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To save one human being is to save the entire world

Question

Can you please tell me the source and meaning of this quote:
“To save one human being is to save the entire world.”

Thank you.

Answer

There are several slightly different versions of this quote found in Talmudic sources. The way you have worded it is most like that found in Talmud Yerushalmi (the Jerusalem Talmud as opposed to the more commonly cited Babylonian Talmud), Tractate Sanhedrin (4:9).
In its most simple straightforward meaning, the context implies two things. First of all, saving a person also includes saving his offspring (implied in this is also one’s deeds and their affect on the world). Just as the whole world has been populated from one progenitor so to is the loss of any human being an effective “loss of a world.” The other implication is based on the fact that humans alone were created as an individual and not in pairs as with the rest of creation. This is an allusion to each person’s being a microcosm of the whole world. In effect, each and every human being is seen as being fit to be the sole purpose of creation.

Follow-up question

Last things first, Sanhedrin is one of the sixty-three tractates of the Talmud. The “Great Sanhedrin” was the rabbinical court, consisting of 71 sages, which existed during Temple times. Since much of the tractate deals with the laws of establishing and maintaining a Sanhedrin and the responsibilities thereof, it is called Sanhedrin. The particular “mishnah” in question deals with witnesses whose testimony could potentially cause someone to be given the death penalty. In order to instill in these witnesses the gravity of their words, the court would first confront them with the importance of human life, and the seriousness of bearing false witness. This brings us to our phrase. “Therefore, (to show the importance of a life and that all mankind sprouted from one person) Adam was created alone, to teach you that anyone who causes the loss of a life, he is regarded as if he destroyed a world, and anyone who saves a life it is as if he saved a world.” As per my comments, I believe that what I meant when I said that man is a microcosm, is that all of the things we strive to achieve to create a better world as a people are founded upon the inner struggles of man. All of the conflicts and challenges in the world are a magnification and reinterpretation of those which we face in our daily lives. This leads to my second point. Every person contains within themselves the ability to fulfill the very purpose of creation. That is, to recognize the existence and the absolute oneness of G-d.

R’ Daniel Fleksher