describes how He formed woman from man. 1
Rashi #2 (citing the Midrash) and Rashbam: Hashem initially created man and woman together, and separated them only later. 2
If Hashem intended to separate Adam and Chavah, why did He first create them as one entity?
Because, due to the divergent character-traits of man and woman, had they not initially been created together in one body, it would have been impossible for them to coexist. Moreover, it is precisely because they were originally created together that when a Man and woman subsequently get married, they function as one unit. 1
Chazal compare a Man looking for a Shiduch to someone who is searching for his lost article. The fact that they were created in one body is what creates the urge in a man to want to get married.
As the Torah writes specifically in 2:22-24.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "Everything else was created by utterance, but man was created by 'hand.'" Why did Hashem create man in this way?
Gur Aryeh #1: That which is created by hand is closer to its Creator. So to speak, Hashem involved Himself in man's creation.
Gur Aryeh #2: Some explain that the heavens are called "the hand of Hashem." Unlike the animals which are under nature [which is the 'word' of Hashem], man is associated with the heavens and the 12 Mazalos [and his limbs represent those Mazalos]. 1 However, Gur Aryeh does not accept this explanation. 2
Rashi writes: "... the mold was in the semblance of His maker" (and Adam was a reflection of that mold). But the Gemara (Bava Basra 58a) contrasts Yaakov as being only "similar to My image [of Hashem]," and Adam as actually in "My image"!
Gur Aryeh: Both are true. Yaakov was very similar to Tzelem Elokim, while Adam was exactly. But even Adam's image was not actually the image of Hashem, for each person has a specific Tzelem.
Rashi writes: " He initially created them [as one being] with two facets." Why was only man created in such a way?
Gur Aryeh: Man is unique (Yachid) in the lower realms (in terms of intelligence), so it was fitting that he be created with unity (Echad). 1
Rashi writes: "He created them male and female - But doesn't a later verse say, 'He took one of his facets... and built it into a woman' (2: 21-22)? According to the Midrash, He initially created them [as one being] with two facets, and afterwards He divided them." The Gemara (Berachos 61a, Eruvin 18a), however, answers differently - that initially Hashem thought to create man and woman as two beings, and then He created them as one?
Gur Aryeh: Rashi understood the Gemara's phrasing of this question, as asking why our verse says "them" (in plural), and elsewhere, "man" (in singular). The Gemara answers that this verse reflects Hashem's initial plan to create two beings, which was not actualized. This explains the term "them," but not the phrase "male and female He created"! Therefore, our Rashi cites the Midrash; that Hashem initially created man as one being with two facets, male and female.
