Reflecting on Judaism

We Jews are often referred to as the ‘Chosen People’ and there is much discussion as to what this term implies. I recently heard a stimulating lecture on this subject, given by an eminent Rabbi, who realised the embarrassment caused by the use of this appellation and acknowledged that it sometimes causes anti-Semitism at two levels.
 
The first level emanating from both the Church and from nations who say that ‘if you can be considered the ‘Chosen’ then so can we’. The second at a personal level by Gentiles who allege that we think ourselves better than they because we discourage our children from marrying their children and we won’t eat their food. Nevertheless the Rabbi considered the appellation justified and gave four facts for believing so. The first three facts proved, he said, that we were chosen and the fourth fact showed what the duties and obligations of the term implies.
The first three facts he presented are:
1.      We have survived the centuries under apparently impossible circumstances.
2.      We have re-established the State of Israel.
3.      We have contributed to Society beyond our numbers. 
i     I will state and discuss the fourth fact later in this essay.
           
 The first fact raises the problem of Freewill and Predetermination; the hand of God in history i.e. God has caused us to survive the centuries thereby implying that Man’s Freewill decisions were not relevant to this survival. The Rabbi is thereby also suggesting that ‘Freewill’ is not really wholly free and that much that happened was Predetermined.
 
In his little book ‘The Eight Chapters’ Maimonides discusses both of these concepts at length. He explains Predetermination as referring only to those things in nature over which Man has no control. He also discussed the theory of ‘The Golden Mean’ which recognises that Man has in-built character faults which affect his behaviour and which he must learn to control by applying the ‘Golden Mean’ i.e. not to act or behave in the extreme in either direction. In spite of the character fault he insisted that Man is entirely and fully responsible for all his actions. How then, within Maimonides theory can God have ensured that we survived the Centuries when Man’s acts are entirely free?
 
Another problem raised by the ‘Hand of God in History’ theory is that, if it is correct, then God is more interested in preserving the ‘Jewish People’ than in preserving Jews. The Nazi Holocaust was only the last and probably the worst of all the holocausts which the Jews have suffered, throughout the centuries, since the destruction of the Second Temple and which, collectively, caused the loss of life and torture of millions and millions of Jews. If one reads one’s history it can be seen that the majority of the pogroms and holocausts were inflicted on good and pious Jews. Can one believe that it was ‘God’s Hand in History’, a ‘Just God’, which caused the Jews to suffer these horrors just to ensure that ‘The Jewish People’ survived the centuries?
 
In view of our Rabbis teachings about the Nature of God is it not more credible, and dare I say it, logical, for us to believe that these ghastly things occurred, not because God predetermined them; i.e. God’s hand in history, but because of the freewill decisions of  tyrants who perpetrated them?                                                                                
One can find reference to both Predetermination and Freewill in the Torah but in my opinion the case for ‘Freewill’ comes through as the more powerful. Reward and Punishment are constantly mentioned in the Torah but how can there be Reward or Punishment unless a person’s actions are the result of ‘Freewill’ decisions deserving reward or punishment?                                                                                                
 
The second fact concerned the re-establishment of the State of Israel. On the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the late Chief Rabbi Jakobovits said that if only the Jews who were expelled from Spain had gone to Palestine instead of to Holland, Turkey, Greece etc. we would have had a State 500 hundred years ago. This statement shows a belief in ‘Freewill’ rather than ‘God’s Hand in History’.
 
In the main, Orthodox Jews did not help re-establish the State. Both before and, regrettably, even after the Second World War they were among the most vocal anti- Zionists. With the exception of a minority of the Orthodox, it was the Jews who had run away from the religion who laid the foundation of the rebuilt State and it was only a few Rabbis of the calibre of Rav Kook who gave them credit for their efforts. Even the money poured into Palestine, in the 16th century by Dona Gracia and her nephew was insufficient to maintain the interest of the Orthodox inhabitants of Sefat and its surroundings, in long term industrial production which would have been necessary for the maintenance of a viable State. Although we ‘Orthodox’ Jews certainly kept the memory of Zion alive we cannot be too proud of our involvement in the re-establishment of the State. It could be that God loves the secular Jew for their efforts in rebuilding the State even if some Rabbis don’t. 
 
The third fact concerned the disproportionate contribution that Jews have made to Society. I have a theory about this which, reduced to simplistic terms, involves the survival of the fittest. Throughout the generations, we Jews have been on the run because of pogroms, expulsions and so forth. In this process, those with the lesser ability, less intelligence, less deviousness, less cunning or similar did not survive. Descendants of the survivors have had their intellect honed, by this natural selection, over the centuries, thereby producing outstanding minds.
 
Over and above these three facts the Rabbi stated that the fourth overriding fact indicating that we are a Chosen People is that the Souls of the Jews were at Sinai when the Torah was given. We therefore have a moral and ethical message to impart to the world generally. My question revolves around the definition of ‘A Jewish Soul’.
 
When one enters the Bet Hatfutsot Museum in Tel Aviv one is immediately struck by the enormous variety of faces, all of them Jewish, on display in picture frames which are continually changing. This prompts one to ask whether they can all have a ‘Jewish Soul’, be ‘historically’ Jewish and all from one ‘Family’. By the definition of ‘Presence at Sinai’ the simple answer is probably not. My reasons for this negative answer are: -
 Both before and during the Mishnaic period Jews actively converted their neighbours. For example, the Idumean Tribe, were forcibly converted on the threat of death which eventually resulted in the appointment of one of their descendants, Herod, as the king of Judea.
                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                               
In the Kuzari and in other writings one learns of the conversion of a large proportion of the citizens of the kingdom of Khazar. There is the unproved theory that this kingdom provided the predecessors of a part of European Jewry.
 
I have read an excellent book by Professor André N Chouraqui called ‘The History of the Jews of North Africa’. In this book he sets out the origins of North African
Jews and their involvement and intermarriage with the early Berbers. Even the Berbers, he claims, are originally Palestinians, driven out of the land by Joshua. Kindred spirits. He also claims that today it is really impossible to know which of the North African Jews are originally Jewish and which are originally Berber.
 
One can give other examples but the point that I am trying to make is, that there is no mention in any of the writings that these ‘Converts’ went through a formal Conversion Ceremony as we know it today, or indeed any form of Ceremony except, sometimes, circumcision. What effect does this have on their Souls and in which way can we say that their Souls were at Sinai. No one denies that these descendants are Jews.
 

December 2000