In the Image
The Day We Were Made
A Rosh Hashanah Essay on Being Human, and Becoming Whole
Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the human being. Not the creation of the world—that happened five days earlier, on the 25th of Elul, according to the Sages. What we commemorate on this Day of Judgment is not the birth of the cosmos but the emergence of the conscious, speaking, moral creature: adam, humankind.
And on that day, God said: “Let us make Adam in our image, after our likeness.”
But who is “us”?
Ramban explains (on Genesis 1:26) that God is addressing the entire hierarchy of creation—the angels, the elements, the heavens and the earth.
Rashi, too, brings the Midrash that God included the angels in this moment of consultation, even though it would later give heretics a basis to claim duality in God.
Why? Because “the Torah teaches us derech eretz—humility,” as a priority. A great being consults with the smaller ones before making a decision that will affect them all.
So the creation of humanity is not just an act of Divine fiat—it’s a collaborative moment between heaven and earth, spirit and matter, the infinite and the finite. That’s what makes us human: we are the meeting point of all opposites.
Part I: The Shofar and the Scream of Becoming
When we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we are re-enacting the first breath of life. God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life--nishmat chayim. The shofar is our exhale. It is the sound of life recognizing its source. It is the newborn cry of humanity, not in protest, but in partnership. We exist, and we accept that we were made by Something Greater. But even more powerfully: we consent to continue the act of being made.
That’s what teshuvah is: not just repentance, but re-creation. It is the return to our primal purpose—to be God’s image on earth.
Part II: But What Is the Image of God?
Maimonides (Moreh Nevuchim I:1) insists it is not physical. “Image” and “likeness” refer to our intellect, our da’at, our capacity for wisdom, choice, speech, morality, and self-awareness.
Rav Soloveitchik expanded this in Halakhic Man—we are creators, like God, who shape reality through language, structure, and meaning.
The Maharal (Netiv HaTeshuvah) takes it further. He says the Tzelem Elokim is not a part of us—it is our essence.
The soul is not in the body like a passenger in a car. Rather, the soul is the form of the body, and the body is the garment of the soul.
The human being is a walking paradox—dust from the earth and breath from God. We are free and bounded, holy and broken, magnificent and scared.
To be made in God’s image is to live in contradiction—and not run away.
Part III: And the Judgment?
Rosh Hashanah is not about fear of punishment—it is about relevance. Will you matter this year? Will you be part of the plan, the unfolding drama of divine purpose?
When we say, “Zochreinu l’chaim”, “Remember us for life,” we are not just asking for survival. We are begging to be included in the narrative. We want our story to matter. That’s why the central theme of Rosh Hashanah is not sin—it’s kingship. We’re not just apologizing; we are coronating. We are choosing to belong to a story that is bigger than us.
And here’s the twist: the moment we do that, God chooses us back.
“Today is the birth of the world,” we say. But really: today is the birth of the one who can say those words. The world has existed without us. But a world without a human being to notice it, name it, tend it, bless it—what is it worth?
Final Thought: Becoming Whole Again
The shofar is a broken cry--shevarim, teruah, groans and sobs. But it always begins and ends with tekiah, the whole note. That’s our task: to let the brokenness come through, but not stop there. To reassemble ourselves into something whole.
Rosh Hashanah is not about perfection—it’s about direction. Not about guilt—it’s about choice. We are re-made, with our consent, in the image of a God who creates worlds with words.
So let us speak, let us choose, let us shape the year ahead.
Let us blow breath into this new year.
And may the One who blew breath into us on this day so long ago bless us again with life, with purpose, and with the courage to carry the image forward.
Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the human being. Not the creation of the world—that happened five days earlier, on the 25th of Elul, according to the Sages. What we commemorate on this Day of Judgment is not the birth of the cosmos but the emergence of the conscious, speaking, moral creature: adam, humankind.
And on that day, God said: “Let us make Adam in our image, after our likeness.”
But who is “us”?
Ramban explains (on Genesis 1:26) that God is addressing the entire hierarchy of creation—the angels, the elements, the heavens and the earth.
Rashi, too, brings the Midrash that God included the angels in this moment of consultation, even though it would later give heretics a basis to claim duality in God.
Why? Because “the Torah teaches us derech eretz—humility,” as a priority. A great being consults with the smaller ones before making a decision that will affect them all.
So the creation of humanity is not just an act of Divine fiat—it’s a collaborative moment between heaven and earth, spirit and matter, the infinite and the finite. That’s what makes us human: we are the meeting point of all opposites.
Part I: The Shofar and the Scream of Becoming
When we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we are re-enacting the first breath of life. God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life--nishmat chayim. The shofar is our exhale. It is the sound of life recognizing its source. It is the newborn cry of humanity, not in protest, but in partnership. We exist, and we accept that we were made by Something Greater. But even more powerfully: we consent to continue the act of being made.
That’s what teshuvah is: not just repentance, but re-creation. It is the return to our primal purpose—to be God’s image on earth.
Part II: But What Is the Image of God?
Maimonides (Moreh Nevuchim I:1) insists it is not physical. “Image” and “likeness” refer to our intellect, our da’at, our capacity for wisdom, choice, speech, morality, and self-awareness.
Rav Soloveitchik expanded this in Halakhic Man—we are creators, like God, who shape reality through language, structure, and meaning.
The Maharal (Netiv HaTeshuvah) takes it further. He says the Tzelem Elokim is not a part of us—it is our essence.
The soul is not in the body like a passenger in a car. Rather, the soul is the form of the body, and the body is the garment of the soul.
The human being is a walking paradox—dust from the earth and breath from God. We are free and bounded, holy and broken, magnificent and scared.
To be made in God’s image is to live in contradiction—and not run away.
Part III: And the Judgment?
Rosh Hashanah is not about fear of punishment—it is about relevance. Will you matter this year? Will you be part of the plan, the unfolding drama of divine purpose?
When we say, “Zochreinu l’chaim”, “Remember us for life,” we are not just asking for survival. We are begging to be included in the narrative. We want our story to matter. That’s why the central theme of Rosh Hashanah is not sin—it’s kingship. We’re not just apologizing; we are coronating. We are choosing to belong to a story that is bigger than us.
And here’s the twist: the moment we do that, God chooses us back.
“Today is the birth of the world,” we say. But really: today is the birth of the one who can say those words. The world has existed without us. But a world without a human being to notice it, name it, tend it, bless it—what is it worth?
Final Thought: Becoming Whole Again
The shofar is a broken cry--shevarim, teruah, groans and sobs. But it always begins and ends with tekiah, the whole note. That’s our task: to let the brokenness come through, but not stop there. To reassemble ourselves into something whole.
Rosh Hashanah is not about perfection—it’s about direction. Not about guilt—it’s about choice. We are re-made, with our consent, in the image of a God who creates worlds with words.
So let us speak, let us choose, let us shape the year ahead.
Let us blow breath into this new year.
And may the One who blew breath into us on this day so long ago bless us again with life, with purpose, and with the courage to carry the image forward.