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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