Pinchas: Chapter 80

"Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness"

Synopsis

The Faithful Shepherd tells us that God's last act of creation was to make man, and by 'man' is meant Yisrael and not the idolaters. Rabbi Shimon talks about the tradition given to Moses at Sinai, and how Moses illuminates all of Yisrael with the light of the Torah. As the Faithful Shepherd and Rabbi Shimon discuss the creation of man, Moses clarifies that man was indeed created from all of the angels and other creatures and he was made to rule over the creatures. He goes on to say that the holy Malchut is the image of everything including all the inhabitants of the three worlds, and that God looked into it before He created everything. Lastly we are told that man depends solely on God for his punishment or reward, and not on an angel or seraph or any other creature.