The Torah warns us (Noach 9:6) that someone who spills the blood of another human, should be killed. Why? The Torah continues, "Ki B’Tzelem Elokim Asoh Es Ha'adam; because in the image of Hashem man was made." Killing a person is tantamount to destroying the image of Hashem Himself. "This is an amazing thing," notes Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky ZY”A. "Murder is the most evil crime known to man of any persuasion. Why does the Torah need to give a reason that you are destroying a Tzelem Elokim? Do we need to be so philosophical about forbidding such an act that even the most corrupt mind can comprehend on its own?"
"Indeed," says Rav Yaakov, "Left to human logic and barest morality, people will murder. They will surely produce reasons and justifications for why this is different. The Torah needed to give us a reason that stands beyond human reproach; it is laying a hand on the image of Hashem for which there is no excuse.” From here we see," says Rav Yaakov, "That without Yiras Shomayim nothing is sacred and nothing will escape the corruption and perversion of human logic."
