I assume that the type of person who reads columns such as this one has wondered at one time or another why, for thousands of years, there has been so much attention paid to Jews; and why, today, so much attention is paid to Israel, the lone Jewish state.
How do most people explain this preoccupation? There is no fully rational explanation for the amount of attention paid to the Jews and the Jewish state. And there is no fully rational explanation for the amount of hatred directed at them.
A lifetime of study of this issue, including writing (with Rabbi Joseph Telushkin) a book on antisemitism (Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism) has convinced me that, along with all the rational explanations, there is one explanation that transcends reason alone.
It is that the Jews are God’s chosen people.
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Now, believe me, dear reader, I am well aware of the hazards of making such a claim. It sounds chauvinistic. It sounds racist. And it sounds irrational, if not bizarre.
But it is none of these.
As regards chauvinism, there is not a hint of inherent superiority in the claim of Jewish chosenness. In fact, the Jewish Bible, the book that states the Jews are chosen, constantly berates the Jews for their flawed moral behavior. No bible of any other religion is so critical of the religious group affiliated with that bible as the Hebrew Scriptures are of the Jews.
As for racism, Jewish chosenness cannot be racist by definition. Here is why: a) The Jews are not a race; there are Jews of every race. And b) any person of any race, ethnicity, or nationality can become a member of the Jewish people and thereby be as chosen as Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah or the chief rabbi of Israel.
And with regard to chosenness being an irrational or even bizarre claim, it must be so only to atheists. They don’t believe in a Chooser, so they cannot believe in a Chosen. But for most believing Jews and Christians (most particularly the Founders who saw America as a Second Israel, a second Chosen People), Jewish Chosenness has been a given. And even the atheist must look at the evidence and conclude that the Jews play a role in history that defies reason.
Can reason alone explain how a hodgepodge of ex-slaves was able to change history — to introduce the moral God-Creator we know as God, to devise ethical monotheism; to write the world’s most influential book, the Bible; to be the only civilization to deny the cyclical worldview and give humanity belief in a linear (i.e., purposeful) history; to provide morality-driven prophets; and so much more — without God playing the decisive role in this people’s history?
Without the Jews, there would be no Christianity (a fact acknowledged by the great majority of Christians); and no Islam (a fact acknowledged by almost no Muslims). Read Thomas Cahill’s “The Gifts of the Jews” or Paul Johnson’s “History of the Jews” to get an idea about how much this people changed history.
What further renders the claim for Jewish chosenness worthy of rational consideration is that virtually every other nation has perceived itself as chosen or otherwise divinely special. For example, China means “Middle Kingdom” in Chinese – meaning that China is at the center of the world; and Japan considers itself the land where the sun originates (“Land of the Rising Sun”). The difference between Jewish chosenness and other nations’ similar claims is that no one cares about any other group considering itself Chosen, while vast numbers of non-Jews have either believed the Jews’ claim or have hated the Jews for it.
Dennis - And what has all this chosen-ness got us? Opprobrium, massacres and a Holocaust, that's what. If this is chosen-ness, I would rather forego it. I would rather be left alone and ignored. Benign neglect is much to be preferred.
Jack in Silver Springs: I know what you mean - my New Years resolution every year is "to be noticed by no one". But, sorry!, I think that when God chooses someone, it's a done deal.
Being 'Chosen' is an Awesome Privilege. It isn't about what You get out of it ,(that's the self-centered attitude), it is about the Glory of God, Always. Imagine, The God of the universe directly reaching out His hand and scooping you up, drawing you to Himself as 'His Special Person'. What could be more unique and awe-inspiring! If a Jewish person could see the Blessing of being 'Chosen' or 'set apart' they could appreciate Knowing God and loving Him as their Father who 'directs their path.'
There is no way to explain Kiryas Joel as anything but a vast collection of tax cheats who consider themselves exempt from Title 26 of the United States Code.
