by Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov - Jax, FL

First Class Passengers: The ‘Chosen People’ Doctrine

Chaim, a poor thirteen-year-old from Moscow, once received a first-class train ticket from a wealthy uncle to come visit him in Warsaw. Never having traveled before, Chaim – a timid and apprehensive Jewish boy – arrived at the station firmly clutching his ticket.

As the well-dressed, first-class passengers began to board, Chaim, certain that he was not in that class, waited behind. He continued to wait while all the other passengers boarded. Only when he noticed a group of vagrants, with packs on their shoulders, did he feel like he had found his place. And so he followed them.

The whistle blew and the train began to roll, one by one the hobos jumped aboard the baggage car. Chaim followed suit and slipped into the dark compartment, atop a pile of suitcases. He endured the bumps and dampness of the baggage car, happy to be aboard.

Suddenly, the door opened and a burly conductor entered. He demanded to see the tickets of the poor cowering vagabonds. One by one they were rounded up and ordered to disembark at the next station.

Trembling in fear, Chaim looked up from under his coat to see the officer staring at him. With a quivering hand he presented the officer the ticket he had been clutching ever-so-tightly. The conductor looked at the ticket carefully and looked back at Chaim. He then broke-out in a smile. “Young man,” he said, “You have a first-class ticket! What are you doing here in the baggage compartment? When you have a first class ticket, you ought to act like a first class passenger!”

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Did you ever see a Jew run in to a store and head straight to the front of the line saying: “Excuse me; you’ll all have to wait while I take care of my business? You see I’m Jewish, you know it’s that ‘Chosen’ thing. Membership after all has its privileges.” Have you ever heard of a Jew paying less for something because of his special “Jew Discount”? (This, of course, should not be confused with our knack for bargaining). The answer is obviously no.

The Jew has never thrust his chosenness upon anyone; asking for something in return, nor does he care whether the rest of the world believes in it or not. For the Jew it is an internal belief, between him and his G-d. He has never sought to derive material benefit from his chosen status and has never tried to shirk it off when it cast upon him bitter resentment and persecution.

The Jew has forever worn this distinction like a gird around his loins and yoke upon his shoulders with dignity and pride. He paid for the honor with sweat blood and tears.

In our Parsha, Eikev, Moshe informs the Israelites that they will inherit the Land of Israel not due to their own merits and righteousness, but because of the promise G-d made to the Patriarchs. Moshe charges the Israelites to love and fear G-d and to serve Him. He expounds and impresses on the Israelites their great fortune to have been chosen by G-d to be His treasured nation. He reminds them of the many miracles G-d had performed on their behalf since they left Egypt.

Indeed, “The Chosen People” phenomenon occupies a central place within Jewish tradition and liturgy. It is arguably the most central and defining quality of Judaism. The special relationship between G-d and the Jewish people is summed up in the book of Exodus G-d when refers to us as “My son, my eldest, Israel.” We are not firstborn in any literal sense, however, your eldest child is the one to whom you leave the most responsibility and the most reward.

An integral part of G-d’s love for His chosen people, hence, revolves around His unique and precious gift to them, namely, the Torah – the object and act by which the Almighty consummated His relationship with His people.

The unique bond created between G-d and His people by means of the Torah, is reflected in the blessing that Jews recite over the reading of the Torah: “Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who has chosen us from all the peoples and given us His Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.”

This idea is reiterated in the blessing recited as an introduction to the reading of the ‘Shema Yisrael:’ “You have loved us with abounding love O Lord our G-d, you have shown us great and overflowing tenderness… And you have chosen us out of all nations and tongues, and brought us close to your great name in truth…’ Blessed are you, Lord, who chooses His people Israel in love.

While this may sound beautiful to some, the sad reality is that not everyone appreciates its beauty. The Chosen People phenomenon has in fact only too often served to provoke antagonism from some of our fellow non-­Jewish earthlings.

The most damaging anti-Semitic document in history, the forgery known as “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” is entirely predicated on the very idea of an international conspiracy by the “Chosen People” to rule the world.

In light of such hostility, it is not surprising that some of the more secular oriented Jews would choose to do away with the belief in Jewish chosenness. The idea of chosenness as a central tenet of Judaism has come under particular attack upon the removal of the wall of Jewish inte­gration within modern societies.

Our ability to reconcile Jewish uniqueness with social and political accep­tance had become a tricky and contentious issue. Baruch Spinoza, for example, vehemently rejected the traditional chosen doctrine because it implies Jewish superiority. Indeed the idea of the “Chosen People” remains, if only unspoken, a highly sore psychological and sociological issue vis-à-vis Jewish-Gentile relations and hence to many, Jews included, an embarrassing menace.

