לזכות ידיד נפשי ואהובי רבי אהרן ישראל בן ר' משה מרדכי לברכה והצלחה הוא וכל משפחתו!!
Many people today are troubled by the notion that we claim that we are the Chosen People. How can we say that we are better than anybody else?
I have a lot to say on this topic but can't cover it all. Time is short for life is short. But to use the rabbinic maxim - פטור בלא כלום אי אפשר [meaning "I am going to die but hopefully people will learn mishnayos in my memory"].
1] Just because something doesn't fit with one's post-modern sensibilities doesn't change the fact. Millions of people witnessed G-d choosing us. We can't deny the fact that people used and abused their slaves in early America just because we are uncomfortable with that. Facts are facts. G-d chose us. Fact. Apparently, He wasn't influenced by the lefties at CNN or the New York Times.
2] G-d chose men and made us [generally] bigger, stronger and faster than women. Sorry. That is why there are no women in any professional sports league. It is not because of discrimination but because there is not a woman on the planet who could do as good as a job as many men playing middle linebacker for the Detroit Lions or center for the L.A. Lakers [BTW - Is Kareem still playing? WHATTA sky hook he has!!]. Women were chosen in that they can conceive babies [and many other talents such as having the patience to be with them all the time] and no man on the planet can do that. [Also, women can smell a dirty diaper from a mile away while a man won't notice even if he is holding the baby:-)]. This is a world where inequality is an ontological fact [whatever that means].
3] Being chosen doesn't necessarily mean being BETTER. We were chosen to have more responsibility. That seems to be the approach of the Rambam. The Mekubalim, the Kuzari and many others, however, assert that we are actually better. What does that mean?
Are Jews Better Than Goyim?
The short answer is "no and yes".
The longer answer is [in brief] as follows: No, we are not better: There are many Jews in jail. Israeli jails are filled with Jews. Many goyim have never been in jail. Many Jewish men and women have cheated on their spouses while many goyim have not [of course, I would guess that most Jewish men don't cheat on their spouses and we know that loads of goyim do]. We have all known Jews who were mean, selfish, dishonest etc. etc. while we have known goyim who seem a whole lot nicer and more ethical. So no, we can't make a blanket statement that every Jew is better than every goy. Sorry.
Yes, we are better: We have a segulah - a special spiritual charm. We were given souls that are holier than the souls of goyim. How do I know??? I don't. I don't know much. I know my matzav in the bank. I know my children's names and personalities. I know my address and phone number. I know whose hit turned the '86 series in the Mets favor [MOO-KIE!!!]. But I don't know much else. I certainly can't tell who has a more elevated soul than someone else. But the Tzadikim and Mekubalim can and they say that Jews have holier souls than goyim. So yes, we are better. On a pure soul level, we are better. [If a goy wants to convert - he gets that lofty soul, too].
Also, looking at our history as a nation - we are clearly singled out to be special. We have contributed so much to mankind, far out of proportion to our numbers. We have had a unique history that no other nation can match. We have also produced certain quality individuals that no other nation has produced.
Let us sample some quotes:
“The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most single and illustrious acts of divine Providence… and what but a supernatural power could have preserved them in such a manner as none other nation upon earth hath been preserved. Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the destruction of their enemies, than in their preservation… We see that the great empires, which in their turn subdued and oppressed the people of God, are all come to ruin… And if such hath been the fatal end of the enemies and oppressors of the Jews, let it serve as a warning to all those, who at any time or upon any occasion are for raising a clamor and persecution against them.”
Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol (1704-1782)
“I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations ... They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of mankind more and more happily than any other nation, ancient or modern.”
John Adams, Second President of the United States
(From a letter to F. A. Van der Kemp [Feb. 16, 1808] Pennsylvania Historical Society)
“None of the resplendent names in history – Egypt, Athens, Rome – can compare in eternal grandeur with Jerusalem. For Israel has given to mankind the category of holiness. Israel alone has known the thirst for social justice, and that inner saintliness which is the source of justice.”
French pastor, Charles Wagner, 1918, as quoted in A Book of Jewish Thoughts, ed. J. H. Hertz (London: Oxford University Press, 1920), 134.
“The Jews started it all – and by ‘it’ I mean so many of the things we care about, the underlying values that make all of us, Jew and Gentile, believer and atheist, tick. Without the Jews, we would see the world through different eyes, hear with different ears, even feel with different feelings ... We would think with a different mind, interpret all our experiences differently, draw different conclusions from the things that befall us. And we would set a different course for our lives.”
Thomas Cahill, The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels, New York: Nan A. Talese/Anchor Books, p 3.
And, of course, the famous Mark Twain quote:
”...If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust 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 had 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 people 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?”
Mark Twain, Concerning The Jews, Harper’s Magazine, 1899
A lot more to say but we conclude: Yes, we are chosen and no - we have nothing to apologize about. We are thankful to Hashem for the special honor of being His special, chosen first born to whom He gave His holy Torah. Rejoice and live up to your calling!!!:-)
