“He who spills human blood shall have his own blood spilled by man for G-d made man b’tzelem Elokim in His own image” (Bereishis 9:6).
“Rabi Akiva explained (Bereishis Rabbah parshah 17) that anyone who spills blood is considered to have minimized the tzelem Elokim… ‘He who spills human blood shall have his own blood spilled by man.’ Why is that? ‘Because Hashem created man b’tzelem Elokim in His own image.’ ” What did Rabi Akiva add to what the pasuk itself says [by telling us] that a person who kills another person removes from the world a person created in Hashem’s image?
We can understand that the reducing of the tzelem Elokim isn’t referring to the person murdered but rather to the murderer as the act of murder reduces the murderer’s tzelem Elokim.
The Nefesh HaChaim (1:3) says that tzelem Elokim is manifested in the way a person behaves and is not an “image” of the tangibility of Hashem Who has no image whatsoever. Reducing the tzelem Elokim applies to all one’s behaviors….
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