Now, all of this, the greatness of mankind, is actually only an introduction to the subject because now we come back to the diet of the Am Yisroel; and it’s an entirely new subject because the Am Yisroel is more than man.
That’s what the mishnah there in Pirkei Avos (ibid.) says. It’s true that ם∆ל∆ˆּ¿ב ‡ָר¿בּƒנׁ∆̆ םָ„ָ‡ יבƒבָח; an especial gift of tzelem Elokim was given to Mankind, a skyscraper of greatness. But when we come to the Am Yisroel we are building another, much taller, skyscraper on top of that one. Because the mishnah doesn’t stop there. It goes on and tells us, yes, man is beloved because he’s created in Hashem’s image, but ל≈‡ָרׂ¿̆ƒי יןƒיבƒבֲח – Yisroel are more beloved, םֹוָּ̃מַל יםƒנָּבּו‡¿ר¿ּ̃ƒנׁ∆̆ – because they are called the children of Hashem.
You know, we’re accustomed to hearing that we’re all children of Hashem. Let’s say when the Reform Jews get together with the NAACP to work together, they say it’s because “we’re all children of G.O.D.” That’s what they say but it’s not Torah! No other people are the children of Hashem! Yes, they’re mankind! They’re tzelem Elokim! It’s a remarkable greatness, it’s a remarkable potential for perfection that every gentile has within him but chavivin Yisroel, make no mistake about it, it’s only you. ם∆יכ≈ֹ̃ל∆‡ םׁ≈ַ̆הֲל םּ∆ַ̇‡ יםƒנָּב – Only you are children of Hashem (Devarim 14:1). We don’t care what the world says, we stick by the Torah. “You are My children and nobody else.”
