The Chosen People.

The whole idea of there being a chosen people is very difficult for a lot of people to accept.  To many the whole idea seems racist or arrogant.  From a Universalist point of view, isn’t G-d the G-d of all of mankind, and that he would not favor one of His nations over another.  The whole idea of believing in a chosen people can be seen as counterproductive to the unity of mankind, where there needs to be an emphasis on tolerance and acceptance of everyone as equal, with no one being set over another.  Furthermore, when you view the tremendous tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, such as the Holocaust or the current intifada in Israel , it may lead one to question whether God is showing any favoritism to the Jewish people at all.

As we start to explore this topic, is important to begin with a certain amount of background information.  First of all you must realize that everybody wants to be the chosen people.  Every religion and political philosophy promises that its followers are the most special.  For instance among the ancient Greeks, to be considered a Greek was the ultimate in being educated, cultured, and being favored by the gods.  With the Roman Empire , you have much the same, where being a Roman citizen was the highest level of social status.  With Christianity, and later Islam you have religious viewpoints, both of which are offshoots of Judaism, where God has created a new favored body of believers.  In the 20th century we saw the Nazis, with their views of the Aryan race being the highest level of human evolution, a master race whose destiny is to rule over all others.  Finally, we saw the Communists come and go on the stage of history, where they held beliefs in a worldwide communist revolution being the ultimate fulfillment of human civilization.  Can you imagine a religion that says you will be number two?  How successful do you think it would be, especially if you are promised to be number two to the Jews.  You could say this drive to be the “chosen ones", however you define it, has been the most powerful drive in human history.  The Jews have faced all of these civilizations that have claimed to be a different chosen people, and we have outlasted them all.

If we believe that the idea of the chosen people is a religious idea, and we question how God could actually choose one nation over the others, we need to go back to the Bible to examine exactly what the Torah states on this issue.

The first place to look as with the election of Abraham which is found in Genesis Chapter 12:1.

And the Lord has said to Avram, get out from your country, and from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you; and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you; and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Here God begins the process of building a great nation, starting from Abraham, with the purpose of that nation being to serve as a blessing to all of mankind.  We the Jewish people, the descendents of Abraham, are in fact intended to be a blessing to all of mankind through our ideas and our example.

In Isaiah 49:6.  I will also give you for a light to the nations, that my salvation may be to the end of the earth.

This covenant that Hashem sealed with Abraham was renewed with Isaac and Jacob.  It is again renewed with all of the nation at Mount Sinai .  The heirs to this covenant would be given the land of Israel as its heritage.

Genesis 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto your seed will I give this land….

Exodus 33:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, you and the people which you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto your seed will I give it….

Whether you believe in the Torah or not, let us at least see what the Torah says to determine how clear it is about this issue of the chosen people.

Exodus 19:5.  Now therefore, if you'll surely obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you should be my own treasure among all peoples; for all the earth is mine….

Deuteronomy 14: 2.  For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, the Lord has blessed you to be a special people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Deuteronomy 26: 18-19.  And the Lord has declared you this day to be a special people, as he has commanded you, and that you should keep all his commandments; and to set you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he has spoken.

So what makes the Jewish claim of being the chosen people any different from that of the claims made by other nations?  First of all, as we have seen, the Tanakh clearly says that the Jews are the chosen people.  The Tanakh does not say this about anyone else.

·                                                                When compared to Christianity and Islam, we see in those religions, that you are either chosen or you are damned.  Favored status only goes to the people who believe in their religion.  And for those who do not believe, they are rejected by G-d and are punished accordingly.

·                                                                The Jewish perspective is that we are in a sense an Officer Corps.  Just as it is most effective to run a corporation or the military by using trained and experience officers, so do we feel that God wanted to work through leaders to transform his world.  We believe that the purpose of the Jewish people is to be teachers of mankind.  Yet, we believe that you don't need to be Jewish to have a close personal relationship with God.

I often tell people that is a misnomer to call the Jewish religion Judaism.  One reason for this is because it makes it seem as if God is only interested in connecting with the Jewish people, and that is really not the case at all.  We believe in the Torah, which contains a message for all of mankind. 

It says in Psalm 145:18, The Lord is near to all those who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.

Contrast this with the view of the New Testament and as expressed in the book of

John 14: 6.  Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the father, except by me.

Which way seems more universal and inclusive?

The Jewish belief, as expressed in the Talmud, is that the righteous of all the nations of the world have a place in the world to come, and that God cares for them as his children as well.

1 Kings 8:41 .  And also concerning a stranger, who is not of your people Israel, but comes from a far country for your name’s sake; for they shall hear of your great name, and of your strong hand, and of your outstretched arm; when he shall come, and pray toward this house; hear you in Heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all of that the stranger calls you for; that all people of the earth made know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by your name.

What about our sufferings?  This is separate subject to we should deal with at length any another time, however, I will touch upon it lightly at this time.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses recounts what is going to happen to the Jewish people if they forsake Hashem’s Torah.  Tragic events will befall them, including exile, and everyone including the nations of the world will try to understand why these tragedies came about.  Many Christians have postulated that the reason why the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were thrown out into exile, was because we rejected Jesus as our savior, and that Hashem has rejected us.  The Jews on the other hand have chosen to let the Torah speak for itself.

Deuteronomy 29:23-27

All nations shall say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?  Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt;  For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given to them;  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book;  And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

In the covenant that Hashem sealed with Abraham, our part was to keep Hashem's commandments, and the Tanakh tells over and over again how Hashem became angry with us when we did not. 

In the story of the golden calf, when the Jewish people built an idol, Hashem was so angry that he told Moshe that he would destroy us, and would rebuild his people through Moshe.  But when Moshe urged Him to remember the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Hashem's anger stopped.

Know that the covenant that he sealed with Abraham still stands, and that Hashem will not forget us.

Isaiah 41: 8.  But you, Israel , are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.  You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from its farthest corners, and said to you, you are my servant; I have chosen you, and not cast you away.

Isaiah 49: 14-15.  But Zion says, the Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Yes, even they may forget, but I will not forget you.

1 Samuel 12:22. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake; because it has pleased the Lord to make you his people.

Is it still difficult to call us the Chosen People, how about the Most Influential?

Our real purpose is to be a nation of priests or teachers of mankind.  Where in history do we see validation of this?

First of all, the Bible is the most read book.  This is especially significant, in light of the fact that many nations tried to wipe-out the Torah from the face of the earth, yet the prophets foretold that the Torah would become universally known.

Judaism gave birth to Christianity & Islam, and both faiths drew heavily from Jewish beliefs in formulating their own.

The names Solomon & Einstein have become synonymous with Wisdom & Genius.  Throughout the ages we have been counselors to heads of state: from Abarbenel with the King of Spain, to Henry Kissinger and Alan Greenspon.  We win more Nobel Prizes in relation to our numbers than anyone else, while improving the lives of mankind.

Our prophets tell us that in the Messianic era, the Jews will be redeemed and vindicated as Hashem’s Chosen Ones.  The Torah that we have remained committed to will become the way of life in the Messianic Era.

 I would like to end with an article written by Mark Twain, entitled “ Concerning The Jews”, which appeared in  Harper’s Magazine in the year 1900.

“If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”