(ח) פְּתַח־פִּ֥יךָ לְאִלֵּ֑ם אֶל־דִּ֝֗ין כָּל־בְּנֵ֥י חֲלֽוֹף׃ (ט) פְּתַח־פִּ֥יךָ שְׁפָט־צֶ֑דֶק וְ֝דִ֗ין עָנִ֥י וְאֶבְיֽוֹן׃ (פ)
(8) Speak up for the dumb, For the rights of all the unfortunate. (9) Speak up, judge righteously, Champion the poor and the needy.
God gives physical form to the spiritual; the Jew makes spiritual the physical.
Lurianic Kabbalah
Choseness is our mission to do Tikkun Olam by finding sparks.
(6) For you are a people consecrated to the LORD your God: of all the peoples on earth the LORD your God chose you to be God's treasured people. (7) It is not because you are the most numerous of peoples that the LORD set God's heart on you and chose you—indeed, you are the smallest of peoples; (8) but it was because the LORD favored you and kept the oath God made to your ancestors that the LORD freed you with a mighty hand and rescued you from the house of bondage, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
(2) For you are a people consecrated to the LORD your God: the LORD your God chose you from among all other peoples on earth to be God's treasured people.
(17) You have affirmed this day that the LORD is your God, that you will walk in God's ways, that you will observe God's laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey God. (18) And the LORD has affirmed this day that you are, as God promised you, God's treasured people who shall observe all God's commandments,
But didn't we learn: Rabbi Meir said: How do we know that even a non-Jew who is involved in Torah is like a High Priest? For we learned: “that a person should perform them and live by them (Leviticus 18:5),” it does not say, “priests,” or “Levites,” or “Israelites,” but rather “a person,” so we learn that even a non-Jew who is involved in Torah is like a High Priest! It was said in response: They do not get a reward like one who is commanded to perform and obeys, but rather like one who is not commanded to perform, for Rabbi Chanina said: One who is commanded and performs the commandments is greater than one who is not commanded and performs the commandments anyway.
Shabbat 88a
And they stood under the mount:16 R. Abdimi b. Hama b. Hasa said: This teaches that the Holy Blessed One, overturned the mountain upon them like an [inverted] cask, and said to them,'If ye accept the Torah, 'tis well; if not, there shall be your burial.' R. Aha b. Jacob observed: This furnishes a strong protest against the Torah.17 Said Raba, Yet even so, they re-accepted it in the days of Ahasuerus, for it is written, [the Jews] confirmed, and took upon them [etc.]:18 [i.e.,] they confirmed what they had accepted long before. Hezekiah said: What is meant by, Thou didst cause sentence to be heard from Heaven; The earth feared, and was tranquil:19 if it feared, why was it tranquil, and if it was tranquil, why did it fear? But at first it feared, yet subsequently it was tranquil,20 And why did it fear? — Even in accordance with Resh Lakish. For Resh Lakish said: Why is it written, And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day;21 What is the purpose of the additional 'the'?22 This teaches that the Holy Blessed One, stipulated with the Works of Creation and said thereto. 'If Israel accepts the Torah, ye shall exist; but if not, I will turn you back into emptiness and formlessness.'23
(א) חַיָּבִין אָנוּ לְהִזָּהֵר בְּמִצְוַת צְדָקָה יוֹתֵר מִכָּל מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה. שֶׁהַצְּדָקָה סִימָן לַצַּדִּיק זֶרַע אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית יח יט) "כִּי יְדַעְתִּיו לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת בָּנָיו" (בראשית יח יט) "לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה". וְאֵין כִּסֵּא יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתְכּוֹנֵן וְדַת הָאֱמֶת עוֹמֶדֶת אֶלָּא בִּצְדָקָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נד יד) "בִּצְדָקָה תִּכּוֹנָנִי". וְאֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל נִגְאָלִין אֶלָּא בִּצְדָקָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה א כז) "צִיּוֹן בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָה":
(ב) לְעוֹלָם אֵין אָדָם מַעֲנִי מִן הַצְּדָקָה וְאֵין דָּבָר רַע וְלֹא הֶזֵּק נִגְלָל בִּשְׁבִיל הַצְּדָקָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה לב יז) "וְהָיָה מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה שָׁלוֹם." כָּל הַמְרַחֵם מְרַחֲמִין עָלָיו שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יג יח) "וְנָתַן לְךָ רַחֲמִים וְרִחַמְךָ וְהִרְבֶּךָ". וְכָל מִי שֶׁהוּא אַכְזָרִי וְאֵינוֹ מְרַחֵם יֵשׁ לָחוּשׁ לְיַחֲסוֹ. שֶׁאֵין הָאַכְזָרִיּוּת מְצוּיָה אֶלָּא בְּעַכּוּ''ם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה נ מב) "אַכְזָרִי הֵמָּה וְלֹא יְרַחֵמוּ". וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהַנִּלְוֶה עֲלֵיהֶם כְּאַחִים הֵם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יד א) "בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם" וְאִם לֹא יְרַחֵם הָאָח עַל הָאָח מִי יְרַחֵם עָלָיו. וּלְמִי עֲנִיֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל נוֹשְׂאִין עֵינֵיהֶן. הֲלְעַכּוּ''ם שֶׁשּׂוֹנְאִין אוֹתָן וְרוֹדְפִים אַחֲרֵיהֶן. הָא אֵין עֵינֵיהֶן תְּלוּיוֹת אֶלָּא לַאֲחֵיהֶן:
