Quote:
“[…] one who saves a single soul in the world is as if he has saved the whole world.”
Source:
Quote: Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a.
Picture: The Babylonian Talmud published by Daniel Bomberg 1519-1523.; Daniel Bomberg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Author Bio:
from the Babylonian Talmud
Context:
The quote comes from the Babylonian Talmud, which does not contain the Jewish religious laws themselves, but rabbinical interpretations of their application in practice. The quote expresses a strict reciprocity between people. It is a meta-halakhic - a universalist - principle that emphasizes the simultaneous universality and particularity of each and every human being. In this respect, it‘s claim comes close to the idea of human rights.
The quote from the Talmud has a central meaning for religious scholars such as Maimonides. The international memorial Yad Vashem honors the "Righteous Among the Nations" (those who saved Jews during the Shoah) with a medal engraved with this sentence from the Talmud.Further Reading:
*Malka Simkovich (2016): The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria. United Kingdom: Lexington Books.
*Programme Yad Vashem medal of the Righteous: An Entire Universe.
Year:
6 AD