*Fantastic Torah* "A Light Unto the Nations"/Ohr L'Goyim: A Meaningful Mission or a Mistaken Meaning?

Berlin and Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible

A covenant people - a nation that continues to exist by virtue of the covenant God formed with their ancestors long ago. In spite of their sins and in spite of the exile, the people Israel is assured of restoration because of the covenant.

A light of nations - The nations of the world will witness God's faithfulness to the covenant when Israel is redeemed. Consequently, the people will be the tool through which God becomes known to all nations as mighty, just and reliable. In this passage, the Israelites are a "light" by virtue of what happens to them, not because of what they do...

David Ariel, What do Jews Believe, pg. 119

Reform Judaism was one of the first modern responses to this challenge.

In the eighteenth century, the founders of the Reform move­ment began to play down the role of the commandments and exalt the ethical dimensions of Judaism. The change in emphasis within Reform Judaism was evident in the renewed attention paid to the role of the Jewish people as “a light of nations” [Heb. le-or goyyim].

In order to highlight this role, the expression was changed to “a light unto the nations [Heb. or le-goyyim]. ” Such a subtle shift stressed that Israel was not only to be a moral exemplar but to see its re­ligion as missionary, with morality as the Jewish mission.

Yeshayu Leibowitz quoted in S. Leyla Gurkan, Jews as a Chosen People, 168

The notion of being a "light unto the nations" did not assume Jews to be "endowed with a capacity for instructing and guiding all humanity. Such an ideas was fabricated by the heretics - from the Apostle Paul to Ben-Gurion - who meant to cast off the yoke of Torah by substituting for it a faith in an abstract 'vocation'....

R. Samson Refael Hirsch, The Nineteen Letters, pg 65

If, however, in the midst of a world which worships wealth and lust, Israel were to live a tranquil life of righteousness and love; if, while everywhere else the generation of man is sinking into the depth of sensuality and immorality, Israel's sons and daughters should bloom forth in the splendor of youth, purity and innocence, ah, what a powerful instrument for good israel could be! If...every Jew would be a mutely eloquent example and teacher of universal righteousness and universal love; if thus the dispersed of Israel were to show themselves everywhere on earth as the glorious priests of God and pure humanity; if only we were, or would become that which we should be, if only our lives were a perfect reflection of our Law - what a mighty force we would constitute for steering mankind to the final goal of all human education! This would affect man-kind more quietly, but much more forcefully and profoundly than ever our tragic record of suffering...

Judith Plaskow, "Transforming the Nature of Community", 411

On a religious level, to be a holy people was both to be different from one's neighbors and to distinguish between and differently honor pure and impure; Sabbath and the week; kosher and non-kosher; Cohen, Levi and Israel; and male and female... differences in wealth, learning, and observance; differences in cultural background and customs; differences in religious affiliation and understanding have all provided occasions for certain groups of Jews to define themselves as superior to different and non-normative "others"...

Tal Becker, "What the Goyim Say"

Since the rebirth of Israel, the Jewish people have had to ask this question...: What is the nature of the Jewish state’s relationship with the nations of the world? Do we want to be integrated and assimilated as a state like all other states, or are we required (or, perhaps, destined), as the Bible tells us, to be “a nation that dwells alone”? Do we seek the world’s genuine acceptance and approval? Or do we pursue a purely instrumental relationship – requiring that we engage with others solely to the extent necessary for our survival, prosperity and narrow national interest? Does what the “goyim” say really matter? Should it?...

Within Israeli society, secular Jews who adopt a more dismissive response to what the “goyim” say are aligned with those religious Jews for whom this position acquires theological significance. For some, if Israel’s mission is understood in religious or ideological terms, then outside criticism is essentially irrelevant, or, as one leading thinker on the religious right once told me, “the best sign that we are doing the right thing.” The Jewish people, in their ancient homeland, are seen as having a unique God-given mission, which, for many Orthodox Jews, is self-contained and must be insulated from foreign involvement. For them, the Jewishness of the state is in part measured by the absence of foreign influence. The very fact that our actions and decisions attract criticism is evidence that we are acting out God’s will, and not seeking to satisfy the will of others...