>>What is this “chosen people” comment I keep hearing? This is the one thing that bothers me when I hear it about the Jewish Faith- Chosen for what? Are they better than all others in the eyes of God? It’s not a good thing to say to the non-chosen, is it?
From:
http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm
Contrary to popular belief, Judaism does not maintain that Jews are better than other people. Although we refer to ourselves as G-d’s chosen people, we do not believe that G-d chose the Jews because of any inherent superiority. According to the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 2b), G-d offered the Torah to all the nations of the earth, and the Jews were the only ones who accepted it. The story goes on to say that the Jews were offered the Torah last, and accepted it only because G-d held a mountain over their heads! (In Ex. 19:17, the words generally translated as “at the foot of the mountain” literally mean “underneath the mountain”!) Another traditional story suggests that G-d chose the Jewish nation because they were the lowliest of nations, and their success would be attributed to G-d’s might rather than their own ability. Clearly, these are not the ideas of a people who think they are better than other nations.
I am reading Howard Sachar’s “A history of Israel” at the moment and wonder a bit about its accuracy. His claim is that the collectivist farms were more efficient than the “capitalist” farms in the period that leads up to WWI. I wonder if this is true.