(1) We must be especially careful to observe the mitzvah of tzedakah, more so than any other positive mitzvah, for tzedakah is a sign of the righteous [tzadik] lineage of Abraham, our father, as it is said, (Genesis 18:19) For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity [to keep the way of the LORD] by doing what is just [tzedakah].175See Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 79a. The throne of Israel is established and the religion of truth stands only on tzedakah, as it is said, (Isaiah 54:14) You shall be established through righteousness [tzedek]. And Israel will only be redeemed through tzedakah, as it is said, (Isaiah 1:27) Zion shall be saved in the judgment; her repentant ones, in the retribution [tzedakah].176See Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 139a.
(2) Never has anyone become poor by giving to tzedakah, nor has anything bad ever come of it, nor has any harm occurred because of tzedakah, as it is said, (Isaiah 32:17) The work of righteousness [tzedakah] is peace. Anyone who shows compassion, others will show compassion to them, as it is said, (Deut. 13:18) [May God] show you compassion, and let your compassion increase.177This is a play on the text. The original reads, "and in God's compassion increase you," that is, God will multiply your descendants. Here, the compassion itself increases. And if someone is cruel and without compassion, then their lineage is suspect, for cruelty is only found among the idolatrous nations, as it is said, (Jer. 50:42) They are cruel, they show no mercy.178See Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 151b. All Israel and all who are associated with them are like siblings, as it is said, (Deut. 14:1) You are children of the LORD your God.179See Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 10a and the Introduction. And if a sibling does not show compassion for another sibling, then who will have compassion for them? And to whom can the poor of Israel look? To the idolatrous nations that hate them and pursue them? They can only look to rely upon their siblings.
Isaac Meyer Wise (1819-1900, Prague/US)
Pittsburgh Platform, 1885
1. We recognize in every religion an attempt to grasp the Infinite, and in every mode, source or book of revelation held sacred in any religious system the consciousness of the indwelling of God in man. We hold that Judaism presents the highest conception of the God-idea as taught in our Holy Scriptures and developed and spiritualized by the Jewish teachers, in accordance with the moral and philosophical progress of their respective ages.
2. We recognize in the Bible the record of the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one God, and value it as the most potent instrument of religious and moral instruction. We hold that the modern discoveries of scientific researches in the domain of nature and history are not antagonistic to the doctrines of Judaism, the Bible reflecting the primitive ideas of its own age, and at times clothing its conception of divine Providence and Justice dealing with men in miraculous narratives.
6. We recognize in Judaism a progressive religion, ever striving to be in accord with the postulates of reason....Christianity and Islam, being daughter religions of Judaism, we appreciate their providential mission, to aid in the spreading of monotheistic and moral truth. We acknowledge that the spirit of broad humanity of our age is our ally in the fulfillment of our mission, and therefore we extend the hand of fellowship to all who cooperate with us in the establishment of the reign of truth and righteousness among men.
Michael Wyschogrod, Modern Orthodox Theologian:
If the Jews are chosen to serve for all eternity as a light unto the nations, it is because God, “sees the face of his beloved Abraham in each and every one of his children as a man sees the face of his beloved in the children of his union with his beloved.”
Heschel
"We have not chosen God; He has chosen us. There is no concept of a chosen God but there is the idea of a chosen people. The idea of a chosen people does not suggest the preference for a people based upon a discrimination among a number of peoples. We do not say that we are superior people. The "chosen people" means a people approached and chosen by God. The significance of this term is genuine in relation to God rather than in relation to other peoples. It signifies not a quality inherent in the people but a relationship between the people and God."
Kaplan
The idea of race or national superiority exercises divisive influences generating suspicion and hatred...we cannot assume that Israel must at all times possess that spirit to a higher degree than other people... Thank God I had had the courage to go through with the excision of such a cancerous growth from the Jewish consciousness ...
