## Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular

###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 1
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/1)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
**II. The Universal and the Particular**
***THE CORE IDEA***
When Yosef is brought from prison to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, both men refer to God. Three times the word *Elokim*, God, appears in Bereshit 41. On the face of it, this is surprising. Egypt was not a monotheistic (belief in one God) culture. On the contrary, it was a place of many gods and goddesses – the sun, the Nile, and so on. Why then does Yosef take it for granted that Pharaoh will understand his reference to God – an assumption proved correct when Pharaoh twice uses the word himself? What is the significance of the word *Elokim*?


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 2
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/2)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The Torah has two primary ways of referring to God: the four-letter name we allude to as *Hashem* (“the name”) and the word *Elokim*. Judah Halevi, the philosopher-poet of the eleventh century, believed these represented two different ways to relate to God.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 3
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/3)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The ancients worshipped forces of nature, which they personified as gods. Each was known as *el*, or *eloah*. The word “*el*” therefore generically means “a force, a power, an element of nature.” Judaism, however, believed that the forces of nature were not independent and autonomous. They represented a single totality, one creative will, the Author of being – God. The Torah therefore speaks of *Elokim* in the plural, meaning “the sum of all forces, the totality of all powers.” Today we might say that *Elokim* is God as He is found in science: the Big Bang, the various forces that give the universe its configuration, and the genetic code that shapes life from the simplest bacterium to Homo sapiens.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 4
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/4)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*Hashem* is God’s proper name. The difference between proper names and general descriptions is important. *Things* have descriptions, but only *people* have proper names. When we call someone by name, we are relating to them in their uniqueness and ours. We are opening up ourselves to them and inviting them, in readiness and respect, to open themselves up to us.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 5
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/5)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*Elokim* is God as we encounter Him in nature. *Hashem* is God as we encounter Him in personal relationships, above all in that essentially human mode of relationship that we call speech, verbal communication, conversation, dialogue, words. That is why Yosef is able to assume that Egyptians will understand the idea of *Elokim*, even though they are wholly unfamiliar with the idea of *Hashem*. An Egyptian can understand *Elokim*, the God of nature. He cannot understand *Hashem*, the God of personal relationship.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 6
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/6)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
**QUESTIONS TO PONDER**


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 7
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/7)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*1. Do you find it easy or hard to relate to* Elokim, *the God of science and creation?*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 8
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/8)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*2. Do you find it easier or harder to relate to*Hashem, *the personal God, with whom you can speak and have a relationship?*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 9
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/9)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*3. Can you think of examples from your own life of times when you have connected to the aspects of God that we are referring to as* Elokim*and* Hashem?


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 10
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/10)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***IT ONCE HAPPENED…***
*Eliyahu was one of the greatest of the prophets, a man of justice unafraid to confront kings and prophets alike. What upset him the most was the spread of idolatry among his people. He decided to confront the prophets of the god Baal on Mount Carmel. He and they would offer a sacrifice. The God who sent fire to consume the offering would be the true God. His opponents prepared the sacrifice, said their prayers, and waited. No fire came. Eliyahu then said a prayer and fire came down from heaven. Eliyahu had won! And the people declared, “The Lord is God.”*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 11
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/11)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*But the story does not end there. Queen Izevel orders Eliyahu’s arrest and he runs away to Mount Ḥorev, which is Mount Sinai. God asks him: “What are you doing here, Eliyahu?” Eliyahu replies: “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.” God says: “Go and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Suddenly there was a whirlwind “tearing the mountains apart and shattering the rocks.” But God was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire, but God was not in the fire. Then came a “still, small voice.” Immediately, Eliyahu recognised that this was the voice of God.*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 12
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 12](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/12)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*God then repeated his question, “What are you doing here, Eliyahu?” Eliyahu replied in the same words as before. God then told Eliyahu to appoint Elisha as his successor.*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 13
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 13](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/13)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
**QUESTIONS TO PONDER**


