EXOD91 Beloved are the people Israel, for they were called children of the On the present God. Pirkei Avot, Perek III mIshnah 18. To prove this, Rabbi Akiba carefully and deliberately chooses a verse in Deuteronomy [14:1] Why would he not select, for example, the verse in Exodus, "Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son" [this verse]j? The answer is that to be called a firstborn son implies having special privileges and rights, while the verse in Deuteronomy, calling us simply His children, implies responsibility. As the Children of God, we are not simply guaranteed redemption out of the depths of bondage and persecution, but more important, through the trials and tribulations of our history we bear a responsibility: as His own people, His "children," we are inescapably subject to specific tasks, rigorous standards, and instant punishment.