Sir Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Dignity of Difference (Chapter 3, 2002); former Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue of Great Britain (Modern Orthodox Judaism)
“By reversing the normal order, and charting instead a journey from the universal to the particular, the Bible represents the great anti-Platonic narrative in Western civilization. Against Plato and his followers, the Bible argues that universalism is the first, not the last, phase in the growth of the moral imagination.
Judaism has a structural peculiarity so perplexing and profound that though Christianity and Islam took much else from it, they did not adopt this: is is a particularist monotheism. It believes in one God but not in one exclusive path to salvation. The God of the Israelites is the God of all mankind, but the demands made of the Israelites are not asked of all mankind....[as the Rabbis say]: 'The pious of the nations have a share in the world to come.' (MT Hilchot Teshuvah 3:5)
God the creator of humanity, having made a covenant with all humanity, then turns to one people and commands it to be different, teaching humanity to make space for difference. God may at times be found in human other, the one not like us. Biblical monotheism is not the idea that there is one God and therefore one gateway to God's presence. On the contrary, it is the idea that the unity of God is to be found in the diversity of creation."
Lou Silberman, 2008
The more extreme, and exclusive, interpretations of the doctrine of election among Jewish thinkers, were partly the result of reaction to oppression by the non-Jewish world. The more the Jew was forced to close in on himself, to withdraw into the imposed confines of the ghetto, the more he tended to emphasize Israel's difference from the cruel gentile without. Only thus did his suffering become intelligible and bearable. This type of interpretation reaches its hight in the Kabbalistic idea that while the souls of Israel stem from God, the souls of gentiles are merely of base material.
Todd Gitlin and Liel Leibovitz, Secular Academics, Authors of 'The Chosen People', New York University
In a way, the Jewish people have invented the idea of chosenness, but in truth, the idea of chosenness has also invented the Jewish people. Such is Judaism’s wonderfully inverted logic: First comes redemption, only then reasons...
When [the writer] Chabon credits Jewish survival to blind luck, he ignores the essential significance of the idea of chosenness—that only by believing themselves to be God’s dearest children, and therefore bound to principles that distinguish them from the nations of man, do the Jews manage to retain their distinct identity. Now, as in the days of Abraham, we owe all to this rich and strange idea...The idea of chosenness is too deeply ingrained in us to be overlooked, patronized, or definitively repealed. Whether or not we believe that the descendants of Abraham were singled out, in perpetuity, by God, and whether or not we find this to be an outlandish, if not offensive, notion—no matter what, we must grapple with it, for it is, behind our backs, grappling with us.
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/35579/the-centrality-of-jewish-chosenness
Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, former Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue of Great Britain (Modern Orthodox Judaism)
Yes, I do believe that the chosen people concept as affirmed by Judaism in its holy writ, its prayers, and its millennial tradition. In fact, I believe that every people—and indeed, in a more limited way, every individual—is "chosen" or destined for some distinct purpose in advancing the designs of Providence. Only, some fulfill their mission and others do not. Maybe the Greeks were chosen for their unique contributions to art and philosophy, the Romans for their pioneering services in law and government, the British for bringing parliamentary rule into the world, and the Americans for piloting democracy in a pluralistic society. The Jews were chosen by God to be 'peculiar unto Me' as the pioneers of religion and morality; that was and is their national purpose.
The Kuzari was written by Judah Halevi (Spain, 1075 – 1141). Originally written in Arabic, it describes how the king of the Khazars (an Asian tribe that converted to Judaism in the eighth century), in an attempt to determine which is the true religion, invites representatives of each of the three major religions to come and explain his beliefs. The group includes a Muslim imam, a Christian priest and a rabbi. The king is won over by the rabbi's arguments, and during the ensuing dialogue, the rabbi demonstrates the superiority of his faith by bringing clear proof to the biblical account of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and explaining the commandments in rational terms. Instead of using complicated philosophical ideas, he bases his arguments on history, tradition, and common sense. In the introduction, the author states that the purpose of his work is to reply to the attacks of those who wish to denigrate Judaism. The Kuzari is considered one of the most important works of Jewish apologetica and has been reprinted many times in several languages.
(צח) (צב) אָמַר הַכּוּזָרִי: הִזָּהֵר הֶחָבֵר שֶׁלֹּא תִטֶּה בְסִפּוּר שִׁבְחֵי עַמְּךָ וְתַעֲזֹב מַה שֶּׁנִּתְפַּרְסֵם מִמִּרְיָם עִם אֵלֶּה הַמַּעֲמָדוֹת, כִּי שָׁמַעְתִּי שֶׁבְּתוֹךְ זֶה עָשׂוּ עֵגֶל וַעֲבָדוּהוּ מִבִּלְתִּי הָאֱלֹהִים.
