{"id":77180,"date":"2020-07-09T16:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T13:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77180"},"modified":"2020-07-09T16:03:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T13:03:00","slug":"ultimate-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ultimate-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Accountability"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"77180","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"521","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Let us embrace who we are, and our purpose - and fulfill it!\r\n\r\n","content":"

Amos Chapter 3 opens with \u201cYou alone did I know from among all the families of the earth; therefore, I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.\u201d Once again we broach the subject of chosenness which <\/span>I wrote about in Isaiah 42<\/span><\/a>. Chosenness has often been a topic of consternation for the Jewish people, particularly the apologists among us. How do we feel proud about being chosen by God without coming off as having some sort of superiority complex?<\/span><\/p>\n

Chosenness is not a zero-sum game. Being chosen by God does not imply that every other nation was rejected. In fact, we know that\u2019s not the case, for if it was then we wouldn\u2019t have the seven Noachide laws that apply to all nations. If other nations were rejected by God, then why would He bother with a moral code for all humanity?<\/span><\/p>\n

Chosenness is also not about blanket privilege or entitlement. On the contrary, biblical verses and prayers alluding to our chosenness always come with a qualifier.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Exodus 19:5 the qualifier is \u201cif you will obey My voice and keep My covenant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Amos the qualifier is \u201cI will hold you accountable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the blessing for reading the Torah we acknowledge that our chosenness is tied to God having \u201cbestowed upon us His Torah\u201d (a privilege for sure, but not without enormous responsibility).<\/span><\/p>\n

When we make <\/span>kiddush <\/span><\/i>over the wine on Shabbat\u00a0 we say \u201cYou have chosen us and sanctified us out of all nations, and given us the Sabbath\u201d (which we are commanded to keep), and in <\/span>kiddush <\/span><\/i>on festivals we say \u201cYou have chosen us\u2026and made us holy through Your commandments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Critical to an understanding of chosenness is our descendancy from Abraham, the first monotheist, who chose God long before God chose us. This directionality is illuminated in Deuteronomy, in the midst of a lengthy list of commandments, with the passage:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God, that you will walk in His ways\u2026.and the Lord has affirmed this day that you are, as He promised, His treasured people (Deut. 17-19).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Our chosenness by God came only after our choosing God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps we do ourselves and the world a disservice in trying to tone down or apologize for the language of chosenness, because in so doing we dilute our responsibilities and dodge our accountability. If we were chosen for a singular purpose, let us embrace that and strive for a job well done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":77182,"id":77182,"title":"amos3-about us","filename":"amos3-about-us.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ultimate-accountability\/amos3-about-us\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"amos3-about-us","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":77180,"date":"2020-07-09 13:02:28","modified":"2020-07-09 13:02:36","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":639,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us-768x256.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us-1024x341.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":341,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":511,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":639,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us-1200x399.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":399,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-about-us-1262x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1262,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Ultimate Accountability","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Let us embrace who we are, and our purpose - 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