The Chosen

The word “chosen” has, throughout our history, been a major cause of debate and contention, both within the Jewish World and without. Words, when not defined with accuracy, can be misinterpreted and cause rifts that are difficult to heal. Many view and define “chosen-ness” as a cause of arrogance, resulting in an inflated ego. As a result, some even reject Judaism over this misunderstanding and wind up throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Others actually believe they are entitled to behave in a haughty manner due to their misperception of what “being chosen” means. How could Hashem, Who values humility and modesty, support this interpretation? It would be impossible. So we can conclude that being chosen has nothing whatsoever to do with placing ourselves above others.

G-d chooses many things for His creations:  Our height, coloring, basic physical health, intelligence, what family we will be born into, and our talents or gifts. We are, however, co-creators of our reality. We choose the path we wish to take in life and, then, G-d chooses where this path will lead us. The Jewish People is the entity that received G-d’s Torah, which contains all the answers to living a life in alignment with the purpose of Creation. We were chosen to align our thoughts, speech, and deeds with His and teach what we know to others. We were chosen to be givers; to emulate, model, and share Torah values and morals; to help others recognize G-d in this world; and to work on our own character traits and manners (derech eretz). We were also chosen to develop a very intimate and personal relationship—a love relationship—with the Creator, not unlike a marriage, so that we feel His presence in every aspect of our lives.

We are Yehudim, taken from the Hebrew name Yehuda, which means a willingness to admit fault and to be honest, sincere, and humble in order to work on ourselves:  To be flexible and willing to change for the good—to be honest and straight with ourselves and with G-d. We were chosen to be bendable like a reed so that we do not crack under pressure or insist on being right all the time unlike the stiff cedar that could easily topple when the winds become too strong. We are an anomaly—-a nation chosen to be small in number and often in stature and weak in military and physical strength but exceedingly strong in perseverance and in spiritual might as long as we remain connected to G-d.

Although we were created as a single soul-body in which we are all responsible for one another, we are as much in need of refinement as is anyone else, but we have a Guide Book to show us how. To become refined is a life-long task. It is a responsibility that we choose for ourselves as a soul-based goal. Therefore, “chosen-ness” has nothing to do with being born better or more holy or more intelligent than others. It involves putting forth effort toward our “real job” of sanctifying Hashem by fulfilling our potential as a soul:  To control selfish and immature obsessions with distractions and excessive physical and material pursuits and work on our character traits and how we relate to others.

The Torah – our G.P.S – describes our ancestors, who sometimes made mistakes. We are instructed to learn from those mistakes so that we can properly choose what we should be doing and what we best avoid. The situations presented in the Torah help us understand that history repeats itself if we do not learn from the past. Our ancestors had far from perfect lives. From their challenges and choices, we learn that when they chose to follow Hashem, they prospered, but when they went against Hashem, they suffered the consequences. We learn from the Torah the attributes Hashem supports and the thoughts, speech, and deeds that He chastises. Our learning helps us to make proper choices. The quality of our lives is dependent upon the quality of the choices we make in accordance with what we learn from the Torah, This includes choosing the needs of the soul over the needs of the body.

We, the Jewish People, were chosen to learn from the Holy Books what constitutes a proper choice when we relate to others socially and in business. Relationships are a very crucial part of living a proper Jewish life. So, one might say we were chosen to learn how best to choose. A large part of the process involves self-control and managing our emotions. Take, for example, the precept “It is better to be kind than to be right as long as we do not compromise our own behavior in a misdirected attempt to make someone else happy.” This is a teaching right out of the Torah that we are expected to practice.

As in every generation Hashem chooses us to be “canaries in the coal mine” in order to provide lessons for others. G-d provides us with many experiential opportunities to learn these lessons. When we recognize the message behind the incident and share it, then others learn from us. At Mount Sinai G-d chose us as His emissaries, we accepted, and, then, at Purim, we chose Him. May we all strengthen our belief in the Almighty, show the world we totally get what being chosen means, and serve G-d from a place of love, awe, emuna (faith), and devotion.