The Chosen People (Nitzavim-Vayeilech 09-28-24)

The Chosen People

With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, I know many of us are looking forward to year 5784 ending and the entrance of a new year blessed with harmony, a reuniting of families, and peace.

While this last year was the worst for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the fact that we continue to draw the attention and ire of the world despite our small numbers signifies that we have not lost our relevance.

The previous Shabbat, our Bar Mitzvah celebrant, Ryan G., addressed this issue, and I’d like to share his message with you. His words will bolster our pride and reassure us of our pertinence.

“My parsha, Ki Tavo, talks about the special relationship between the Jewish people and God.

“This very day, Adonoy, your God, commands you to perform these statutes and the laws; you shall observe and perform them wholeheartedly and with your whole being.

You have singled out the Lord, this day, to be your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His mitzvot, and His judgments, and to heed His voice.

And Adonoy has distinguished you today to be for Him a treasured people as He said to you, and to guard all His commandments.” (Deuteronomy 26:16-18)

Traditional Jewish belief is that we are “The Chosen People”-that God has a closer, more intimate relationship with us than with other nations and religions.

Nowadays, theology has evolved, and we believe God loves all humans and respects all religions equally.

If this is so, what is the eternal message of the verses I just read? Why bother even reading them?

Perhaps both ideologies are valid. God loves all peoples, cultures, and religions, and nonetheless, the Jewish people have a unique and specific role in the world.

Take the tiny state of Israel. It’s the smallest country in the Middle East, but it gets more than its fair share of the press and is held to a standard no other country is held to.

Furthermore, it’s a world leader in computer and semiconductor technology, cybersecurity and anti-terrorism, bio-medical innovation, water desalination, and water-saving methods.

If we take the Jewish people as a whole, we’re just ½ of 1 percent of the world population, but everybody has a strong feeling about us.

In America, we’re just 4% of the Jewish population, and we overachieve our numbers in nearly every statistic: Supreme Court Justices, Senators, Congressmen, Second gentlemen, Professors, Doctors, Lawyers, Tech billionaires, actors, and singers. Over 40% of the American Nobel Prize winners have been Jewish.

The only field in which we may actually underachieve is in sports, but recently, that’s been improving. On August 10th, Max Lazar, Joc Pederson, and Garrett Stubbs made baseball history by being the first time a batter, catcher, and pitcher were all Jewish.

In short, it’s not conceit to say the Jewish people are overachievers. Perhaps that’s our unique relationship with God and the world nowadays. The world needs people unafraid to change and fix the world, be it in politics, medicine, technology, business, spirituality, or morality.

And that’s one of the reasons Jews in Israel and across the globe are always in the news, way beyond our numbers.

So God does love all peoples equally, but when it comes to advancing the world, God may rely on us more, and that’s our unique role.”

Sometimes, we may feel like Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof, “I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?” It seems that’s not an option; we’re special, and with it comes advantages and disadvantages.

Let’s hope we see more of those advantages in this year.

Wishing us all a healthy, harmonious and peaceful year,

R’ Neil, Judy and family.