As God reached the epitome of His
creation, He “announced” His intention to create man by saying “Let us make man
....” [Genesis 1:26].
The
Sages of the Talmud noted the use of the plural form and wondered with whom God
consulted before creating man. The classical commentators as well dealt with
this question, offering various explanations.
Rashi,
for example, suggests that God consulted the angels, teaching us the moral
lesson that even great leaders must display humility and consult with their
underlings.
Naḥmanides
explains that God consulted the earth, since man was to be made from it.
Ibn
Ezra says simply the term is the “plural of majesty.”
My
father suggested that God consulted man himself, asking him to become His
partner in creation. Man is unique among God’s creatures in having free will,
and hence he can choose to complete or to destroy God’s creation. God, as it
were, turned to man, asking him to become Man.
Our
tradition stresses that Man was created last as an obligation, more than as a
privilege. Accepting God’s challenge to become Man gives us responsibilities
not only to fellow men, but to all of God’s creatures and to ourselves as well.
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