The relationship between the Creator and the Jews, including
converts, is unique.
Hashem is the personal Savior of each and every Jew, as
well as all Jews collectively, and he loves each and every one
of us.1 Each one of us looks up to Hashem as a personal G-
d, King, Helper, Savior, Rescuer, and Shield. We, and all who
join us, no matter where they come from, are the Chosen
People.
Where did this special status come from, and what does it
mean to be Chosen?
It is rooted in ancient history.
The Historical Source
When there was almost no one in the world worshiping or
even acknowledging the Creator, a man named Abram (later
called Abraham) began to publicly call the Creator by the
Name “L-rd” (in Hebrew).
Today we use the term “Hashem,” which means “The Name.”
It is a reference to the Name of the Creator, the
Tetragrammaton, which means “the four-letter Name of G-d.”
2 Each Name of G-d denotes and means something different
about how G-d interacts with the universe. This Name
denotes mercy. By calling G-d “Hashem,” we are saying that
G-d is merciful.
Abraham was fully devoted to Hashem the Creator. He taught
others to acknowledge the Creator, and he was one of the
most righteous people who ever lived. Abraham taught the
world that Hashem is loving and wants everyone to treat
everyone else with love and kindness. Hashem also wants us
to fully develop ourselves spiritually.
Hashem told Abraham that his descendants would have to go
through numerous exiles. In the first exile his descendants the people who harmed us would be judged, and we would
be given the Torah, the richest possession in the world.
Abraham’s son Isaac was also as righteous, and so was
Isaac’s son Jacob. So Hashem promised them that He would
choose their descendants to continue the work that Abraham
had begun.
An angel gave Jacob the name Israel, and Hashem agreed to
it. Therefore, we, his descendants, are called the Children of
Israel.
The Children of Israel went down to Egypt, as part of
Hashem’s promise. Though we were in terrible exile, in
horrible slavery, though our children were taken from us and
baked into bricks before our very eyes, we never lost our faith
in Hashem. And we never assimilated or intermarried among the Gentiles. We were recognizably Jews, even among the other slaves.
After many years of the slavery, Hashem took us out of Egypt
with many miracles and proofs of Hashem’s power and might.
Hashem thereby chose us as a special People to Him.
Hashem called us “My son, My firstborn, Israel.”3
Hashem then split the Reed Sea, crossed us over it while the
ground was dry, and drowned the Egyptians who were
chasing us. Hashem then brought us through the desert to
Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, Hashem offered us the choice to
accept the Torah, and we did. We therefore owe a special
debt of gratitude to Hashem for all the miracles He did for us,
and especially for giving us the Torah. We began showing
that gratitude by accepting the Torah and declaring Hashem
our G-d, and us His People.
Why Choose Us?
Our relationship with Hashem is based on the fact that Hashem chose us because we chose Him. As the Torah tells us, “Now if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be My special treasure among all nations, even though all the world is Mine. You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation to Me.
Why did Hashem choose us in the first place? It was not in
our own merit, though we did have merit. Hashem chose us
because He had made a promise to our forefathers. As the
Torah says:
“You are a nation consecrated to Hashem your G-d. Hashem
your G-d chose you to be His special people among all the
nations on the face of the earth. It was not because you had
greater numbers than all the other nations that Hashem
embraced you and chose you; you are among the smallest of
all the nations. It was because of Hashem’s love for you, and
because He was keeping the oath that He made to your
fathers.Hashem therefore brought you out with a mighty
hand, liberating you from the slave house, and from the
power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. You must realize that
Hashem your G-d is the Supreme Being. He is the faithful G-
d, who keeps in mind
His covenant and love for a thousand generations when it
comes to those who love Him and keep His commandments.”
5
So it was not only because we accepted Hashem as our G-d.
That is a part of it, but it was also, or perhaps primarily,
because of the Patriarchs. The promise Hashem made to
them will last for at least one thousand generations, which is
20 thousand years, even when we sin. So far, it’s been only
4,000 years since the Patriarchs, not 20,000. Therefore,
Hashem’s promise is still in effect.
So since our merit was not the reason Hashem chose us, our
sins and lack of merit can’t take it away. Hashem made a
promise, and Hashem will never break that promise.
“And the foreigners who attach themselves to Hashem to
serve Him and to love Hashem’s Name, to be His servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and doesn’t profane it and
who holds fast to My covenant; I will bring them to My holy
mountain, and will let them rejoice in My house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted
favorably on My altar, for My Temple shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”6
Who is Included in This?
Hashem continues to treat us—and anyone who properly
joins the covenant—as His Chosen People. Anyone who
chooses to become a full servant of Hashem joins the
Chosen, as it says:
Those who join us are also following in the ways of the
Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and thus become one of their
descendants.
What Does it Mean to be «Chosen?»
Being chosen doesn’t mean that we get special privileges. It
means we are held to a higher standard. As it says, “Of all the
nations of the earth I loved only you. That is why I will punish
you for all your sins.”7
As quoted above, the Torah tells us, “You will be a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation to Me.” What does this entail? The
Rabbis8 explain, «You will be a kingdom appointed to serve
Me; a holy nation that adheres to the Holy G-d, as the Torah
says9, ‘You must be holy, since I am Hashem your G-d [and] I
am holy.’”
We are a people dedicated to being holy for the sake of
Hashem, and to serve Him.
It means we have to maintain a higher morality in the face of
the entire world. It means that we must not learn our morals
and ideals from the rest of the world, but from Hashem, by
learning and keeping the Commandments and Teachings of
the Torah.
