Exodus 19:1-19 - The Choosing People

We read in the parashah today about the most important day in the Jewish story, the giving of God’s law at Sinai. This covenant marks the beginning of Israel’s spiritual history. God directly revealed Himself to the people for the very first time. Alongside the exodus from Egypt, this is the heroic origin story of Judaism. From this one event, the rabbis built the entire basis of Talmudic Judaism. Do you believe it really happened? Do you consider yourself part of the chosen people? What does being a party to the covenant mean for how you should live your life? That’s the modest subject for today!

Uniquely, the revelation at Sinai took place before the whole people. It was not the private vision of a prophet, who’d perhaps spent too much time on his own in the desert sun. And what actually happened? Well God gave a set of laws, which established a clear and binding covenant between God and the Israelites. No other people ever wrote down such a historical experience, for subsequent generations to read and relive.

Deuteronomy’s version of events has Moses saying, “I make this covenant both with those who are standing here this day and with those who are not with us here today”. So Jews are committed to the covenant to this day. Whether the events at Sinai really took place on that one day, over 3000 years ago, is less important than the fact that they have become ingrained in the lived experience of the Jewish people in the 1.2m days since then.

In our text, the people said: “We will do everything the Eternal has said”. Until the people had signified their consent, the revelation could not proceed. God wanted people to make a free decision. Actually, there are different stories in the Talmud about the Israelites ‘freely accepting’ the covenant. In one, God lifts Mount Sinai over the heads of the people, threatening to crush them, unless they accept. Another relates how God first offered Torah to other nations, only to have them reject it, when they learnt of its demands; Israel was the last resort. The third story features Solly Epstein who died and demanded to see God. 'Is it true that the Jews are your Chosen People?' he asked. 'Yes' said God. 'We are definitely your Chosen People?' Solly insisted. 'Yes.' 'Well, God, we were wondering if you could choose somebody else for a change!'

The covenant marked the entry of God into the lives of a people who in turn pledged their loyalty to God. I wondered what ChatGPT would think about this, and so, in a first at Radlett Reform, here is part of a sermon written with the help of Artificial Intelligence. I asked the program what the covenant is all about: “At Sinai, a mountain so grand. God's voice did the Israelites command. He gave them His laws. And holy applause. A special bond, between God and his band!”

What do you think of this special bond, the chosen people idea? In times of stress, it has been a source of hope and reassurance; Jewish survival might not have been possible, without the conviction that they were destined for a higher purpose and spiritual glory. But, has it also promoted a sense of superiority and exclusivity, even the mistreatment of other groups? Is it incompatible with the idea of a God who loves all people? Now, ChatGPT definitely does more than make up limericks, but they are fun, so here’s another it wrote for me: “The chosen people, a source of debate. Some say it promotes elitism and hate. But others find worth. In their special birth. For spreading God's message, it's a great trait!”

Enough of dodgy rhyming, let’s go back to today’s text to try to tease out what the original writers meant. Verse 5 says, “If you will obey me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession”. The idea is that if the people of Israel listen and fulfil the covenant, then God will cherish them. Jewish status is not based on any intrinsic superior quality, but on behaviour. Anyone can join the community and become part of this treasured possession. It’s not an exclusive club.

The reward for “obeying God faithfully” is to be “A kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. Priests have a distinctive way of life that is consecrated to the service of God. They are also dedicated to ministering to the needs of the people. So being ‘chosen’, is a responsibility, requiring the Jewish people to bring knowledge of God to the world.

And what does being a “holy nation” mean? The word ‘holy’ or kadosh is often explained as meaning being separate from the idolatry of other nations. But it’s better to read it as a consequence of collective actions; Israel will be holy, if the people live the life that the covenant requires of them. Every nation had its priests and holy men. What was distinctive about Israel, was that everyone was to be a priest; everyone was called on to live a holy life. That is what makes Jews hard to lead. The Lord may be our shepherd, but no Jew was ever a sheep!

And sadly as the Biblical prophets retold at great length, the Israelites often failed to act in a holy way. God was sorely disappointed that Israel repeatedly failed to live the covenant. Yet despite this failure, it’s a historical truth, that it was through Judaism that the idea of ethical monotheism came into the world. It was Jews, who first said that humans should live by a non-negotiable moral code. Because of this, Israel was factually God’s chosen people. This is true, regardless of whether the revelation at Sinai historically took place, or even whether God exists or not.

At Sinai, a new kind of ideal society was created – one that was the antithesis of Egypt, where few had power and many were enslaved. Instead, everyone was equal and society was held together, not by power, but by the consent of the people to be bound by a moral code. The king was not above the law, because the law came from God and could not be changed on a human whim.

We have dictators today rather than kings. Less than half the world’s population live in even a partial democracy. We rightly condemn leaders in Russia and Iran, because they abuse their power and distort morality. They are unambiguously wrong. But even democracies go astray. The rule of the majority, does not guarantee the rights of minorities. A referendum is rarely the best solution in a divided society And it is deeply troubling that the current Israeli government, justifies imposing controversial laws, such as taking away the independence of the courts, only allowing the ultra-Orthodox to certify conversions or challenging LGBTQ rights or who can pray at the Kotel in Jerusalem – simply because it has a majority in the Israeli parliament. This is the opposite of being a holy people.

To give true meaning to being a Chosen People, we need to explicitly be a ‘choosing’ people. At a personal level, this means choosing to do the right thing and to strive to be the best I can, if you like, as God wants me to be. I need to decide what sort of mark I want to have on my friends and family, my community, my society. What is going to be my special contribution, my purpose in life? How am I going to inspire others, my generation and future ones, to fulfil their destiny? How we respond to being chosen, is perhaps the most important decision we ever take. And that’s definitely not a decision you can delegate to any Artificial Intelligence! Shabbat Shalom