If we, the People of Israel, were given the unifying truth of the Torah, then why do we not try to persuade the peoples of the earth to accept the Torah? As an Evangelical Christian once asked me: "If your People indeed have the truth, then why don't you actively missionize like we do?"
The beginning of the answer to these questions can be found in a teaching of the prophet Micah regarding the underlying principles of the path given to us by the Unifying One: "What does HaShem require of you but to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
It is not enough to follow a path of justice and love; one must also walk on that path with humility. It is a principle that can apply to both an individual and a people. If we, the People of Israel, have something to offer humanity, then the most humble way to make that contribution is not through preaching to others, but through the power of our own example. In this spirit, the Compassionate One proclaimed to us at Mount Sinai: "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation." (Shemot/Exodus 19:6)
What does it mean to be a "kingdom of kohanim"? The root meaning of the word "kohen" is "to serve". For example, this word appears as a verb in a divine command that was conveyed to Moses: "They shall make vestments of sanctity for Aaron your brother and his sons, le-kahan li [to serve Me]." (Shemot/Exodus 28:4) A kohen is, therefore, a person who dedicates every aspect of life to the service of the Compassionate One. In this way, people will view him as a messenger of the Compassionate One and they will be attracted to his teachings.
This idea is expressed in the following statement of the prophet Malachi: "For the lips of the kohen should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek Torah from his mouth; for he is a messenger of HaShem, God of all the hosts of creation." (Malachi 2:7) Just as people will seek Torah from the mouth of the kohen who serves as a living example of the divine teaching, so too, the nations of the world will seek Torah from the "kingdom of kohanim", when they see that this society has become a living example of the divine teaching. The People of Israel must, therefore, strive to become a "light to the nations". (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 42:6) When they achieve this goal, they will merit the fulfillment of the Divine promise that "nations will walk to your light, and sovereigns to the glow of your dawn." (Yesheyhau/Isaiah 60:3)
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch has a creative insight as to how we become a living example of the Torah. He suggests that the word "Torah" is derived from the word "harah" - to receive a seed within oneself, to become pregnant. Rabbi Hirsch adds: "Torah therefore means a seed put by God into the womb of a nation from which the whole life of that nation in all its personal and collective aspects is to develop; it is a divine seed whose product we call 'Israel'." (Collected Writings, Volume 1, page 194)
Our divine assignment is to nurture the seed of the divine teaching implanted within ourselves. In this way, we can become an ethical and spiritual model that will inspire the nations to study and fulfill those teachings and precepts of the Torah, which apply to all humankind. Zion -- the home of our People -- will then become the unifying center for all humanity, as it is written: "It will happen in the end of days: The mountain of the Temple of HaShem will be firmly established as the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go and say, 'Come, let us go up to the Mountain of HaShem, to the Temple of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.' For from Zion will go forth Torah, and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem." (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 2:2-3)
Related Teachings:
1. We proclaim twice a day, evening and morning, "Hear O Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is One!" Why do we address our own People, Israel, before proclaiming the universal vision, "HaShem is One"? We realize that we must first remind our own People that the Compassionate One is our God, so that we can become a model of the Divine Unity through our words and deeds. Through the spiritual power of our example, all the peoples will be inspired to join us in proclaiming "HaShem is One!"
2. A Gentile can join the People of Israel through accepting the Covenant of the Torah and its path of 613 mitzvos. One does not have to join the People of Israel, however, in order to be "saved" and merit the World to Come. There is a universal moral code that is the heritage of all humankind; moreover, this code was reaffirmed with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Individuals among the nations who fulfill those universal teachings and laws of the Torah that apply to all humankind are called "chassidim" -- the loving ones. Our sages teach: "The chassidim among the nations have a share in the World to Come." (Tosefta, Chapter 13, Sanhedrin)
copyright (c) 2005 by Mr. Yosef Ben Shlomo HaKohen
The beginning of the answer to these questions can be found in a teaching of the prophet Micah regarding the underlying principles of the path given to us by the Unifying One: "What does HaShem require of you but to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
It is not enough to follow a path of justice and love; one must also walk on that path with humility. It is a principle that can apply to both an individual and a people. If we, the People of Israel, have something to offer humanity, then the most humble way to make that contribution is not through preaching to others, but through the power of our own example. In this spirit, the Compassionate One proclaimed to us at Mount Sinai: "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation." (Shemot/Exodus 19:6)
What does it mean to be a "kingdom of kohanim"? The root meaning of the word "kohen" is "to serve". For example, this word appears as a verb in a divine command that was conveyed to Moses: "They shall make vestments of sanctity for Aaron your brother and his sons, le-kahan li [to serve Me]." (Shemot/Exodus 28:4) A kohen is, therefore, a person who dedicates every aspect of life to the service of the Compassionate One. In this way, people will view him as a messenger of the Compassionate One and they will be attracted to his teachings.
This idea is expressed in the following statement of the prophet Malachi: "For the lips of the kohen should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek Torah from his mouth; for he is a messenger of HaShem, God of all the hosts of creation." (Malachi 2:7) Just as people will seek Torah from the mouth of the kohen who serves as a living example of the divine teaching, so too, the nations of the world will seek Torah from the "kingdom of kohanim", when they see that this society has become a living example of the divine teaching. The People of Israel must, therefore, strive to become a "light to the nations". (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 42:6) When they achieve this goal, they will merit the fulfillment of the Divine promise that "nations will walk to your light, and sovereigns to the glow of your dawn." (Yesheyhau/Isaiah 60:3)
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch has a creative insight as to how we become a living example of the Torah. He suggests that the word "Torah" is derived from the word "harah" - to receive a seed within oneself, to become pregnant. Rabbi Hirsch adds: "Torah therefore means a seed put by God into the womb of a nation from which the whole life of that nation in all its personal and collective aspects is to develop; it is a divine seed whose product we call 'Israel'." (Collected Writings, Volume 1, page 194)
Our divine assignment is to nurture the seed of the divine teaching implanted within ourselves. In this way, we can become an ethical and spiritual model that will inspire the nations to study and fulfill those teachings and precepts of the Torah, which apply to all humankind. Zion -- the home of our People -- will then become the unifying center for all humanity, as it is written: "It will happen in the end of days: The mountain of the Temple of HaShem will be firmly established as the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go and say, 'Come, let us go up to the Mountain of HaShem, to the Temple of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths.' For from Zion will go forth Torah, and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem." (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 2:2-3)
Related Teachings:
1. We proclaim twice a day, evening and morning, "Hear O Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is One!" Why do we address our own People, Israel, before proclaiming the universal vision, "HaShem is One"? We realize that we must first remind our own People that the Compassionate One is our God, so that we can become a model of the Divine Unity through our words and deeds. Through the spiritual power of our example, all the peoples will be inspired to join us in proclaiming "HaShem is One!"
2. A Gentile can join the People of Israel through accepting the Covenant of the Torah and its path of 613 mitzvos. One does not have to join the People of Israel, however, in order to be "saved" and merit the World to Come. There is a universal moral code that is the heritage of all humankind; moreover, this code was reaffirmed with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Individuals among the nations who fulfill those universal teachings and laws of the Torah that apply to all humankind are called "chassidim" -- the loving ones. Our sages teach: "The chassidim among the nations have a share in the World to Come." (Tosefta, Chapter 13, Sanhedrin)
copyright (c) 2005 by Mr. Yosef Ben Shlomo HaKohen