(צט) (צג) אָמַר הֶחָבֵר: חֵטְא שֶׁהִגְדִּילוּהוּ עֲלֵיהֶם לִגְדֻלָּתָם וְהַגָּדוֹל מִי שֶׁחֲטָאָיו סְפוּרִים.
(ק) (צד) אָמַר הַכּוּזָרִי: וְזֶה מִנְּטוֹתְךָ וַעֲזָרְךָ לְעַמְּךָ, וְאֵי זֶה עָוֹן גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה, וְאֵי זֶה מַעֲשֶׂה יִשָּׁאֵר אַחַר זֶה?
(קא) (צה) אָמַר הֶחָבֵר: הַרְפֵּה לִי מְעַט, עַד שֶׁאֲבָאֵר אֶצְלְךָ גְדֻלַּת הָעָם, וְדַי לִי לְעֵד, שֶׁהַשֵּׁם בְּחָרָם לְעָם וּלְאֻמָּה מִבֵּין אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, וְחוּל הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי עַל הֲמוֹנָם עַד שֶׁהִגִּיעוּ כֻלָּם אֶל מַעֲלַת הַדִּבּוּר. וְעָבַר הָעִנְיָן אֶל נְשֵׁיהֶם וְהָיוּ מֵהֶן נְבִיאוֹת, אַחַר שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה חָל הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי כִּי אִם בִּיחִידִים מִבְּנֵי אָדָם אַחַר אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, כִּי אָדָם הָיָה שָׁלֵם מִבִּלְתִּי תְּנָאי, כִּי אֵין טְעָנָה בִּשְׁלֵמוּת מַעֲשֶׂה, מֵעוֹשֶׂה חָכָם יָכוֹל, מֵחֹמֶר בְּחָרוֹ לַצּוּרָה אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ בָּהּ, וְלֹא מָנַע מוֹנֵעַ מִמֶּזֶג שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע הָאָב וְלֹא מִדַּם הָאֵם וְלֹא מֵהַמְּזוֹנוֹת וְהַהַנְהָגָה בִשְׁנֵי הַגִּדּוּל וְהַיַּנְקוּת וְהִתְחַלְּפוּת הָאַוִּיר וְהַמַּיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, כִּי יְצָרוֹ כְמַגִּיעַ לְתַכְלִית יְמֵי הַבַּחֲרוּת הַשָּׁלֵם בִּיצִירוֹתָיו וּבְמִדּוֹתָיו, וְהוּא אֲשֶׁר קִבֵּל הַנֶּפֶשׁ עַל תֻּמָּהּ, וְהַשֵּׂכֶל עַל תַּכְלִית מַה שֶּׁבִּיכֹלֶת הָאֱנוֹשִׁי, וְהַכֹּחַ הָאֱלֹהִי אַחַר הַשֵּׂכֶל, רְצוֹנִי לוֹמַר: הַמַּעֲלָה אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ יִדְבַּק בֵּאלֹהִים וּבְרוּחֲנִיִּים, וְיֵדַע הָאֲמִתּוֹת מִבְּלִי לִמּוּד, אֲבָל בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה קַלָּה, וּכְבָר נִקְרָא אֶצְלֵנוּ בֶּן־אֱלֹהִים, וְכָל הַדּוֹמִים לוֹ מִזַּרְעוֹ – בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים. וְהוֹלִיד בָּנִים רַבִּים וְלֹא הָיָה מֵהֶם רָאוּי לִהְיוֹת בִּמְקוֹם אָדָם אֶלָּא הֶבֶל, כִּי הוּא הָיָה דוֹמֶה לוֹ. וְכַאֲשֶׁר הֲרָגוֹ קַיִן אָחִיו מִפְּנֵי קִנְאָתוֹ בוֹ עַל הַמַּעֲלָה הַזֹּאת, נָתַן לוֹ תַחְתָּיו שֵׁת, וְהָיָה דוֹמֶה לְאָדָם, וְהָיָה סְגֻלָּה וָלֵב וְזוּלָתוֹ כִקְלִיפָּה. וּסְגֻלַּת שֵׁת אֱנוֹשׁ. וְכֵן הִגִּיעַ הָעִנְיָן עַד נֹחַ: בִּיחִידִים הָיוּ לְבָבוֹת, דּוֹמִים לְאָדָם וְנִקְרָאִים בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים, שְׁלֵמִים בִּבְרִיאָתָם וּבְמִדּוֹתָם וּבַאֲרִיכוּת הַיָּמִים וּבְחָכְמוֹת וּבִיכֹלֶת, וּבִימֵיהֶם אָנוּ מוֹנִים מֵאָדָם וְעַד נֹחַ וְכֵן מִנֹּחַ וְעַד אַבְרָהָם. וְאֶפְשָׁר שֶׁהָיָה מֵהֶם מִי שֶׁלֹּא דָבַק בּוֹ הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי כְתֶרַח, אֲבָל אַבְרָהָם בְּנוֹ הָיָה תַּלְמִיד לַאֲבִי אָבִיו עֵבֶר, וְעוֹד – שֶׁהִשִּׂיג נֹחַ בְּעַצְמוֹ. וְהָיָה הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי דָבֵק בָּהֶם מֵאֲבוֹת אֲבוֹתָם אֶל בְּנֵי בָנִים. וְאַבְרָהָם