Chosen Peoples

A claim of divine election becomes the starting point for Israel Zangwill's examination of religion and national ambition. Delivered in 1918 as the first Arthur Davis Memorial Lecture before the Jewish Historical Society at University College, the address considers how peoples come to regard themselves as bearers of a special mission. Biblical passages and religious commentary provide the material for a comparison between Jewish election and German national claims.

Zangwill treats election as a source of moral responsibility and examines the gradual growth of a nation's sense of purpose. His discussion of Hebrew prayer and the thought of Jehuda Ha-Levi connects belief with the obligations it places on a community. Herbert Samuel's accompanying foreword recalls Davis's scholarship and the revival of spoken Hebrew. Readers interested in religious history will find an argument about the tensions between collective identity and duties toward humanity.