Being chosen by G_d isn't something anyone should pray for. The responsibility is awesome and the price is high, but, the reward is great. The only reason the nation of Israel has survived this long is because they're chosen. It's amuses me how people try to (give) G_d advise. Since the time of Abraham, when the nation of Israel was born, G_d told the Jews that their lives would be hard, unless they kept His word, they didn't always, and have paid the price, many times. But, as Hannity always says, "let not your heart be troubled". G_d will have His way, and all those who've persecuted the Jews will not fair well.
The article is very true. As far as the hatred for the jews, they have a very ancient and powerful enemy...satan. Unfortunately things will get worse before they get better.
@MikeB:
Thanks for the link, I enjoyed the article about Kiryas Joel. It's nice to see that poverty does not inevitably produce delinquency, crime, single motherhood, etc.
I prefer Leo Strauss's formulation. Strauss draws our attention to the limits of political Zionism: its failure to recast Judaism as a "cultural tradition," the product of a "national mind" rather than as how it truly understands itself as a divine gift. While political Zionism has improved Jewish conditions in Exile, by definition it can not end the Exile, which is a distinctly religious concept. He concludes:
"Finite problems can be solved; infinite, absolute problems cannot be solved. In other words, human beings will never create a society which is free from contradictions. From every point of view it look as if the Jewish people were the chosen people, at least in the sense that the Jewish problem is the most manifest symbol of the human problem insofar as it is a social or political problem. To realize that the Jewish problem is insoluble means never to forget the truth proclaimed by Zionism regarding the limitations of liberalism."
Like Praeger Strauss's confrontation of the Jewish problem draws our attention to the limits of reason limits (and by extension, of the Enlightenment). But for him, this confrontation leads to a return to Plato's Athenian stranger rather than the Prophets. (Liberalism Ancient and Modern,235)
"And even the atheist must look at the evidence and conclude that the Jews play a role in history that defies reason."
Um... no, we don't have to do that at all. There are plenty of rational ways to explain the long history of anti-semitism.
The idea of religions peacefully coexisting is a pretty recent invention, with hatred and even open war between faiths being the rule for most of human history. Since the Jews have had the longest lasting faith it stands to reason that they'd compile the longest list of enemies.
It's also worth pointing out that totalitarian societies like the Nazis love to have an "other" to blame things on. With the Jews often being outsiders within whatever country they were in they make convenient targets. And the evil regimes on your list hardly limited their murdering to the Jews.
Of course you (and most of the commenters, I expect) will dismiss these Earthly causes out of hand because you believe in God, while I do not. What I find puzzling though is why you'd even want to believe in a creator who had nothing better to do with his power than choose a subset of his creations and set the others against them. That sounds more like a cruel child pulling the legs off a spider than it does a benevolent and loving God.
To the Athiests that will always argue against anything that includes the word God: A sentence that seems to be central to your diatribes always starts with "Why would you want to believe in a God who" does this or that, or seems cruel or unjust, etc, etc.
This is the flaw in this central argument: Those of us who believe do not do so because we WANT to. We do not imbue the characteristics we WANT in our God. A search for TRUTH cannot be undertaken to find the things we WANT to find.
God is as He is. We do not suppose to understand His ways. But seeking to know this mysterious God is a worthy cause for us. The search for Truth is not meant to validate our selfish desires or prove our way of thinking-- it is to find the Truth. Convenient or not. Immediately gratifying or not. Athiests, there is more to this great Universe than the human brain. That much should be obvious.
Jews are despised for more concrete reasons. They make the perfect scapegoat.
1. They are small in numbers
2. They are conspicuous
Except for Israel, Jews in the Diaspora are a small minority wherever they live. Further they range from marginally to extremely successful thus as a people are most ripe to be picked by the by local, national or regional forces seeking to gain power by blaming any woe on the most vulnerable visible minority present.
Albeit it is interesting that these people always remain conspicuous. Success allows survival but it also breeds jealousy, contempt and the cycle of persecution renews.
