Jews are Not Chosen "Above" Anyone Else- A New Start at Reconciling a Troubling Jewish Prayer

All people are equal. All people are "chosen." Responding to a painful and complicated history, the Aleynu prayer has lines that have separated Jews from others, even one line that has been wrongly used to mean Jewish people are superior to other people- the age-old "chosenness"  idea. I will focus on that line here.

We say She'lo asanu c'goyei ha'aratzot, V'lo samanu k'mishpachot ha'adamah.

The Infinite made us not like peoples of the land- or families of earth.  What? you may ask- Are we not part of the families of the earth? What about our mitzvot for caring for each other and the earth?  Faced with the same concern which I raise here, different rabbis in modern times such as Mordechai Kaplan and Zalman Schachter Shalomi have used changes to the prayer text itself to rectify a difficult Jewish history and resulting text which can- and unfortunately has- separated peoples.

Yet to reconcile the challenge, I welcome you to try on this idea, leaving the original Hebrew in tact while closely interpreting the actual language:  Jews are said here to be both not as people of the land and not families of the earth. To use land and earth catches my attention. Here's my understanding:

The Infinite made us a people, but a people not only of the land. It is true,  all humans are all made from physical dust, but we are also a spirit (Elohai Neshama She'natata Bi - My God the Soul You've Given Me is Pure).  It is when we become too focused on the material that we miss connection with the Infinite and what is truly important. Reading these words from a logical standpoint, all people on this earth are made of earth and  spirit.

As humans, any one of us from any group can start to focus on individual gain and end up becoming too focused on materialism.  While other spiritual traditions have wisdom that also convey this important teaching, this line in the Aleynu prayer happens to be Judaism's language of imparting the wisdom to keep our drive for materialism in check.

Aleynu, it is up to each one of us, of any spiritual tradition or none, to be families on this earth and land while also being "families in spirit." That is how we will bring about the sense of Oneness of called for in last line of the Aleynu prayer.*

Perhaps someday I will be granted wisdom to tackle the other lines which can be separatist.

Until then, blessings for a peaceful week,

JudiAhavah

Notes

*Zechariah 14:9