and wonderful phenomenon
demonstrating that the life of
this people is governed by a
special predetermination, tran-
scending the processes of adap-
tation expounded by the materi-
alistic interpretation of history.
“The survival of the Jews,
their resistance to destruction,
their endurance under abso-
lutely peculiar conditions and
the fateful role played by them
in history: All these point to
the particular and mysterious
foundations of their desti-
ny.
” (Nicolay Berdyaev, The
Meaning of History, Transaction
Publishers, 2005, p. 86.)

SMALL, BUT GREAT
Moses’ statement has immense
implications for Jewish iden-
tity. The proposition implicit
throughout my Covenant &
Conversation series is that Jews
have had an influence out of all
proportion to their numbers
because we are all called on to be
leaders, to take responsibility, to
contribute, to make a difference
to the lives of others, to bring
the Divine Presence into the
world. Precisely because we are
small, we are each summoned to
greatness.
Y. Agnon, the great Hebrew
writer, composed a prayer to
accompany the Mourner’s
Kaddish. He noted that the
Children of Israel have always
been few in number compared
to other nations. He then said
that when a monarch rules over
a large population, they do not
notice when an individual dies,
for there are others to take their
place.
“But our King, the King of
Kings, the Holy One, blessed be
He … chose us, and not because
we are a large nation, for we are
one of the smallest of nations.
We are few, and owing to the
love with which He loves us,

each one of us is, for Him, an
entire legion. He does not have
many replacements for us. If one
of us is missing, Heaven forfend,
then the King’s forces are dimin-
ished, with the consequence that
His kingdom is weakened, as it
were. One of His legions is gone,
and His greatness is lessened.
For this reason, it is our custom
to recite the Kaddish when
a Jew dies.
” (Quoted in Leon
Wieseltier, Kaddish, London:
Picador, 1998, 22-23.)
Margaret Mead once said:
“Never doubt that a small group
of thoughtful, committed cit-
izens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has.
”
Gandhi said: “
A small body
of determined spirits fired by
an unquenchable faith in their
mission can alter the course of
history.
” That must be our faith
as Jews.
We may be the fewest of all
peoples but when we heed God’s
call, we have the ability, proven
many times in our past, to mend
and transform the world.

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

was chief rabbi of the United Hebrew

Congregations of the Commonwealth,

1991-2013. His teachings have been

made available to all at rabbisacks.org.

This essay was written in 2014.

42 | AUGUST 11 • 2022

continued from page 41

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

Questions for
Discussion
1. How can we make a
positive impact when we are
such a tiny people, relative to
the world?

2. Do you think the Jewish
people would benefit from
being a larger proportion of
the world’s population, or
do you think it more import-
ant that we remain a small
minority group?

3. Given that Rabbi Sacks
says we are each summoned
to greatness, how will you
act?

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