The most noted effort to do away with Jewish chosenness was undertaken by Mordecai Kaplan, founder of the Reconstructionist movement. Kaplan advocated dropping chosenness for two reasons: to undercut accusations of the sort made by Bernard Shaw that the Chosen People idea was the model for racist ideologies and because to view the Jews as a divinely chosen people went against modern thinking. Kaplan proposed a Judaism that rejected, in his words, the “Anachronistic” and “Arrogant” concept of the Chosen People, which perpetrated “Race or national superiority.”

In a Commentary Magazine symposium of several years ago, almost none of the Jewish theologians (barring the Orthodox) were prepared to affirm the concept of Jewish chosenness, despite the Torah’s constant reiteration of our selection as “A kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Early Reform thinkers began to play down the exalted Jewish status by introducing the “Mission People” concept as a modern take on the Chosen People concept. In 1885, the Reform movement in America adopted the “Pittsburgh Platform” declaring that they did not wish to be a nation at all and thus reinterpreting the concept of chosenness as part of a moral mission to help the world.

During the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War In 1973, Yakov Malik, the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations, said: “The Zionists have come forward with the theory of the Chosen People, an absurd ideology ‘That is religious racism!’”

So, what is the truth about the Chosen Doctrine? Is it a central reality of Judaism – a pivotal part of the Divine master plan? Or is it simply religious racism?

There are many valid arguments to support the Torah reality vis-à-vis chosenness, as one Rabbi asserted: “We are not discussing a dogma incapable of verification, but the recognition of sober historical fact. The world owes to Israel the idea of the one G-d of righteousness and holiness and for its awareness of it.”

Does not the Torah’s accurate prediction of the horrendous Divine curses to befall Israel serve as sufficient proof of the Torah’s accuracy and authority on the subject of Israel’s role and destiny in the world?

American Jewish writer, Will Herberg, rightfully observed that to deny the possibility of a chosen people is to deny individuality as well. We have no trouble recognizing that every individual is unique and most of us choose a life partner based on his or her particular personality and suitability for what we deem our mission in life. Why then is it so hard to believe that G-d too chose one nation on the basis of its unique character, to be His partner – the vehicle for His revelation to mankind?

It is furthermore interesting to note that the Chosen idea is not indigenous to the Jewish people. Billions of people around the world define their religion, nation, tribe or even their sports teams as the chosen ones. It is entirely natural for nations and religions alike to regard theirs as special and rightfully so. If a person did not believe in the superiority of his religion or cause, what is he doing there? Why not belong to the other one? Is it just a blind arbitrary decision? In truth, all of humanity tends to indulge in the “Chosen” concept. Nations like religions all see themselves as special. Believe it or not the word China means “Center of the universe.”

Nineteenth century and early twentieth century Americans believed in their “Manifest destiny” to rule the North American continent. Other nations such as India, Spain, Germany, France, and Britain also believed in their chosen status.

Both Catholicism and Protestantism maintain that while G-d originally chose the Jews, 2000 years ago, He backed out of the original deal and entered instead into a new covenant with Christianity. During most of Christian history, Christian chosenness meant that only Christians go to heaven.

Mohammed, likewise, didn’t deny Avraham’s chosenness. He simply claimed that Avraham was a Muslim, and he traced Islam’s descent through the Jewish Patriarch. It seems that the only ones who don’t believe in the idea of chosen are those who don’t believe in a “Chooser.” It is almost like saying: “Since I don’t have a G-d to choose me, why should you?

After speaking to a group about the prophetic events regarding the end of time and the exalted promises that G-d makes with regard to the Jewish nation, a participant came up to shake hands. Upon departure he paused for a brief moment then stated: “I wouldn’t serve a G-d that favors one people over another!” His statement caught me by surprise, but I quickly realized his sincerity in making that remark. I looked him in the eye and replied, “Well, sir, I wouldn’t either!”

The man’s statement which carries the stigma that G-d prefers one nation over another is not quite fair. It is a somewhat distorted point of view. The fact is that G-d didn’t simply choose an existing nation over another existing nation when entering into a covenant with Avraham.

The reality is that there weren’t at the time defined nations with established and defined borders or cultures such as are common today. G-d had only recently judged the entire world with the Great Flood. When the Almighty called unto Avraham to leave his native land of Ur and embark on a journey into another land, the world consisted of colonies such as the ones Nimrod established as part of his evil empire.