סְגֻלַּת עֵבֶר וְתַלְמִידוֹ וְעַל כֵּן נִקְרָא עִבְרִי, וְעֵבֶר הָיָה סְגֻלַּת שֵׁם וְשֵׁם הָיָה סְגֻלַּת נֹחַ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא יוֹרֵשׁ הָאַקְלִימִים הַשָּׁוִים אֲשֶׁר אֶמְצָעִיתָם וְחֶמְדָּתָם אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אַדְמַת הַנְּבוּאָה, וַיֵּצֵא יֶפֶת אֶל צָפוֹן וְחָם אֶל דָּרוֹם. וּסְגֻלַּת אַבְרָהָם מִכָּל בָּנָיו – יִצְחָק, וְהִרְחִיק כָּל בָּנָיו מֵהָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת הַמְסֻגֶּלֶת כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּהְיֶה מְיֻחֶדֶת לְיִצְחָק, וּסְגֻלַּת יִצְחָק – יַעֲקֹב, וְנִדְחָה עֵשָׂו אָחִיו מִפְּנֵי שֶׁזָּכָה יַעֲקֹב בָּאָרֶץ הַהִיא, וּבְנֵי יַעֲקֹב כֻּלָּם סְגֻלָּה, כֻּלָּם רְאוּיִים לָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי, וְהָיָה לָהֶם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא הַמְיֻחָד בָּעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי, וְזֶה הָיָה תְחִלַּת חוּל הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי עַל קָהָל, אַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָיָה נִמְצָא כִּי אִם בִּיחִידִים. וַיִּשְׁמְרֵם הָאֱלֹהִים וַיַּפְרֵם וַיַּרְבֵּם וַיְגַדְּלַם בְּמִצְרַיִם, כַּאֲשֶׁר יְגֻדַּל הָאִילָן אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְשׁוֹ טוֹב, עַד שֶׁהוֹצִיא פְּרִי שָׁלֵם דּוֹמֶה לַפְּרִי הָרִאשׁוֹן אֲשֶׁר נִטַּע מִמֶּנּוּ, רְצוֹנִי לוֹמַר: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב וְיוֹסֵף וְאֶחָיו, וְהָיָה מִן הַפְּרִי משֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וּמִרְיָם, וּכְמוֹ בְּצַלְאֵל וְאָהֳלִיאָב וּכְמוֹ רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת וְשִׁבְעִים הַזְּקֵנִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ רְאוּיִים לִנְבוּאָה מַתְמֶדֶת, וְכִיהוֹשֻׁעַ וְכָלֵב וְחוּר וְזוּלָתָם רַבִּים. וְאָז הָיוּ רְאוּיִים לְהֵרָאוֹת הָאוֹר עֲלֵיהֶם וְהַהַשְׁגָּחָה הַהִיא הָרִבּוֹנִית, וְאִם הָיוּ בֵינֵיהֶם מַמְרִים הָיוּ נִגְעָלִים, אַךְ הֵם בְּלִי סָפֵק סְגֻלָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר הֵם בְּתוֹלַדְתָּם וְטִבְעָם מִן הַסְּגֻלָּה וַיּוֹלִידוּ מִי שֶּהָיָה סְגֻלָּה וְנִזְהָרִים בְּאָב הַמַּמְרֶה בַּעֲבוּר מַה שֶּׁיִּתְעָרֵב בּוֹ מִן הַסְּגֻלָּה אֲשֶׁר תֵּרָאֶה בִּבְנוֹ אוֹ בְּבֶן בְּנוֹ כְּפִי מַה שֶּׁתִּזְדַּכֵּךְ הַטִּפָּה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמַרְנוּ בְּתֶרַח וְזוּלָתוֹ מִמִּי שֶׁלֹּא נִדְבַּק בּוֹ הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי אַךְ בְּשֹׁרֶשׁ תּוֹלַדְתּוֹ שֶׁיּוֹלִיד סְגֻלָּה, מַה שֶּׁלֹּא הָיָה כֵן בְּתוֹלֶדֶת כָּל הַנּוֹלַד מֵחָם וָיָפֶת. וְנִרְאֶה כָזֶה בָּעִנְיָן הַטִּבְעִי, כִּי כַמָּה יֵשׁ מִבְּנֵי הָאָדָם שֶׁאֵינוֹ דוֹמֶה לָאָב כְּלָל אַךְ הוּא דוֹמֶה לַאֲבִי אָבִיו?! וְאֵין סָפֵק כִּי הַטֶּבַע הַהוּא וְהַדִּמְיוֹן הַהוּא הָיָה צָפוּן בָּאָב וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹּא נִרְאָה לַהַרְגָּשָׁה, כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיָה צָפוּן טֶבַע עֵבֶר בְּבָנָיו עַד שֶׁנִּרְאָה בְאַבְרָהָם.
