Do You Think Jews Are the Chosen People?

Being a Jew and being “chosen” is not a title of nobility, but rather are definitions of a role of service to others. The Jewish nation was not created for its own sake, but in order to serve as an example, one that shows the benefits of unity.

As long as we fellow Jews are hateful of each other, we defy our role, and in the process, deny the world the chance to unite and understand the amalgamation that is so vital to our survival in this era of bewilderment.

The more we understand our vocation, the more troubles and relentless agony we will spare. We can either annihilate the threats against us by establishing unbreakable connections above whatever separates us, or our enemies will annihilate us mercilessly.

However, if we fulfill our role and bring happiness to the world through unity and benevolence, the nations will join us and help us, as it is written: “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried on their shoulders’” (Isaiah 49:22).

The Jewish people carry a responsibility to become familiar with the system in which Jews existed in the past, where connection above all differences was practiced. The “chosen people” are those who strive to unite and also lead humanity through the same path of cohesion and solidarity, thereby serving as role models for humanity.

The very name “People of Israel” contains an indication of our mission as Jews: In Hebrew, “Israel” is a compound of the words Yashar [direct] and El [God], meaning directly to the Creator. In addition, as stated earlier, the word “Jew” is derived from the word Yehudi, which means united, striving for unity. So, the Jewish people were established on this basis which characterizes their mission and future goals.

Thus, since the Jews are no ordinary nation, but one with a responsibility that demands fulfillment from its members, our efforts to merge within society at the expense of our unity never succeeded. Instead, those efforts backfired painfully.

Despite the fierce hatred and occasional bloody conflicts that erupted among them, the only thing that held our forefathers together as a nation was the understanding that all of these crimes between them arose only so they would cover them with love and maintain their obligation to the world. “All the wars in the Torah are for peace and love,” writes The Book of Zohar (Beshalach). If we forget this, we immediately regress from being the nation of Israel and become once more the scattered pieces of the eclectic tribes from which we all came.

We must see that our true Jewish power, both to protect our communities and to contribute to the world, lies in our ability to unite above all differences and that the wisdom of how to do this is more than a simple mechanism for fending off threats and safeguarding our people. It is deeply ingrained in our core values and heritage.

It is written, “When Israel have unity, there is no end to their attainment” (Noam Elimelech, Pinchas). Yehuda Leib Arie Altar (ADMOR of Gur) also expresses this in his book Sefat Emet: “In truth, everything depends on the children of Israel. As much as they correct themselves, all creations follow them. As the students follow the rav [teacher] who corrects himself … similarly, the whole of Creation follows the children of Israel.”[1]

The important role of the Jewish people also appears in Shem Mishmuel: “The intention of creation was for all to be one bundle… but the matter was spoiled. The correction began in the generation of Babylon, meaning the correction of gathering and assembling of people which began with Abraham. …And the final correction will be when everyone becomes one bundle.”[2]

Similarly, it is as Rav Abraham Kook wrote,

“As Israel’s vocation, being the nation of the Lord, is present, complete, apparent, lasting, and active in the world, it is a valid testimony for the world for all posterity to complement the form of the human race, to keep its characteristics, and to elevate it through the rungs of sanctity appropriate for it … which the Lord determined. And since our own vocation is ever standing, accompanying the vocation of the whole of Nature — whose law is to complete all creations and bring them to the apex of perfection — we must guard it devoutly for the life of us all, which is kept within it, and for the whole of humanity and its moral development, whose fate depends on the fate of our existence.”[3]