Just as we did not assimilate in Egypt, just as we kept our
own values and we served Hashem even when we were
slaves, we must continue to do so today. Even later, when we
will no longer be in exile, when the Messiah will come, we will
still be obligated to serve Hashem. We must do this for as
long as this world will last. Our purpose, our reason for
existence, what we have been chosen for, is to fulfill the
Torah — which is Hashem’s command to us — to the best of
our abilities
Notes
- See, for example, Deuteronomy 23:6; Isaiah 43:3-4; Isaiah
49:26; Isaiah 60:16; Jeremiah
30:10. - You may have seen it in English as Y-H-V-H.
- Exodus 4:22
- Exodus 19:5-6
- Deuteronomy 7:6-9
- Isaiah 6:6-7
- Amos 3:2
- Commentary of Nachmanides, Exodus 19:6
- Exodus 19:2
The Mesilas Yesharim, a seminal work in Jewish philosophy,
has a chapter called «The Obligations of the Human in This
World.» He does not mention race or ethnicity even once in
the entire chapter.
The fact is that as Jews, whether one is descended by
maternal lineage from those who stood at Mount Sinai and
accepted the Torah from Hashem, or whether one is a proper,
full convert, or whether one is maternally descended from a
proper, full convert, we are required to fulfill the
Commandments of the Torah to the best of our abilities, and
thus achieve self-actualization, holiness, and closeness to
Hashem.
Words like «ethnicity,» «religion,» or even «race» are
completely irrelevant to our obligations in this life. That’s not the path to pursue. What is important is each individual’s personal relationship with Hashem, and our relationship with
Hashem as a People, as well as our relationships with our
communities (roughly in that order).
The Commandment to kill out Amalek is not racially based. In the first place, there have been Amalekite converts to Judaism, as we find in the Bible. In the second place, the Commandment to kill out the nation of Amalek is a
Commandment of self-defense. The Amalek nation dedicated themselves to destroying the Nation of Israel (on religious
grounds, mind you — they were militant atheists). Throughout the generations, Amalek has attempted again and again to kill all of us. Haman, during the Babylonian exile, attempted to eradicate all the Jews of the world, and he was given the power and authority by the Persian-Median Emperor (Book of Esther). Haman was a descendant of Agog, King of Amalek, and he inherited their national hatred of the Jews.
There are those who argue that the Nazis were the
descendants of Amalek. It can certainly be said that they were the «spiritual descendants» (for lack of a better term) of Amalek.
Amalek wanted to destroy the Jews, and all and any
knowledge of Hashem in this world. They have tried this time and again. Nevertheless, the Talmud tells us, the grandsons of Haman the Amalekite studied Torah in the Talmudic Academies of Bnei Brak (a city in Israel). They were not killed, they were not ostracized, though they came from Amalek, our ancestral enemy. Jews have never been very good at carrying a grudge.
What about the Commandment not to marry a Gentile? Isn’t that racially biased? Again, the answer is no. It seems that way, at first glance, but let’s examine what the Torah says
about marrying a Gentile.
When Hashem your G-d brings you to the land you are going to inherit, and many nations fall before you: the Hittites, the Gersonites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Prezites, the Chivites, the Jevusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you; Hashem your G-d will hand them over to you, and
you will strike at them. You must shun them utterly, you may not sign a treaty with them. You may not marry them. Do not give your daughter to a Gentile’s son, and do not take his daughters for your son. For if you do they will remove your
sons from worshiping Me, and they will worship other gods.
The result will be that Hashem will be angry with you and he will destroy you quickly…. For you are a holy nation [i.e.,exclusively] for Hashem. Hashem your G-d chose you from all the nations on the earth, to be His special people. Hashem
desired and chose you not because you had greater numbers than all the other nations, for you are the smallest of all the
nations. It was because Hashem loves you, and because He kept His promise to your forefathers, that Hashem took you, with a strong hand, and rescued you from slavery, from the clutches of Pharaoh the king of Egypt. — Deuteronomy 7:1-8
Another aspect highlighted in the passage from Deuteronomy I quoted above is the concept of our being the Chosen People. What does that mean, really?
Well, G-d created mankind because G-d wanted to give good to someone. G-d wants to have a relationship with a creature that works hard to achieve good. G-d did not want to give away something for nothing, so G-d created humanity with the ability of free will, and put him in this universe, where he has the opportunity to sin and the opportunity to do good.
But people did not want to do good. G-d offered the Torah to all the nations, and they all refused it. Many individual people among the nations did not refuse — they are those who get reincarnated so they can get the chance to convert to Judaism. But on the whole, the nations refused the Torah.
The Children of Israel wholeheartedly accepted the Torah. So we were given the responsibility of the Torah. We were chosen to become servants to G-d. It may be hard work, but it makes us holy.
Saying that we accepted a responsibility and were as a result chosen to fulfill that
responsibility, and allowing anyone else to accept the
responsibility as well, is not racism. It is easier to become
Jewish than it is to join some unions. In Judaism, the
entrance requirements are tough, but everyone who is
sincere, has no ulterior motive, and commits themselves to the full Torah is allowed in.
Furthermore, the Torah has strict Laws about how to treat a convert. By Law, we are required to love a convert, and if we mistreat a convert (or anyone else who has had a difficult life), it is even worse than mistreating anyone else (which is also a sin, of course).
Furthermore, some of our greatest Rabbis have been
converts and children of converts. For example, the great and famous Rabbi Akiva, one of the most pivotal Rabbis in the
entire Talmud, was the son of converts. The incomparable
Unkelos was himself a convert, and he wrote a translation of the Five Books of Moses that is considered one of the most important commentaries on the Torah ever written. While we
have been chosen, so is everyone who is dedicated to
Hashem and undertakes to serve Hashem as the Torah
instructs. Our being chosen also includes anyone and
everyone who chooses Hashem, no matter what nation he or she comes from. And a non-Jew who keeps the Seven Noahide Commandments is also loved and accepted by Hashem, even without the responsibilities of being «chosen.»