The basic fact upon which [the following] structure will stand is the fact
that “man was created solitary.” From this basic fact come two competing
tendencies : the first the realization: “We are all brothers, sons of one man” —the origin of our heredity
is a solitary man (adam yachid), and so, certainly, we are all interlocking parts
of one story, parts of one complete whole (shlemus achas). And this is a
faithful source [in Torah] for the unity of Man.
However, the second tendency is the realization: the
nature of the begetter is in the child, and since our origin is in a solitary man,
the stamp of individuality (yehidut) of our begetter is in each and every one
of us.“A flesh and blood person stamps several coins with one stamp, and all
resemble one another, but the Holy One, Blessed Be He, has stamped every
human by means of the stamp of first Adam, but one human is not identical
to another” (Sanhedrin 38). And this is a faithful [Torah] source for the individuality
of the human. Therefore, the very same basic fact
of “man was created solitary” serves as the origin of two conflicting tendencies,
and we have a common source for man’s individuality and his sociability
(yichud ha-adam/ihcud ha-adam).
Rav Hutner
