DAS Blog

One aspect of last week's Torah portion, Vayeira, is the notion of chosenness: we Jews are the "chosen" people who are to be, in later Biblical terms, a light unto the nations.

A month or two ago people on the internets were talking about the notion of whether integration would lead, e.g., to the death of blues. As some pointed out, this sort of comment is as prejudicial and bigoted as wondering whether Zionism would lead to the death of Jewish success in, e.g., the sciences. Which of course begged the question: would it?

I actually fear it might -- not because increasing opportunities for Jews in all fields will result in fewer extreme Jewish successes in particular fields, but because of the decline of the notion of chosen-ness. Historically, we Jews have been successful in many areas in spite of great oppression, not because oppression inspired us nor because we have special powers, but because we not only have a certain emphasis on education, which when directed beyond the four cubits of halacha shines brilliantly so long as the flavor of those four cubits is maintained, but we also feel an obligation to show the rest of the world how it is done: we have historically taken our self-appointed role to serve as examples very seriously.

Zionism, OTOH, historically is a philosophy of Jewish normalization. It holds that we Jews ought to be a nation like any other nation. Moreover, that Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism in the community of nations has created a further backlash of moral relativism which reaffirms the original Zionist commitment to Jewish normality and even Jewish mediocracy.

Perhaps it is healthier for us Jews to not put so much pressure on ourselves. But if we only aim to be like everyone else, will we continue to be as successful at so many things as we historically have been? And if we no longer allow ourselves to be a blessing -- what will happen, cf. this Torah portion, to the nations?

Do we Jews have an obligation to be especially good? The Torah says we do. But Zionism has historically said we do not. While I believe in many ways the State of Israel has done many good things for the Jewish people and ought to be maintained as a Jewish democracy (which, btw, requires it to spin off a Palestinian state before Israel itself looses either its Jewish or democratic character), the Zionists and their relativist heirs today are wrong -- we Jews ought not to be normal! Now even some so-called religious Jews seem to say we have no obligation to be a light unto the nations and embrace a rather un-Jewish definition of our people (and manage to look down upon non-Jews while refusing to serve as beakons to them) even as the Torah obligates Jews to hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Why have even the so-called frum rejected the Torah in favor of a secular "ism"? All I can say is -- what a world!