(98) 92. Al Khazari: Take care, O Rabbi, lest too great indulgence in the description of the superiority of thy people make thee not unbearable, causing thee to overlook what is known of their disobedience in spite of the revelation. I have heard that in the midst of it they made a calf and worshipped it.
(99) 93. The Rabbi: A sin which was reckoned all the heavier on account of their greatness. Great is one whose sins are counted
(100) 94. Al Khazari: This is what makes thee tedious and makes thee appear partial to thy people. What sin could be greater than this, and what deed could have exceeded this?
(101) 95. The Rabbi: Bear with me a little while that I show the lofty station of the people. For me it is sufficient that God chose them as God's people from all nations of the world, and allowed God's influence to rest on all of them, and that they nearly approached being addressed by God. It even descended on their women, among whom were prophetesses, whilst since Adam only isolated individuals had been inspired till then. Adam was perfection itself, because no flaw could be found in a work of a wise and Almighty Creator, wrought from a substance chosen by God, and fashioned according to God's own design. There was no restraining influence, no fear of atavism (an ancestral trait reemerging after having been lost,) no question of nutrition or education during the years of childhood and growth; neither was there the influence of climate, water, or soil to consider. For God created Adam in the form of an adolescent, perfect in body and mind. The soul with which Adam was endowed was perfect; Adam's intellect was the loftiest which it is possible for a human being to possess, and beyond this Adam was gifted with the divine power of such high rank, that it brought Adam into connexion with beings divine and spiritual, and enabled Adam, with slight reflection, to comprehend the great truths without instruction. We call Adam God's child, and we call all those who were like Adam also children of God. Adam left many children, of whom the only one capable of taking his place was Abel, because he alone was like him. After he had been slain by Kain through jealousy of this privilege, it passed to his brother Seth, who also was like Adam, being [as it were] his essence and heart, whilst the others were like husks and rotten fruit. The essence of Seth, then, passed to Enosh, and in this way the divine influence was inherited by isolated individuals down to Noah. They are compared to the heart; they resembled Adam, and were styled sons of God. They were perfect outwardly and inwardly, their lives, knowledge and ability being likewise faultless. Their lives fix the chronology from Adam to Noah, as well as from Noah to Abraham. There were some, however, among them who did not come under divine influence, as Terah, but his son Abraham was the disciple of his grandfather Eber, and was born in the lifetime of Noah. Thus the divine spirit descended from the grandfather to the grandchildren. Abraham represented the essence of Eber, being his disciple, and for this reason he was called Ibri. Eber represented the essence of Shem, the latter that of Noah. He inherited the temperate zone, the centre and principal part of which is Palestine, the land of prophecy. Japheth turned towards north, and Ham towards south. The essence of Abraham passed over to Isaac, to the exclusion of the other sons who were all removed from the land, the special inheritance of Isaac. The prerogative of Isaac descended on Jacob, whilst Esau was sent from the land which belonged to Jacob. The sons of the latter were all worthy of the divine influence, as well as of the country distinguished by the divine spirit. This is the first instance of the divine influence descending on a number of people, whereas it had previously only been vouchsafed to isolated individuals. Then God tended them in Egypt, multiplied and aggrandised them, as a tree with a sound root grows until it produces perfect fruit, resembling the first fruit from which it was planted, viz. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his brethren. The seed further produced Moses, Aaron and Miriam, Bezaleel, Oholiab, and the chiefs of the tribes, the seventy Elders, who were all endowed with the spirit of prophecy; then Joshua, Kaleb, Hur, and many others. Then they became worthy of having the divine light and providence made visible to them. If disobedient people existed among them, they were hated, but remained, without doubt, of the essence inasmuch as they were part of it on account of their descent and nature, and begat children who were of the same stamp. An ungodly person received consideration in proportion to the minuteness of the essence with which one was endowed, for it reappeared in their children and grandchildren according to the purity of their lineage. This is how we regard Terah and others in whom the divine afflatus was not visible, though, to a certain extent, it underlay his natural disposition, so that he begat a descendant filled with the essence, which was not the case with all the posterity of Ham and Japhet. We perceive a similar phenomenon in nature at large. Many people do not resemble their parents, but take after their grandparents. There cannot, consequently, be any doubt that this nature and resemblance was hidden in the parents, although it did not become visible outwardly, as was the nature of Eber in his children, until it reappeared in Abraham.
