Tanu Rabbanan Rabbi Eliezer Omer כל שאינו עוסק בפריה ורביה כאילו שופך דמים שנאמר שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך וכתיב בתריה ואתם פרו ורבו.
Person who doesn't engage in, doesn't make the attempt to fulfill the mitzvah of p'ru u'rvu, it's tantamount to shfichas damim. Rabbi Akiva omer k'ilu memayet hadmus. It's tantamount to his minimizing the dmus elokim reflected in the briya שנאמר כי בצלם אלוהים עשה את האדם וכתיב בתריה ואתם פרו ורבו.
Ben Azzai omer כאילו שופך דמים וממעט הדמות. Both are true. Both of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva's say both are true. Tanu Rabbi Yaakov say both are true, כאילו שופך דמים וממעט הדמות שנאמר ואתם פרו ורבו. The basis, first just maybe just to understand the mechanics of the drasha rabosai, the basis of the drasha l'chora is not simply the smichus of the pesukim in parshas noach of שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך כי בצלם אלוהים עשה את האדם ואתם פרו ורבו.
It's not only the smichus. Rather, the meforshim explain, the Metzudos has it in the beginning of Tehillim in kapitel beis. Kapitel beis Rashi says is about the Melech HaMoshiach. He says what ultimately one could say it's about Dovid HaMelech. But either way, so the posuk says למה רגשו גוים ולאומים יהגו ריק. Why are the Goyim agitating and why are they busy conjuring up futile schemes? יתייצבו מלכי ארץ ורוזנים נוסדו יחד על השם ועל משיחו.
They're forming a coalition against HaKadosh Baruch Hu and his anointed one. ננתקה את מוסרותימו ונשליכה ממנו עבותימו. Their goal is to throw off his bonds, not to be subjected to his rule. And then the posuk describes HaKadosh Baruch Hu's reaction. יושב בשמים ישחק השם ילעג למו. HaKadosh Baruch Hu scoffs at them kavyachol. אז ידבר אלימו באפו ובחרונו יבהלמו. And then he speaks to them with his wrath. ואני נסכתי מלכי על הר ציון הר קדשי. So the Metzudos comments here ואני הוי"ו במקום אבל. Meaning what are you trying to reject the malchus of the Melech HaMoshiach, but I've anointed him, but I've appointed him. So the vov, just in terms of pshat and pshuto shel mikra. So vov doesn't mean only and, vov is a conjunction. Vov combines what comes before with what comes after. It can combine it by meaning and, it can combine it by meaning or. מכה אביו ואמו מות יומת. A person doesn't have to be guilty rachmana litzlan of hakaha for both parents in order to be chayav misa. Makeh aviv v'imo means aviv o imo. But is also a conjunction, so the vov is a conjunction and as such, one of its meanings contextually is but. The Metzudos gives a very compelling proof to this from the posuk in Parshas Mikeitz כמו ועבדיך באו לשבור אוכל. When the Shivtei Kah come, so Yosef says מרגלים אתם לראות את ערוות הארץ באתם. So what do the brothers answer? ויאמרו אליו לא אדוני ועבדיך באו לשבור אוכל. What do you mean and? It doesn't mean and. It means but, in contrast to what you're accusing us of being meraglim, but that's not true, but ועבדיך באו לשבור אוכל. The Radak here. comments already also on that use of va'avadecha. הו"ו במקום אבל כלומר לא אדני כמו שאתה אומר אבל עבדיך באו לשבר אכל.
He gives a different example from Tillim to illustrate it. So it's clear that what the Tana'im are darshing here is שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך כי בצלם אלקים עשה את האדם.
