כִּ֣י עַ֤ם קָדוֹשׁ֙ אַתָּ֔ה לַיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּךָ֞ בָּחַ֣ר ׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ לִהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙ לְעַ֣ם סְגֻלָּ֔ה מִכֹּל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ (ס)
װאָרום אַ הײליק פֿאָלק ביסטו בײַ ה׳ דײַן גאָט; דיך האָט ה׳ דײַן גאָט אױסדערװײלט אים צו זײַן פֿאַר אַן אײגן פֿאָלק, פֿון אַלע פֿעלקער װאָס אױפֿן געזיכט פֿון דער ערד.
Zohar
Yet withal he spoke only in love for Israel, as it says, “Ye are a holy people”, etc. (Ibid. 7, 6).
Kuntres Mattan Torah
The chosen people
5. We first need to understand why the Torah was given specifically to the Jewish nation, instead of being given equally to all peoples. Is there a whiff of nationalism here, Heaven forbid? Surely, only someone who lost his mind would think so. In truth, the sages have already addressed this question; this is their intention in their words, “the Holy One, blessed be He, took [the Torah] around to every nation and [those who speak every] language, but they did not accept it” (tractate Avoda Zara 2b), as is well known. But, according to their words, the difficulty lies in the reasoning we were called the chosen nation, as said, “the Lord your God has chosen you…” (Deuteronomy 7:6, Ibid. 14:2), considering that none of the other nations wanted it. Furthermore, the words are difficult in principle. Could the Holy One, blessed be He, have gone with Torah in hand and negotiated with illiterate savages – or did so through his prophets? This is unheard of and unacceptable.
5. We first need to understand why the Torah was given specifically to the Jewish nation, instead of being given equally to all peoples. Is there a whiff of nationalism here, Heaven forbid? Surely, only someone who lost his mind would think so. In truth, the sages have already addressed this question; this is their intention in their words, “the Holy One, blessed be He, took [the Torah] around to every nation and [those who speak every] language, but they did not accept it” (tractate Avoda Zara 2b), as is well known. But, according to their words, the difficulty lies in the reasoning we were called the chosen nation, as said, “the Lord your God has chosen you…” (Deuteronomy 7:6, Ibid. 14:2), considering that none of the other nations wanted it. Furthermore, the words are difficult in principle. Could the Holy One, blessed be He, have gone with Torah in hand and negotiated with illiterate savages – or did so through his prophets? This is unheard of and unacceptable.