GEN965 Are Jews guilty of arrogant pretensions to racial or at least spiritual superiority? Is this the reason that Jews have historically been so insular? Do they really believe themselves to be closer to God than all other nations? The answer is an emphatic no. Chosenness implies greater responsibility, with penalties as well as rewards; “You only have I singled out of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.” The choice of the children of Israel as God’s people was not because of their power or merit. Nor was it designed to isolate them from the other nations of the world. To say that the concept of chosenness is arrogant behavior on the part of the Jews is a gross misrepresentation. On the contrary, it is a humbling device. The Jews were not merely chosen as God’s special people, as if the Almighty was playing favorites.   They were chosen for a mission. And that mission was to spread the knowledge of the Creator and His expectations of man to all nations. … The bible never uses the word chosen in relation to the Jews as an adjective, but rather as a verb, thereby conveying the idea that they were chosen for a purpose.  God has no favorite nations. Consider, “No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice: so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” [this verse] Amos 3:2.   BOTEACH 277