Perhaps you are right Mr. Prager because to survive and succeed despite these travails, when all other ancients have disappeared, perhaps these people truly are Chosen.
Every Passover we read at the Seder that, "...in every generation there are those who rise up to anihilate us." Well, that is fairly true but what is undeniably true is that they always fail to do so. There has to be more to it than the poor strategy of our enemies. Like most people, we learn our lessons the hard way and taken our punishment when His laws have been violated, but through it all, the Almighty has sustained us for over 5700 years.
MikeB,
There is not a single piece of evidence in that article suggesting tax evasion, let alone proving it. It would be shocking if the county with the lowest median age, highest family size, with women who do not work outside the home, and a high school graduation rate of 39% was not poor.
Its very simple.
In days of old, all people had a god.
And that god chose them, naturally.
But all those other people and their gods are lost to history.
But the Jews survived, and their God was an interlectual seccess. Other people 'adopted' Him, and
those other people would like the Jews to vanish so that they can inherit. Simple really.
MikeB: "Kiryas Joel" How does this article in any way at all relate to Prager's point in this article? This is just a diversion from the main topic. C'mon, MikeB, you can do better than this? Debate the topic, not non sequiters.
"This is the flaw in this central argument: Those of us who believe do not do so because we WANT to. We do not imbue the characteristics we WANT in our God."
The history of religion doesn't support that statement. Religions have always been at least in part a reflection of the people who practice them. From the Greeks with their hedonists on Olympus to the vikings and their warrior gods people have always worshipped dieties that embody their personal ideals. And you don't even have to look at different religions to see this. In its 2,000 year history Christianity has been a small, outlawed sect, it's been a violent, oppressive government, it's been a profiteering scam selling indulgences and then finally arrived at it's current relatively benevolent form. All those people down through the centuries sincerely believed they were working God's will. They CAN'T all have been right. They believed what they wanted to.
I'm not trying to convince anyone to abandon their faith or stop believing in God (and I certainly haven't posted anything that can be reasonably called a "diatribe"). I respect anyone's faith as long as it doesn't encourage murder or disregard of human rights. I just wish the faithful among you would stop telling us something is "obviously true" when in fact it's anything but.
MacWell - You say: "Being chosen by G_d isn't something anyone should pray for. The responsibility is awesome and the price is high, but, the reward is great." The reward is great? Two Temples destroyed; one kingdom permanently lost (the Kingdom of Israel; the Kingdom of Judah is the sole survivor); two Diasporas, with the last one having lasted almost 2000 years; a near wipe-out in the Bar-Kochbah rebellion; then having to endure constant repression in Christian Europe with horriffic accusations about using Christian blood for matzos (and/or wine), and then finally, topped off at the end, with a Holocaust. Then, with a reborn, albeit, tiny state, it becomes the world's pariah state, itself now horriffically accussed of being a Nazi state. This is chosen? This is chosen to be the world's punching bag, and it's no fun. If we have survived, it's because God once told us, we are stiff-necked People, and so we are. Who else could have survived what we have gone through without having been a stiff-necked People.
"I just wish the faithful among you would stop telling us something is "obviously true" when in fact it's anything but."
Fair enough. I appreciate your love of truth. In the end, may truth prevail always. I think all of us are fully aligned that we ought to love truth more than our own ego, pride, suppositions, biases, agendas, etc.
James Felix, can you provide us a meaningful proposition of truth for mankind? Perhaps, a meaningful "mission statement" that best properly guides mankind toward truth? How would that mission statement look? What path is best for mankind to stay on course "in truth"? Can you please provide a better path that would best suit the pursuit of truth for all of mankind? How do you walk that out? Does it matter? Is it important?
Go for it and stick your neck out and offer us your enlightenment. Please. I'm not being snarky. It does require risk on your part. I understand that it takes courage to stand for truth. And there will always be persecution when you stand for truth. Persecution (mild or severe) goes with the territory of confronting mankind with truth.
What is truth? And how best can we go about pursuing and walking in truth?
