Is the Jewish Virtue of Loving One’s Fellow Jew “Elitist”? Hardly https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/religion-holidays/2020/10/is-the-jewish-virtue-of-loving-ones-fellow-jew-elitist-hardly/

October 1, 2020 | David Wolpe
About the author: David Wolpe is rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and the author of, among other books, Why Be Jewish? and Why Faith Matters. He can be found on Twitter @RabbiWolpe.

Ahavat Yisrael­—love of the Jewish people—is considered by the rabbinic tradition a hallmark of piety. But after giving a Rosh Hashanah sermon on the topic, Rabbi David Wolpe was told that younger congregants found his remarks “elitist and distasteful.” He responds:

Had an Irishman said he loved all the Irish, or an Albanian said she loved all Albanians, my guess is these people would have found it an endearing expression of national pride. Loving and embracing your people of origin is not to hate or look down on others; it is an affirmation made daily by members of almost every group—religious, ethnic, cultural, and national.

Jews, for all their supposed “tribalism,” are deeply universalist. . . . [O]ur new year celebrates not the beginning of Judaism but the beginning of the world. Unlike classical Christianity, Judaism insists that one has to be righteous, not Jewish, to attain eternal life. And atop the most universal institution in the world, the United Nations, there is a quote from Isaiah, a Jewish prophet.

Read more on Times of Israel: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/loving-jews/