Aryeh Bernstein, Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi
Sh'ma Journal, February 10, 2015
In an exchange of letters, Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi and Aryeh Bernstein discuss how their thinking about chosenness has changed over time — whether chosenness, today, is a notion that is instructive or detrimental to Jewish life. They consider how chosenness influences our relationships with Israel and the concept of peoplehood.
Shalom, Aryeh,
What does chosenness mean for us as Jews today? Should it still guide how we act? I believe that the idea of chosenness must remain central to how we understand ourselves. That we are a chosen people is a core aspect of what it means to be Jewish. It is rooted in the origins of our people, in the biblical narratives of Abraham (Genesis 12) and in the redemption and revelation that made us who we are. Exodus 19 says it in three different ways. First, we are an am segulah, precious to God, as well as mamlekhet kohanim, God’s nation of priests, and a holy nation or people, a goy kadosh. It is significant that this is how God names us at the moment we are given the Torah with its commandments to create an ethical society. I understand these three statements to mean that from ancient times to the present era, whether we were celebrated or decimated, we understood ourselves to be precious, priestly, and holy.
Many Jewish thinkers have questioned this idea of chosenness — including the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan. And today, many who criticize the notion of chosenness for its particularist commitments — especially those on the far left who believe in a more universalist approach — are often the same people who most severely criticize the State of Israel. But I feel that a deep understanding of chosenness allows for a deeper understanding of the complexities of nationhood and statehood. Given our modern universal ethics and pluralist contexts, chosenness may seem foreign. But chosenness does not mean we see ourselves as superior to others. Rather, it affirms that we have a particular role to play and a particular relationship with God that demands creating and sustaining an ethical society. The command to protect the most vulnerable in the ancient world is no less essential today. And Israel, today, has the obligation and opportunity to be the nation that most protects the vulnerable and most ensures the rights of all its citizens. This is what it means to be a holy nation.
In order to maintain this possibility of both peoplehood and ethics, it is essential that all Jews understand their role as a chosen people, chosen to create and sustain Israel in all its struggles and in all its strivings. Whether we lovingly critique or more easily embrace the specific policies of any particular government, the value of supporting the state of the Jewish people should remain foundational.
For people who don’t see the connection between chosenness and commitment to the State of Israel, is it a failure of understanding or a failure of education? Is it that their universal sense of ethics has trumped their particularist identities? And, if so, what does this discomfort with particularist Jewish commitments mean for Jewish peoplehood as the global realities continue to become more complex?
With respect for our friendship and chevruta, Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi
•••
Shalom, Rachel,
I agree that chosenness is integral to Jewish life and that chosenness should not be understood to imply superiority. However, some of your definitions seem to obscure more than reveal. For example, you say that chosenness “affirms that we have a particular role to play…that demands creating and sustaining an ethical society.” But is creating and sustaining an ethical society the Jewish people’s particular role? Isn’t it our general role, one that we share with all peoples?
The state of Israel “has the obligation…to be the nation that most protects the vulnerable and most ensures the rights of all its citizens.” Why most? I agree that Israel has no less obligation than anyone else, but why more? And why is protecting citizens’ rights “what it means to be a holy nation”? Isn’t that just what it means to be a nation?
By contrast, you then distinguish peoplehood from ethics and identify chosenness with “creat[ing] and sustain[ing] Israel in all its struggles and… strivings.” You situate chosenness in tension with a universal sense of ethics that has perhaps “trumped” the “particularist identities” of those who don’t connect their sense of chosenness to a commitment to the State of Israel. How do you understand chosenness — as our universal ethics or our particular nationalism?
