Jews as the chosen people

In Judaism, chosenness is the belief that the Jews are the chosen people: chosen to be in a covenant with God . This idea is first found in the Torah (five books of Moses ) and is elaborated on in later books of the Hebrew Bible . Much is written about these topics in rabbinic literature .

In Judaism, "chosenness" is the belief that the Jews , via descent from the ancient Israelites , are the chosen people , i.e. chosen to be in a covenant with God . The idea of the Israelites being chosen by God is found most directly in the Book of Deuteronomy as the verb bahar ( בָּחַ֣ר ( Hebrew ) ), and is alluded to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible using other terms such as "holy people". Much is written about these topics in rabbinic literature . The three largest Jewish denominations— Orthodox Judaism , Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism —maintain the belief that the Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. Sometimes this choice is seen as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission — to be a light unto the nations, and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah. This view, however, did not preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples — rather, Judaism held that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the "God of the spirits of all flesh" ( Numbers 27:16 ), and the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ) also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel. Based on these statements, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Nethanel ibn Fayyumi , a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, "God permitted to every people something he forbade to others...[and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language."(Levine, 1907/1966) The Mishnah states that "Humanity was produced from one man, Adam, to show God's greatness. When a man mints a coin in a press, each coin is identical. But when the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, creates people in the form of Adam not one is similar to any other." (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) The Mishnah continues, and states that anyone who kills or saves a single human, not Jewish, life, has done the same (save or kill) to an entire world. The Tosefta, a collection of important post-Talmudic discourses, also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come " (Sanhedrin 105a). According to the Israel Democracy Institute , approximately two thirds of Israeli Jews believe that Jews are the "chosen people". In series, Religious Book Club , 182. Leyla Gurkan 2013 Democracy Index , "We asked: “To what extent do you believe that the Jews are the ‘chosen people’?” As shown in Figure 34, roughly two thirds of the Jewish respondents (64.3%) believe “very strongly” or “quite strongly” that the Jews are indeed the chosen people, while one third (32.7%) do not share this view."

In Judaism , "chosenness" is the belief that the Jews , via descent from the ancient Israelites , are the chosen people , i.e. chosen to be in a covenant with God . The idea of the Israelites being chosen by God is found most directly in the Book of Deuteronomy as the verb baḥar ( בָּחַ֣ר ( Hebrew ) ), and is alluded to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible using other terms such as "holy people". Much is written about these topics in rabbinic literature . The three largest Jewish denominations— Orthodox Judaism , Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism —maintain the belief that the Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. Sometimes this choice is seen as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations , and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah . This view, however, did not preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism held that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the "God of the spirits of all flesh" ( Numbers 27:16 ), and the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ) also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel. Based on these statements, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Nethanel ibn Fayyumi , a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, "God permitted to every people something he forbade to others...[and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language."(Levine, 1907/1966) The Mishnah states that "Humanity was produced from one man, Adam, to show God's greatness. When a man mints a coin in a press, each coin is identical. But when the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, creates people in the form of Adam not one is similar to any other." (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) The Mishnah continues, and states that anyone who kills or saves a single human, not Jewish, life, has done the same (save or kill) to an entire world. The Tosefta , an important supplement to the Mishnah, also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come " (Sanhedrin 105a). According to the Israel Democracy Institute , approximately two thirds of Israeli Jews believe that Jews are the "chosen people". In series, Religious Book Club , 182. Press "What does it mean that the Jews are God's chosen people?" .

Belief that the Jewish people were chosen by God for a covenantal relationship History Communities Population Denominations Orthodox Modern Haredi Hasidic Reform Conservative Karaite Reconstructionist Renewal Science Haymanot Humanistic Culture Languages Hebrew Biblical Mishnaic Medieval Modern Bukharian Ghardaïa Sign Jewish Koine Greek Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Aramaic Judeo-Berber Judeo-Gascon Judaeo-Georgian Judaeo-Iranian Judeo-Italian Judeo-Malayalam Judaeo-Spanish Judeo-Tat Knaanic Shassi Yeshivish Yevanic Yiddish Zarphatic Politics Category Portal v t e In Judaism , the concept of the Jews as the chosen people ( ha-ʿam ha-nivḥar , IPA: haʕam hanivħar ) is the belief that the Jews , via descent from the ancient Israelites , are the chosen people , i.e. selected to be in a covenant with God . The idea of the Israelites being chosen by God is found most directly in the Book of Deuteronomy as the verb baḥar (בָּחַר), and is alluded to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible using other terms such as "holy people". Much is written about these topics in rabbinic literature . The three largest Jewish denominations— Orthodox Judaism , Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism —maintain the belief that the Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. Sometimes this choice is seen as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations , and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah . While the concept of "chosenness" may be understood by some to connote ethnic supremacy , the status as a "chosen people" within Judaism does not preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism holds that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the "God of the spirits of all flesh", the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel and the prophet Jonah is explicitly told to go prophesize to the non-Jewish people of Nineveh . Based on these statements and stories, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Natan'el al-Fayyumi , a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, "God permitted to every people something he forbade to others ... [and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language." (Levine, 1907/1966) The Mishnah states that "Humanity was produced from one man, Adam, to show God's greatness. When a man mints a coin in a press, each coin is identical. But when the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, creates people in the form of Adam not one is similar to any other" (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5). The Tosefta , an important supplement to the Mishnah, also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come " (Sanhedrin 105a). According to the Israel Democracy Institute , approximately two thirds of Israeli Jews believe that Jews are the "chosen people". In series, Religious Book Club , 182. Numbers 27:16 2013 Democracy Index , "We asked: “To what extent do you believe that the Jews are the ‘chosen people’?” As shown in Figure 34, roughly two thirds of the Jewish respondents (64.3%) believe “very strongly” or “quite strongly” that the Jews are indeed the chosen people, while one third (32.7%) do not share this view."

Israelites being properly the chosen people of God is found directly in the Book of Deuteronomy 7:6 as the verb baḥar (בָּחַר), and is alluded to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible using other terms such as "holy people" as goy or gentile, Book of Exodus 19:6. Much is written about these topics in rabbinic literature . The three largest Jewish denominations— Orthodox Judaism , Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism —maintain the belief that Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. Sometimes this choice is seen by believers as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations , and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah . Isaiah and Jeremiah viewed God's loving choice of Israel as a means to teaching monotheism, combatting idolatry, curbing human arrogance, ending violence, lust, greed, extreme chauvinism and warfare, and ushering in a new society. Within Judaism, the status as a "chosen people" does not connote ethnic supremacy , nor does it preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism holds that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the "God of the spirits of all flesh", the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel and the prophet Jonah is explicitly told to go prophesize to the non-Jewish people of Nineveh . Jewish tradition is clear that there were interactions of non-Jewish prophets with God which are not recounted in the Torah. Based on these statements and stories, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Natan'el al-Fayyumi , a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, "God permitted to some people that which he forbade to others ... [and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language." (Levine, 1907/1966) The Mishnah states that "Humanity was produced from one man, Adam, to show God's greatness. When a man mints a coin in a press, each coin is identical. But when the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, creates people in the form of Adam not one is similar to any other" (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5).