(כט) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לֹ֤א יַעֲקֹב֙ יֵאָמֵ֥ר עוֹד֙ שִׁמְךָ֔ כִּ֖י אִם־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כִּֽי־שָׂרִ֧יתָ עִם־אֱלֹהִ֛ים וְעִם־אֲנָשִׁ֖ים וַתּוּכָֽל׃
(29) Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.”
(ה) וְעַתָּ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּקֹלִ֔י וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֑י וִהְיִ֨יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙ מִכׇּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כִּי־לִ֖י כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ו) וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
(5) Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, (6) but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
(ו) כִּ֣י עַ֤ם קָדוֹשׁ֙ אַתָּ֔ה לַיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּךָ֞ בָּחַ֣ר ׀ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ לִהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙ לְעַ֣ם סְגֻלָּ֔ה מִכֹּל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ (ז) לֹ֣א מֵֽרֻבְּכֶ֞ם מִכׇּל־הָֽעַמִּ֗ים חָשַׁ֧ק יְהֹוָ֛ה בָּכֶ֖ם וַיִּבְחַ֣ר בָּכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אַתֶּ֥ם הַמְעַ֖ט מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּֽים׃
(6) For you are a people consecrated to your God יהוה: of all the peoples on earth your God יהוה chose you to be God’s treasured people. (7) It is not because you are the most numerous of peoples that יהוה grew attached to you and chose you—indeed, you are the smallest of peoples;
(יח) וַֽיהֹוָ֞ה הֶאֱמִֽירְךָ֣ הַיּ֗וֹם לִהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙ לְעַ֣ם סְגֻלָּ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּר־לָ֑ךְ וְלִשְׁמֹ֖ר כׇּל־מִצְוֺתָֽיו׃ (יט) וּֽלְתִתְּךָ֣ עֶלְי֗וֹן עַ֤ל כׇּל־הַגּוֹיִם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה לִתְהִלָּ֖ה וּלְשֵׁ֣ם וּלְתִפְאָ֑רֶת וְלִֽהְיֹתְךָ֧ עַם־קָדֹ֛שׁ לַיהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֵּֽר׃
(18) And יהוה has affirmed this day that you are, as promised, God’s treasured people who shall observe all the divine commandments, (19) and that [God] will set you, in fame and renown and glory, high above all the nations that [God] has made; and that you shall be, as promised, a holy people to your God.
From ANU: Museum of the Jewish People
Jewish Peoplehood refers to the awareness and identification of Jewish individuals to the collective Jewish people via various common components: historical memory, Jewish values, Jewish culture and creativity, Hebrew and Jewish languages, a multifaceted connection to Israel and a Jewish way of life.
Jewish Peoplehood refers to the awareness and identification of Jewish individuals to the collective Jewish people via various common components: historical memory, Jewish values, Jewish culture and creativity, Hebrew and Jewish languages, a multifaceted connection to Israel and a Jewish way of life.
From Rabbi Alan Lurie, What Does It Mean That the Jews are God's Chosen People, in Huffington Post
Jews were chosen to bring to the world this message of goodness: treat the stranger as one's own, love your fellow as yourself, care for the widow, orphan and handicapped, give to the poor, know that Spirit is higher than material success and that you are a child of God, and most importantly, always value life. In this way, Jews are chosen to be the lamp that allows God's light to shine in the world.
Jews were chosen to bring to the world this message of goodness: treat the stranger as one's own, love your fellow as yourself, care for the widow, orphan and handicapped, give to the poor, know that Spirit is higher than material success and that you are a child of God, and most importantly, always value life. In this way, Jews are chosen to be the lamp that allows God's light to shine in the world.
From Israel Zangwill
"It is not so much a matter of the chosen people as the choosing people
"It is not so much a matter of the chosen people as the choosing people
From Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, in JTA, October 15, 1945
The idea of the Chosen People was justifiable religious doctrine in ancient Judaism...today it is not merely untenable, but also detrimental to a normal adjustment of the Jew to his environment...That idea is warrented, to be sure, in the realm of opinion as an assertion of Judaism’s contribution to the religion of mankind in the past,” Dr. Kaplan continued “But it is not as such on opinion that it is included in the traditional Prayer Book. There it is in the realm of dogma and is meant to affirm that the Jewish people has been chosen to occupy forever the central place in the divine scheme of salvation. As such it neither is nor can be any longer accepted by modern-minded Jews.
The idea of the Chosen People was justifiable religious doctrine in ancient Judaism...today it is not merely untenable, but also detrimental to a normal adjustment of the Jew to his environment...That idea is warrented, to be sure, in the realm of opinion as an assertion of Judaism’s contribution to the religion of mankind in the past,” Dr. Kaplan continued “But it is not as such on opinion that it is included in the traditional Prayer Book. There it is in the realm of dogma and is meant to affirm that the Jewish people has been chosen to occupy forever the central place in the divine scheme of salvation. As such it neither is nor can be any longer accepted by modern-minded Jews.
From Leo Baeck
Every people can be chosen for a history, for a share in the history of humanity. Each is a question which God has asked, and each people must answer. But more history has been assigned to this people then to any other people ... The word of the One God penetrated this people from its beginnings.
Every people can be chosen for a history, for a share in the history of humanity. Each is a question which God has asked, and each people must answer. But more history has been assigned to this people then to any other people ... The word of the One God penetrated this people from its beginnings.
From Between Rome and Jerusalem, by Rabbinical Council of America, Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbinate of Israel, 2017
We understand our Jewish mission to include being a light unto the nations, which obliges us to contribute to humanity's appreciation for holiness, morality and piety... Religious freedom is thus increasingly threatened by the forces of both secularism and religious extremism. We therefore seek the partnership of the Catholic community in particular, and other faith communities in general, to assure the future of religious freedom, to foster the moral principles of our faiths...and “to cultivate the moral and religious conscience of society.” ...We are not enemies, but unequivocal partners in articulating the essential moral values for the survival and welfare of human society."
We understand our Jewish mission to include being a light unto the nations, which obliges us to contribute to humanity's appreciation for holiness, morality and piety... Religious freedom is thus increasingly threatened by the forces of both secularism and religious extremism. We therefore seek the partnership of the Catholic community in particular, and other faith communities in general, to assure the future of religious freedom, to foster the moral principles of our faiths...and “to cultivate the moral and religious conscience of society.” ...We are not enemies, but unequivocal partners in articulating the essential moral values for the survival and welfare of human society."