va'atem is the lashon hapasuk va'atem pru urvu. What's the 've'? Meaning that the way for a person not to, rachmana litzlan, be shofech dam ha'adam, the way for a person, but what you have to do is pru urvu. That's what the 've' is. Okay, that's sort of in terms of the mechanics of the drasha. What's the substance of the drasha? The substance of the drasha is that Chazal are teaching, eliciting from the psukim that squandering potential is tantamount to destroying an actual, an actuality. משל למה הדבר דומה, an example derech mashal of the drashos Chazal. Let's say you have someone, he's maybe a big ba'al tzedakah, big ba'al ma'asim tovim, big talmid chacham, whatever. If that person, rachmana litzlan, is niftar, so then the world loses that outpouring of tzedakah, of ma'asim tovim, of Torah. If a person could father such a child, could bring such a child into the world, so the world is equally bereft, the world is equally deprived. And that's the substance of the drashos Chazal that squandering potential, not allowing the potential to be realized. The value inherent in potential is such that squandering it, preventing it, not allowing it to materialize is tantamount to destroying something actual. But there is a remarkable omek in terms of the context of this teaching. The context of the teaching that this lesson of the value of potential, and that the value of potential is so great, is such that אינו עוסק בפריה ורביה is tantamount to shofech damim, is tantamount k'ilu mema'it hadmus, that it's davka over here, there's a remarkable remarkable omek. The tzelem Elokim which defines us, the Rambam explains is really two-tiered. On the one hand, the Rambam says the tzelem Elokim is the צורה היודעת ומשגת הדעות שאין להם גולם עד שידמה להן.
tzelem Elokim is a capacity. It's a potential. It's a capacity for abstract knowledge which obviously the highest form and the ultimate form of that means yedias Hashem. So the tzelem Elokim is that capacity she-tihyeh lo tzurah. He has this essential quality hayode'as umasagas hade'os that has the capacity to know and to apprehend even what's abstract. So on one level the tzelem Elokim is this capacity. On another level the tzelem Elokim, the tzurah of the adam is when he exercises that capacity, is when that potential is realized and the person acquires yedi'as Hashem. So there's tzelem Elokim which is potential; a person's born with that. And then there's tzelem Elokim that a person realizes, that a person actualizes. נפש כל בשר היא צורתו שנתן לו הקל והדעת היתרה המצויה בנפשו של אדם היא צורת האדם השלם בדעתו.
Why is it that there's such a fundamental drastic difference between killing a human being and killing an animal? שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך. If a person sheds the blood of another man, he's liable for capital punishment, כי בצלם אלהים עשה את האדם. The unique position that man occupies in the briyah is because he's a tzelem Elokim. So hagam that כל רמש אשר הוא חי לכם יהיה לאכלה כירק עשב נתתי לכם את כל,
but שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך is chamur ad me'od. Why? כי בצלם אלהים עשה את האדם. So what tzelem Elokim, what level of tzelem Elokim is the posuk referring to? Is there only an issur shefichas damim if the person is a profound thinker, philosopher, theologian? Adderaba, the posuk is the makor for harigas ubar. The posuk not only prohibits killing a person, the posuk is the makor for killing a fetus. שופך דם האדם באדם, איזהו אדם שהוא באדם? זה עובר שבמעי אמו.
So already that lower tier, that lower level of tzelem Elokim, the tzelem Elokim which is the potential that a person has for yedi'as Hashem and thereby kirvas Elokim, already by virtue of that potential a person is unique, a person is special, is already a tzelem Elokim. Adavar nifla. So where does the Torah teach us this lesson that squandering potential is tantamount, the value of the potential is such that it's tantamount to actually destroying a reality, an actuality? That lesson ha-emes is already inherent. In the fact that every person is considered to be betzelem elokim. A person is betzelem, every person is betzelem elokim by virtue of his potential. Not every person has actualized that potential. The ve'atem peru u'revu is simply magnifying and making explicit a lesson which is already implicit in the fact that every person is considered to be betzelem elokim by virtue of what every person has in common is the potential of betzelem elokim, not the realization of betzelem elokim. A slightly different angle on what we just said, paraphrasing it, the betzelem elokim of a person is testimony to the inestimable potential that's inherent in every person. The value of life, the value of a person's life derives from the betzelem elokim, even the level of betzelem elokim of potential. It doesn't matter whether the person is a newborn or is a zaken she'tashash kocho or anywhere in between on that spectrum. The definition of a person as a betzelem elokim means that a person always always possesses potential. It's that which underlies what the Rambam quoting from Chazal tells us that אפילו עבד כל ימיו a person can still do teshuvah biyom misato. No matter what the reality of a person is, the betzelem elokim embedded in the person, which defines the person, means that he possesses the potential to be something more and something better and something greater than he is yet. That's the betzelem elokim of a person.