From Wikipedia, different modern interpretations of "chosen people".
I didn't bother to edit out the footnote numbers...
Modern Jewish views
Modern Orthodox views
Rabbi Lord
Immanuel Jakobovits, former Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue of Great Britain (Modern Orthodox Judaism), stated that he saw chosenness as a universal principle, with every people having a providential role; the specific covenantal mission is to pioneer religion and morality.
[39] Modern Orthodox theologian
Michael Wyschogrod wrote in 1984 that election of Abraham is God’s free choice without stated rationale; chosenness is rooted in God’s sovereign will, formalized through Abraham’s calling, rather than human merit.
[40] Rabbi
Norman Lamm, a leader of
Modern Orthodox Judaism, links chosenness exclusively to Torah and mitzvot, revealed at Sinai (the Sinaitic covenant). Lamm sees it as both communal holiness and priestly service to humanity.
[41]
Conservative views
The
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the main rabbinical seminary of Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism emphasizes in its 1988 Statement of Principles that chosenness is not innate superiority but a covenantal responsibility. The statement cites Amos 3:2 to show election implies accountability, framing it as a mission to build a just society, especially in the Land of Israel, as a light unto the nations.
[42] Rabbi
Reuven Hammer commented in 2003 on the excised sentence in the Aleinu prayer mentioned above, clarifying that even historically polemical liturgical phrases weren’t about ethnic superiority, but about monotheism over paganism; chosenness is about belief and calling, not intrinsic worth.
[43]
Reform views
Reform Judaism views the concept of chosenness as follows: "Throughout the ages it has been Israel's mission to witness to the Divine in the face of every form of paganism and materialism. We regard it as our historic task to cooperate with all men in the establishment of the kingdom of God, of universal brotherhood, Justice, truth and peace on earth. This is our Messianic goal."
[44] In 1999 the Reform movement stated, "We affirm that the Jewish people are bound to God by an eternal covenant, as reflected in our varied understandings of Creation, Revelation and Redemption. ... We are Israel, a people aspiring to holiness, singled out through our ancient covenant and our unique history among the nations to be witnesses to God's presence. We are linked by that covenant and that history to all Jews in every age and place."
[45]
Reconstructionist views
Reconstructionist Judaism rejects the concept of chosenness. This rejection of chosenness is made explicit in the movement's
siddurim (prayer books). For example, the original blessing recited before reading from the Torah contains the phrase, "asher bahar banu mikol ha’amim"—"Praised are you Lord our God, ruler of the Universe,
who has chosen us from among all peoples by giving us the Torah." The Reconstructionist version is rewritten as "asher kervanu la’avodato", "Praised are you Lord our God, ruler of the Universe,
who has drawn us to your service by giving us the Torah." In the mid-1980s, the Reconstructionist movement issued its
Platform on Reconstructionism. It states that the idea of chosenness is "morally untenable", because anyone who has such beliefs "implies the superiority of the elect community and the rejection of others."
[46] Not all Reconstructionists accept this view. The newest siddur of the movement,
Kol Haneshamah, includes the traditional blessings as an option, and some modern Reconstructionist writers have opined that the traditional formulation should be embraced. An original prayer book by the Reconstructionist feminist poet
Marcia Falk,
The Book of Blessings, has been accepted by many Reform and Reconstructionist Jews. Falk rejects all concepts which are related to hierarchy or distinction; she sees any distinction as leading to the acceptance of other kinds of distinctions, thus leading to
prejudice. She writes that as a politically liberal feminist, she must reject distinctions made between men and women, homosexuals and heterosexuals, Jews and non-Jews, and to some extent even distinctions between the Sabbath and the other six days of the week. She thus rejects the idea of chosenness as unethical. She also rejects Jewish theology in general, and instead holds to a form of religious humanism.
[47] Reconstructionist author
Judith Plaskow also criticises the idea of chosenness, for many of the same reasons as Falk. A politically liberal lesbian, Plaskow rejects most distinctions made between men and women, homosexuals and heterosexuals, and Jews and non-Jews. In contrast to Falk, Plaskow does not reject all concepts of difference as inherently leading to unethical beliefs, and holds to a more classical form of Jewish theism than Falk.
[48][49] A number of responses to these views have been made by Reform and Conservative Jews; they hold the view that these criticisms are against teachings that do not exist within liberal forms of Judaism, and such teachings are rare in Orthodox Judaism (outside certain
Haredi communities, such as
Chabad). A separate criticism stems from the very existence of
feminist forms of Judaism in all
denominations of Judaism, which do not have a problem with the concept of chosenness.
[50]
