פּירוש אויף בראשית 1:26

Adonoy Elohim then formed the man, dust from the ground, and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life. And so man became a living soul.

The heretics once asked Rabbi Samlai: ‘How many deities created the world?’ He said to them: ‘Let you and I inquire into the early days.’ That is what is written: “For inquire now into the early days that were before you, from the day that God created [bara] man” (Deuteronomy 4:32) – “that [God] baru” is not written here,²⁷Plural. but rather, “that [God] bara.”²⁸Singular. They said to him: ‘What is this that is written: “In the beginning God [Elohim]²⁹Elohim appears to be a plural term. created”?’ He said to them: “Baru Elohim” is not written here, but rather, “bara Elohim.”
Rabbi Samlai said [moreover]: Everywhere you find a basis for a claim of the heretics, you find a refutation alongside it. They asked him further, saying to him: ‘What is this that is written: “Let us make Man in our image, in our likeness”?’³⁰“Our” implying that there is more than one deity. He said to them: ‘Read what is written thereafter: God created [vayivre’u] man in their image³¹With plural verb and pronoun. is not stated, but rather, “God created [vayivra] man in His image,”’³²With singular verb and pronoun. (Genesis 1:27). After they left, his students said to him: ‘Rabbi, those men you pushed off with a reed.³³You gave them a facile response. What would you respond to us?’ He said to them: ‘In the past, Adam was created from earth and Eve was created from Adam. From now on, “In our image, in our likeness” – a man will not [produce offspring] without a woman, nor will a woman without a man, nor both of them without the Divine Presence.’³⁴“Our” in the phrase “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness” refers to a child’s father and mother and God, who all create new life together.
They then asked him, they said to him: ‘What is this that is written: “God [El], God [Elohim], the Lord [Hashem], [He knows]…”’ (Joshua 22:22).³⁵It would appear as if three different deities are being referred to. He said to them: ‘“They know” is not written here, but rather, “He knows.”’³⁶So all these names refer to a single Deity. His students said to him: ‘Those men you pushed off with a reed. What do you respond to us?’ He said to them: ‘All three of them are names of God, as when a person says: Basilias Augustus Caesar.’³⁷These are all titles that are used in reference to a single king. They [the heretics] asked him: ‘What is this that is written: “For He is a holy [kedoshim] God”?’ (Joshua 24:19).³⁸Kedoshim is a plural adjective, implying more than one deity. He said to them: ‘“They are holy” is not written, but rather, “he is holy.”’

“Let us make man” [1:26]. On the sixth day, the Holy One said, we will create a person. The Holy One teaches us that that a person should not be arrogant and should consult with and seek advice from other people when he wants to do something. Even if the other people are of lower status, he should ask them. Therefore, the Holy One also asked the angels, because the person’s face looks like that of an angel and the angels would be jealous of the person. That is also why the Holy One said to the angels, we will create a person. However, in no way did anyone assist Him in the creation, but the Holy One himself created him, as the verse says, “And God created man” [1:27]. This means, that God alone created the person. The Holy One said that if there would not be a figure on the earth similar to the angels in heaven, there would be envy among the creatures. Therefore, the Holy One created the equivalent of the angels, a person, with their understanding and form. The Holy One then said that the person should “rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and the animals on the earth” [1: 26].⁴⁷Rashi, Genesis, 1:26–27. The verse at the end of the comment is in Yiddish.

נעשה אדם WE WILL MAKE MAN — The meekness of the Holy One, blessed be He, they (the Rabbis) learned from here: because the man is in the likeness of the angels and they might envy him, therefore He took counsel with them (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 18 and see Genesis Rabbah 8). And when He judges the kings He likewise consults His heavenly council, for thus we find in the case of Ahab to whom Micha said, (1 Kings 22:19) “I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.” Has God, then, a right hand and a left hand? But it means that some stood on the right side to plead in favour of the accused and others stood on the left side to accuse; and similarly we read (Daniel 4:14), “the matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones”, — here, also, He consulted His heavenly council and asked permission of them, saying to them: “There are in the heavens beings after My likeness; if there will not be on earth also beings after My likeness, there will be envy among the beings that I have created” (Sanhedrin 38b).