You express concern that many Jews are not sufficiently embracing Israel and they are eschewing chosenness; perhaps this is because they understand the current conception of chosenness as chauvinistic, and that it is this chosenness that creates the vulnerability to abuse for the most unprotected people in Israel: asylum-seekers, foreign workers, and Palestinians. Terms such as “precious,” “priestly,” and “holy” are often associated with feelings of superiority — among those who embrace chosenness as well as those who don’t. If we want to promote a non-chauvinistic sense of chosenness, we need to articulate that vision more clearly.
Here’s my stab at it: The association of chosenness with superiority reflects the faulty assumption that what I know is all there is to be known, that since I can testify to our chosenness because I remember Sinai, and since I have no personal knowledge of anyone else’s chosenness, therefore, we must be the only people to have been chosen. However, other peoples know things we don’t know and have their own inspiration. Our covenant is no evidence of superiority. The reason non-Jews cannot testify to Sinai is simply that they weren’t there. I mean that poetically; I’ll translate this into prose: Culture exists and inheritors of a culture have something unique to contribute to the world. It would be spiritually colonialist for me to testify to any other people’s chosenness or revelation. My role is to listen and take people at their word, at their testimony to their experience, just as I hope they’ll take my word and listen to my testimony of my experience.
The character of this chosenness is our unique, particular story. When we are called to the Torah, we say, “Praised are You…God…Who chose us from among the nations by giving us the Torah.” But all nations — all humanity — are responsible for a universal ethics as encapsulated by the seven Noahide laws that ordain core guidelines of civilized, human life.
Every nation must sustain an ethical culture. As Jews, we must sustain the particular ethical culture shaped by having been slaves in Egypt, guided through the desert, etc. We are chosen to serve as we are and it seems as though everyone else probably is, too.
With regard to the State of Israel, I wonder: Does Israel magnify or compromise our application of a particular, ethical culture? If it manifests a chauvinist understanding of chosenness, how should nonchauvinists interact with it?
B’vrakhah, Aryeh Bernstein
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Dear Aryeh,
I am grateful for your responses and your questions, because they highlight chosenness as what God uniquely commanded us to be. This notion is essential to our identity, because it defines our uniqueness and our particular and universal mission as a people. Without a particular commitment to the sacred narratives, ethics, and commandments that are at the core of our identity and spirituality, we have little that is unique to us through which we can ground our identity. God still wants us to create in our contemporary world the society of justice and ethics that we were once chosen to create.
This does not mean that the unique foundations of other peoples are less worthy, and we must vigilantly guard against perspectives that use chosenness to devalue or demonize other people.
Yes, our simultaneous commitment to both universal and particular ethics certainly includes — perhaps, even necessitates — both ancient and contemporary forms of nationalism. And though we have survived historically as a people without sovereignty, we are told in the Bible to create and steward an ethical society. Carrying out this obligation is dependent on some form of national existence. But that sovereignty is dependent upon our ethical behavior. We have to earn the right to live in the Land of Israel every day. Deuteronomy 11:12 and Leviticus 18:28 crudely warn us that we will be vomited out of the land for not observing the commandments that God chose for us to receive about creating and sustaining an ethical society in the Land of Israel. We thus learn that we must be very careful as a nation and as individuals in the State of Israel today. While we have a right to defend ourselves as well as the land, it is clear that it is conditional upon moral behavior.
If we are not creating an ethical society in the ancient Land of Israel or in the sovereign State of Israel, we must repent. We must engage in the necessary self-scrutiny and cheshbon hanefesh (accounting of the soul) to reorient ourselves, to recalibrate and do whatever we can to ensure that we are worthy of our chosenness, worthy of being God’s partners, worthy of the gift of God’s Torah, and worthy of residing in the Land of Israel. I do not believe that there can ever be a point at which one can relinquish such a gift or its responsibilities.
With respect for our friendship and chevruta, Rachel
Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi is the national director of recruitment and admissions and a president’s scholar at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. Ordained at HUC-JIR, Sabath has a doctorate in Jewish philosophy from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She also teaches at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
Aryeh Bernstein is the coordinator of the Back-to-Basics program for the Mishkan community (mishkanchicago.org) in Chicago. After fourteen years in Israel, where he was director of activist learning for the TAKUM beit midrash for human rights (takumbeitmidrash.com), he has returned to his native Chicago. He has also worked as director of alumni affairs & recruitment at Mechon Hadar, and continues as editor-at-large at Jewschool.com and editor-translator for the Koren English edition of the Steinsaltz Talmud. He is a board member of Jewish Public Media, has led high holiday services at New York’s Kehilat Hadar since 2002, and has been involved in the founding and nurturing of egalitarian learning and prayer communities throughout Israel and the U.S.