{"id":47988,"date":"2019-01-23T10:52:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T08:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=47988"},"modified":"2022-08-17T18:18:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T15:18:42","slug":"a-people-that-dwells-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-people-that-dwells-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"A People That Dwells Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[667,421,354,449],"acf":{"old_id":"47988","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33923,"related_cahpter":"140","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"What is the key to Jewish singularity?","content":"

One of the most profound and influential comments ever made about Jewish destiny was made by the pagan prophet Balaam in this chapter:<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>As I see them from the mountain tops, Gaze on them from the heights, <\/span>
\n<\/span>Behold it is a people that dwells alone, Not reckoned among the nations (23:9)<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>To many \u2013 Jews and non-Jews, admirers and critics alike \u2013 that has seemed to epitomise the Jewish situation: a people that stands outside history and the normal laws governing the fate of nations. For Jews it was a source of pride. For non-Jews, it was all too often a source of resentment and hate. For centuries, Jews in Christian Europe were treated, in Max Weber\u2019s phrase, as a \u201cpariah people.\u201d All agreed, though, that Jews were different. The question is: how and why? The biblical answer is surprising and profound.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>It is not that Jews alone knew God. That is manifestly not the case. Balaam \u2013 the very prophet who uttered these words \u2013 was not an Israelite. Nor were Abimelekh or Laban, to whom God appears in the book of Genesis. Abraham\u2019s contemporary, Malkizedek, king of Shalem (the city that later became Jerusalem) is described as a priest of the most high God. Jethro, Moses\u2019 father-in-law, was a Midianite high priest, yet the portion that contains the supreme moment of Jewish history \u2013 the revelation at Mount Sinai \u2013 bears his name. Even the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt in the days of Joseph said of him, \u201cCan we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?\u201d…<\/span><\/p>\n

Nor is it that God\u2019s covenant with the children of Israel means that they are more righteous than others… Nor did any of the major strands in Jewish thought ever see Jewish chosen-ness as a privilege. It was, and is, a responsibility. The key verse here is the famous prophecy of Amos:<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>You alone have I singled out \/ Of all the families of the earth \u2013<\/span>
\n<\/span>That is why I will call you to account \/ For all your iniquities (Amos 3:2).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Where then did Jewish singularity lie? The clue lies in the precise wording of Balaam\u2019s blessing: \u201cBehold it is a \u202fpeople \u202fthat dwells alone.\u201d For it was\u202f as a people \u202fthat God chose the descendants of Abraham; as a people that He made a covenant with them at Mount Sinai; as a people that He rescued them from Egypt, gave them laws, and entered into their history. \u201cYou will be to Me,\u201d He said at Sinai, \u201ca kingdom of priests and a holy nation.\u201d Judaism is the only religion to place God at the centre of its self-definition as a nation. Jews are the only nation whose very identity is defined in religious terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

From: <\/span>A People That Dwells Alone <\/span><\/em>(Covenant & Conversation, Balak 5777)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":101406,"id":101406,"title":"-61fbf071d2dad--61fbf071d2daegen1-nations flags people.jpg","filename":"61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-torah-for-all-nations\/61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"61fbf071d2dad-61fbf071d2daegen1-nations-flags-people-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":101405,"date":"2022-02-03 15:10:41","modified":"2022-08-17 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