The Chosen

About this book

Everybody knows the expression "The Chosen People" but very few--Jews or non-Jews--are able to speak intelligently about it. The Chosen examines the idea of chosenness for the first time in a work for a readership of Christians, Jews, and others for whom the concept is an important but ill-understood marker for how we, as individuals and communities, distinguish ourselves from each other. What does it mean for Jews to be the "Chosen People"? How is Jewish chosenness perceived by non-Jews? Why does this idea of chosenness still inform new views of anti-Semitism? The Chosen looks at the concept from the Old and New Testaments to the Arab-Israeli conflicts to popular culture references to end-of-time beliefs of evangelicals, and highlights what all of us can learn from this very complex and controversial label. --From publisher's description.