27 Apr THE MEANING OF AM HANIVCHAR; THE SOURCE OF ANTI-SEMITISM

The Torah mentions several times that Bnei Yisroel
are the am hanivchar. What
exactly does that mean? Does
it mean that just like parents
sometimes favor one child
over the others Hashem favors
Klal Yisroel, and therefore we
can get away with all kinds of
mischief?
This is clearly not the intention! First of all,
the Gemorah points out (in the first perek of
Messechet Shabbos) that the chumash clearly
teaches us that it is improper for parents to
have a favorite child, and the Torah clearly
implies that all of the trouble surrounding
mechiras Yosef and galus Mitzrayim came
about because Yaakov Avinu treated Yosef
differently than the other brothers.
Furthermore, our tradition has it that Bnei
Yisroel are held to a higher standard than
the umos ha’olam (see the midrash quoted
by Rashi in Parshas Toldos on the possuk,
“v’yitain lecho Elokim”). In general, one
who is closer to Hashem has a greater degree
of hashgocha protis both l’tav and l’mutov
(good and bad); on the one hand the possuk
tells us “raglei chassidov yishmor”, i.e. that
Hashem will protect one who is closer to
Him in an unusual fashion; and on the other hand Hashem is m’dakdek im tzaddikov
k’chut ha’saarah. For example, even with the
ten explanations quoted by the Ohr Hachaim
Hakaddosh we still don’t know the exact nature of Moshe Rabbeinu’saveira which prevented him from entering Eretz Yisroel; all
we know is that if anyone else would have
done the same thing that Moshe Rabbeinu
did, it probably would not have been considered an aveira; but since he was so much
closer to Hashem he was held to a much higher standard.
So what does it actually mean when the
Torah tells us that Am Yisroel is the am hanivchar? The simple understanding seems to
be that Bnei Yisroel are obligated to serve as
an ohr lagoyim – a light unto the nations, as
the novi Yeshaya mentioned on several occasions. Even before yetzias Mitzrayim Hashem referred to Bnei Yisroel as “beni bechori –
my first born child”. Does that possukmean to
say that all the nations of the world are bonim
lamokom and Bnei Yisroel is the first born?
The mishna in Pirkei Avos clearly rejects
this understanding and states that only Bnei
Yisroel have the cherished status of bonim
lamokom. Only the neshomos of Bnei Yis- roel carry in their “spiritual DNA” the middos of elokus in a manner similar to children
carrying the physical DNA of their parents.
The neshomos of the umos ha’olam are fun- damentally different, and as such the Zohar
teaches us that when a nochri is misgayer it
is literally true that ger sh’nisgayer k’koton
sh’nolad domi because his old neshoma is replaced with a new one.
The notion of Bnei Yisroel being the first
born, the bechor, means that just as a first
born child is expected to help his parents
raise their younger children, so too Bnei Yisroel are called upon to influence the other
nations of the world. The avos, Avrohom,
Yitzchok and Yaakov, were proactive in
publicly preaching the lessons of monotheism. Apparently this charge was conveyed
to Avrohom Avinu by Hashem when he told
Avrohom, “V’nivrichu becha kol mishpichos
ho’adoma” that all of the other families of the
world should join along with you, just as one
would graft a branch from one tree onto another (See Rashbam that the root of the word
“v’nivrichu” is the word havracha, grafting).
After all of the shevotim were born, Yaakov Avinu understood that his responsibility
to serve as an ohr lagoyim no longer required
him to be proactive but should be fulfilled in
a more passive fashion.
Specifically, we can succeed in impressing
upon all the nations of the world the values
of honesty, integrity, and decency by acting
properly ourselves and thus serving as a good
example.
The Torah tells us in Parshas Ki Savo,
“v’holachta bid’rachav” that we should pre- serve our tzelem Elokim by going in the
ways of Hashem and then “when all of the
nations of the world will see that you have
succeeded in preserving your tzelem Elokim,
they will learn from you how to act with yiras
Shomayim” (see Aderes Eliyahu). The umos
ha’olam also have tzelem Elokim and they
can preserve that tzelem Elokim by following the ways of Hashem.
Hashem selected one nation to serve as a
role model for all the others regarding how to
go in His ways. The novi Yeshaya says, “am
zu yotzarti”, i.e. that the am ha’nivchar was
a distinct creation of Hashem. According to
nature, Klal Yisroel really should not exist,
since the Chumash tells us that the imahos
were akoros (unable to bear children), and the
Talmud tells us (in Yevomos perek He’oreil)
that Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Yaakov were
akorim as well. As such, the whole existence
of Klal Yisroel is l’maaleh min hatevah.
This probably explains the mysterious
phenomenon of anti-Semitism which persists
throughout all generations. A body naturally
rejects foreign objects (and therefore when
surgeons do an organ transplant they have to
be concerned about the organ being rejected),
and Klal Yisroel does not fit in to the natural
system which makes up the rest of the world;
Klal Yisroel was created as a separate yitzira
which is l’maaleh min ha’teva. Thus we can
understand quite well why all of the nations
of the world, which are all part of teva, would
naturally reject the “foreign body” of Klal
Yisroel which does not fit in with the natural
scheme of things!
We ought to cherish and appreciate the
responsibility of being the am hanivchar, i.e.
serving as the ohr lagoyim – the role model
for all other nations.