Comment by bodhi_mind
Comment by bodhi_mind an hour ago
A lot of Israelis who reference “God’s chosen people” aren’t claiming superiority in the way it’s often interpreted abroad. In Jewish tradition, “chosen” historically means chosen for responsibility, not privilege. The phrase “light unto the nations” captures this: it’s about modeling ethical behavior, justice, and compassion, not dominating or controlling others.
Understanding this helps separate the original ethical meaning of “chosen” from the way it’s sometimes misinterpreted in political discourse: it’s meant to be a call to moral responsibility, not a claim of inherent superiority.
> chosen” historically means chosen for responsibility, not privilege.
> moral responsibility
Yes, this is identical to how it was stated by the three separate Israelis I had this conversation with that said it exactly this way.
I ask genuinely if you understand this:
Do you see how believing that a supreme being has granted "your people" a moral responsibility could easily lead to any actions "your people" do being ipso facto "moral" by definition of the fact it's performed by "your people?"
Do you see how just the mere separation of people into "chosen by god (even just to live better)" and "not chosen by god (not responsible for living better)" can easily create a supremacist ideology?
Do you understand that, from a scientific perspective framed in sociology and anthropology, there's no such thing as a Jewish person or non Jewish person in any externally consistent definition, that the definition is only enforceable by internal justifications, and that therefore it's arbitrary who is chosen and who isn't? And therefore exploitable by supremacists? See: e.g. Whiteness; Jews are white when it's convenient, and nonwhite when not convenient, same for Italians, Irish, Catholics...
Not to mention: Hassidic Jews in Israel refuse to participate in the military. Other Israeli Jews say this is traitorous to the Jewish people, not doing their part to keep Jews safe. Some Israelis say horribly racist things about Palestinians, comparing them to animals and openly calling for their extermination. Others don't. Which Jewish people are correctly implementing the moral responsibility set forth by the Jewish god?