It was for the purpose of establishing a true model of a G-d serving nation, as a testimony of the one true G-d that the creator sought out Avraham. So in essence, G-d chose Avraham and Avraham chose to accept. Or perhaps, Avraham chose G-d and G-d chose to accept. G-d loves every nation and every tribe and every family. It is precisely because of His love for all humanity that he chose Avraham and his descendants to bring His teachings and blessings to the world.

In 1975, Reform Judaism made a decisive break with its own past and restored much of what its predecessors had eliminated. Reform Judaism now reaffirms belief in chosenness. It is proof of an eternal G-d whose vision is infinite.

Recent history alone bears unequivocal testimony to our extraordinary status as a people. Having survived the Pogroms of Russia and the Nazi Holocaust of Germany, we had our own country within ten years, which came under attack by seven Arab nations within its first few hours.  Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia all at once declared war on the tiny barely established Jewish State. We won that war with less than nothing – 650,000 Jews against the rest of the Arab world. No IDF, no mighty Air Force, just a tough bunch of people with nowhere to go.

20 years later we fought the three strongest armies in the Middle East and wiped them out in six days. We fought against different coalitions of Arab countries with modern armies and masses of Soviet weapons and despite the odds were victorious.

The country the UN gave us 60 years ago was 65% desert. We started from scratch and made the desert flourish, selling oranges and vegetables to the world. Today we have a country, an army, a strong air force, a hi-tech economy exporting millions. Intel, Microsoft and IBM all develop their technology there. Our doctors win world prizes for medical developments. An empire was built out of nothing.

We sit proudly with the US; 250 million people, Russia; 200 million people, China, with 1.1 billion people and Europe – France, England, Germany; 350 million people, the only countries in the world to launch something into space. Yes, Israel has sent a number of its own satellites into space. Together with the US, Russia, China, India, France and England, Israel is today part of the world nuclear power community. The above is just a tiny fraction of our long illustrious history. If it’s not enough, go ahead and study the other 99%.

The enormous Sanctification of G-d’s name – which the Jewish State has brought about in the way it has conducted its wars is continued proof of our choseness. Israel stands head and shoulders above the rest of the civilized world in its sensitivity for human life. The Jew it appears, is tasked with the burden of teaching the world not only how to live in peace, but also how to act in war.

This extraordinary trait did not begin with the modern State of Israel, it is rather the culmination of thousands of years of Jewish religious cultivation; it is part of the Jew’s G-d given mandate to be a “Kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” – a “Light onto the nations.”

How did Jews become so refined? It is not easy to become strong, smart and morally high-minded. G-d did not make the journey from slavery to a strong modern Jewish nation easy. Jews had to seek and find meaning in difficult and frustrating situations as well as traumatic events.

The years of seeking after G-d’s meaning, inculcated ever deeper levels of reasoning and emotional understanding. Our difficult journey nurtured deeper sensitivity. While the world remains the same uncivil jungle, Judaism has distilled a creature of a complete different caliber. This reality is brought into increasing light in our very times, as the world seems to once again be losing its moral compass; its basic humanity and self-destruct all over again, but let’s not get started down this disturbing and confusing road.  What is important is that we understand who we are and what is our mission.

The fact is that we, the Nation of the Bible – of Egyptian slavery – are still here, speaking the same language and committed to the same principles, serving as a shining example; a creation who bears the Divine image, while the others are long gone; reduced to a vague chapter in history. We are indeed G-d’s Chosen People whose mission is to inspire and tame the world. We ought to never cower, neither from our identity, nor from our mission. We have first class tickets and ought to act like first class passengers!!!

This Shabbos, as we read about G-d’s selection of his people, may we reaffirm our sacred status as the Chosen People through our shining example. May we renew our dedication to our holy mission as the Chosen People and hasten thereby the arrival of the righteous Moshiach BBA.

3 Comments

  • G-d's Image

    Well written article!
    When I come across distorted ideas of what Chosen means, I give over the following :
    “Chosen” does not mean placed on a privileged pedestal to be superior over others. It means to “be a light unto the nations”. To be a role model and inspiration for others to serve G-d and not one’s self. All of Humanity were created in G-d’s Image, and the “Chosen” have the mission to help all of them live up to their true image.

  • TRULY ADMIRABLE

    may we truly live up to the status of ”A CHOSEN NATION and utilize this status to bring light unto this mundane world!!!!!! S.M.K>