Chosen for What?

Exodus (Shemot) 19:1-6 

Context of these verses – Preamble to revelation: Prior to the momentous event in which God reveals Himself to His people at Sinai, Moses ascends the mountain and returns to the people with several messages. In addition to the practical stages of their preparation, such as the command to keep their distance from the place of the revelation and the commandment to sanctify themselves for it, God instructs Moses to speak to the people as a collective unit in anticipation of their first covenant with God. This covenant includes the special destiny of the nation on the one hand, and their obligation to obey the will of God, on the other.

The meaning of segula: The language God instructs Moses to use when describing the covenant between God and the people, is they will be a “Segula” to Him, IF they are loyal to the covenant and obey His words (i.e. keep the mitzvot). The word “Segula” is often the term used for “Chosen People” as in “Am Segula” (and this together with two other instance of its use in Devarim 7:6 and 26:18) are the only reference to a “chosen People” of any kind. “Segula” has no etymological connotations of chosenness (although when it is found Devarim 7:6 it is preceded with the term “bachar” which does mean chosen by God which could explain this). Rather, its etymology meaning is “treasure” or “property”. It also has some etymological connection to “segol” which means violet or purple (a royal colour). All of this hints towards the meaning of treasure, and “Treasured People” would be a better translation of the term Am Segula.

The connection between Chosenness and Holiness: God continues in His description of the people (if they keep the covenant) as a “Kingdom of Priests” and a “Holy Nation”. The juxtaposition of these three terms (Am Segula, Mamlechet Cohanim, and Goy Kadosh) is important and suggests a conditional thematic connection. If the Israelites are to be a Treasured People to God, they must be a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks present an approach to understanding what it means to be a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, The People Chosen for What?

Chosen for a specific purpose: Rabbi Artson acknowledges the straightforward biblical notion of Jewish chosenness that manifests itself in God’s choosing one nation to immerse itself in the study of God’s Torah and the observance of the Torah’s mitzvot. The uniqueness of the Jewish relationship with God does not deny the divinity and infinite value of all human beings. The Israelites were chosen for the purpose of enabling all of humankind to develop loving relationships with God. Artson emphasizes that the chosenness of the Jewish people is directly connected to the ongoing Brit (covenant) – Jews constantly need to engage in the process of renewing the Brit through engagement and observance of Torah. In this sense, Jews must continually choose to be chosen and are empowered to affirm or rupture this “chosenness” relationship at any time.

Lasting nature of the berit: One may then ask the question: can Jews choose not to be chosen? Many biblical passages seem to indicate otherwise, that the relationship is eternal and irrevocable (see Tehillim 105:8, 10; 111:5, 9; Yechezkel 16:60; I Divrei HaYamim 16:15, 17). On the other hand, even if the Jewish people have no say in being chosen, they have a choice to do what is expected of them as part of the berit. The Tanakh and later texts are filled with examples of the consequences of those choices, which more than once led to a temporary state of estrangement between the Israelites and God.

Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, Pioneers of Religion

All nations are chosen for a purpose: Rabbi Jakobovits accepts the traditional reading of chosenness – that the Jewish people were in fact chosen by God. Yet, he proposes that different groups, at different times in world history, were chosen for different missions, all of which were important for God’s blueprint of the world to be put in place.

Chosenness for a national mission: Being chosen does not mean an all-around superiority, but the ability to perform a specific task better than others. Just as some have skills that would make them better artists, or better teachers, or better lawyers, others have skills that would make them better fit for a specific role God had in mind for them.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, National Role Modeling

Chosen to model a religious and moral life: Rabbi Sacks here is sensitive to the possible misunderstanding that chosenness linked to holiness may be misinterpreted to mean an inherent superiority, either spiritual or moral. Holy for Rabbi Sacks means separated for a specific godly task – to operate in God’s domain, as His ambassadors on earth. The people are charged with the responsibility to be holy by operating in this role, testifying to God’s existence, and modeling how to live a life of God, through a moral and holy code of living.

Priestly modeling of holiness and proper conduct: He quotes the son of Maimonides, who in the name of his father makes a connection between this role and the role of the priest (because of the juxtaposition of these terms describing Israel in the verses – a chosen nation, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation). Just as the priest is the moral and spiritual leader of a people, modeling a holy and moral life and relationship with God, so too the Jewish people should function in this way, as role models to the nations of the world. 

Chosen to be educators and role models: The Levites in biblical times, as well as having responsibility for the functioning of the temple service, were the educators for the people. Rabbi Sacks is in effect here saying that to be a chosen people is to have a national mission to be educators to the world. The most effective way to be an educator is to be a role model. The covenant and mitzvot are for this purpose – to demonstrate a path to ethical holiness. 

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, Building a Model Society 

Actualizing the Jewish mission on a national level: In his seminal work, Orot, Rabbi Kook explores the national mission and destiny of the Jewish people “to uplift humanity” through observing the “ways of God and performing righteousness and judgment”. The question is how humanity would be uplifted through Jews observing the mitzvot? In much the same way as Rabbi Sacks envisions this as a modelling of a righteous and spiritual lifestyle, Rabbi Kook sees this modeling, but on a national scale. Rather than as an individual, who can demonstrate their own personal ethical behavior and spiritual relationship with God, Rabbi Kook calls for the entire nation to build a model society based on these values. A society based on Torah values demonstrates how every citizen can lead an ethical life and have a relationship with God, not just an individual who may be unusually spiritual or moral. This is the reason, Rabbi Kook would argue, the ultimate actualization of Judaism is in the Land of Israel, with the entire nation living in a society that implements Torah values on a national scale (something that cannot be modelled by an individual living in the diaspora). 

A Jewish State enables Judaism to realize its purpose fully in the public square: Rabbi Sacks also explores this idea in his book Future Tense, where he writes “Judaism is the constitution of a self-governing nation, the architectonics of a society dedicated to the service of God in freedom and dignity. Without a land and state, Judaism is a shadow of itself. In exile, God might still live in the hearts of Jews but not in the public square, in the justice of the courts, the morality of the economy and the humanitarianism of everyday life.” (p.136)

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, The People Chosen for What?
(b. 1959) American rabbi, author, speaker, and the occupant of the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.