God Of Jews, God Of Humanity
The seven Noahide commandments mediate God's love for all of humanity and God's unique relationship with the Jewish people.
By Rabbi Bradley Artson. Provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, which ordains Conservative rabbis at the University of Judaism.The following article is reprinted with permission from the American Jewish University on MyJewishLearning.com.
Is Judaism a particularistic religion, concerned only with the well-being and sanctity of the Jewish People, or is it also one of the universalistic faiths, expressing a concern for all humanity in every region of the globe? To the enemies of our people, Judaism is portrayed as a narrow, legalistic and particularistic religion. By focusing on the Chosen People--defined as the Jews--and their needs to the exclusion of everyone else's, Judaism seems to show an indifference to the rest of the world.
By its own admission, Judaism doesn't actively try to seek out converts--those who are attracted to our ways are welcome, but there is no burning drive to "Get the word out."
The God of the Bible is one who liberates the Jews from slavery, who gives them a path of life, who provides them with a Promised Land. Doesn't that focus make everyone else peripheral, indeed negligible?
On the other hand, the God of the Bible is also the Creator of the Universe, the planet Earth, and all that it contains. The Bible explicitly speaks of God's covenants with other people too--the Assyrians and the Egyptians to name just two.
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