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 14
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 14](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/14)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*1. In* The Core Idea*, we saw two aspects of God, represented by two different names,* Elokim*and* Hashem*. Which of those do you see in this story?*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 15
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 15](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/15)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*2. What lesson do you think God was trying to teach Eliyahu?*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 16
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 16](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/16)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***THINKING MORE DEEPLY***
As we saw in *The Core Idea*, Yosef refers to God in a way Pharaoh can understand – as *Elokim*, the aspect of God to be found in creation, rather than *Hashem,* the aspect of God we find in personal relationships and in revelation (direct divine communication). This is the tension, within Judaism, between the universal and the particular. God as we encounter Him in creation is universal; God as we hear Him in revelation is particular.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 17
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 17](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/17)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
This is mirrored in the way the narrative of Bereshit develops. It begins with characters and events whose significance is that they are universal archetypes: Adam and Ḥava, Kayin and Hevel, Noaḥ and the Flood, the builders of Bavel. Their stories tell us about the human condition as such: obedience and rebellion, faith and fratricide, hubris and nemesis, technology and violence, the order God makes and the chaos we create. Not until the twelfth chapter of Bereshit does the Torah turn to the particular, to one family, that of Avraham and Sara, and the covenant God enters into with them and their descendants.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 18
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 18](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/18)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
That duality and its sequence – from the universal to the particular – is not marginal to Judaism. One might almost call it the basic structure, the depth grammar, of the Jewish mind. The duality has legal-theological expression in the form of two covenants, the first with Noaḥ and all humanity after the Flood, the second with Avraham and his descendants, given detailed articulation at Mount Sinai and during the wilderness years. On the one hand there is the Noahide covenant with its seven commands: not to murder, steal, commit adultery, blaspheme, worship idols, or practise needless cruelty against animals, together with a positive command to establish a system of justice. These are the minimal and basic requirements of humanity as such, the foundations of any stable and morally acceptable society. On the other is the richly detailed code of 613 commandments that form Israel’s constitution as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Shemot 19:16).


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 19
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 19](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/19)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
Not only is the duality worked out in the form of law and ethics, covenant and command. It is also expressed in Judaism’s dual epistemology (philosophy of knowledge), its twofold scheme of human knowledge – *ḥokhma* and Torah. *Ḥokhma* is the truth we discover; Torah is the truth we inherit. *Ḥokhma* is the universal heritage of mankind, by virtue of the fact that we are created in God’s “image and likeness”; Torah is the specific heritage of Israel. *Ḥokhma* reveals God in creation; Torah is the word of God in revelation. *Ḥokhma* is ontological truth (how things are); Torah is covenantal truth (how things ought to be). *Ḥokhma* can be defined as anything that allows us to see the universe as the work of God, and humanity as the image of God; Torah is God’s covenant with the Jewish people, the architecture of holiness, and Israel’s written constitution as a nation under the sovereignty of God.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 20
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 20](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/20)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
So there are the universals of Judaism – creation, humanity as God’s image, the covenant with Noaḥ, and knowledge-as-*ḥokhma*. There are also its particularities – revelation, Israel as God’s “firstborn child,” the covenants with Avraham and the Jewish people at Sinai, and knowledge-as-Torah. The first represents the face of God accessible to all mankind (creation); the second, that special, intimate, and personal relationship He has with the people He holds close, as disclosed in the Torah (revelation) and Jewish history (redemption). The word for the first is *Elokim*, and for the second, *Hashem*.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 21
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 21](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/21)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
Judaism was – and to this day remains – unique in its combination of universalism and particularism. We believe that God is the God of all humanity. He created all. He is accessible to all. He cares for all. He has made a covenant with all. Yet there is also a relationship with God that is unique to the Jewish people. It alone has placed its national life under His direct sovereignty. It alone has risked its entire being on a divine covenant. It alone testifies in its history to the presence within it of a Presence beyond it.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 22
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 22](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/22)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***FROM THE THOUGHT OF RABBI SACKS***
Without Torah we cannot understand the Jewish story. But without *ḥokhma* we cannot understand the human story. There are three elements of Jewish faith: creation, revelation, and redemption. Creation is God’s relationship with the universe. Revelation is God’s relationship with us. Redemption is what happens when we apply revelation to creation, when we apply God’s word to God’s world. *We cannot apply Torah to the world unless we understand the world.* Without an understanding of creation, we will fail to bring about redemption.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 23
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 23](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/23)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***Future Tense,* 226**


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 24
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 24](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/24)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
**QUESTIONS TO PONDER**


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 25
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 25](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/25)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*1. According to Rabbi Sacks, is it a mitzva to learn* ḥokhma *and if so, why?*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 26
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 26](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/26)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
*2. How is the Jewish people in a unique position to influence the world for the better, and how can we do this?*


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 27
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 27](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/27)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***AROUND THE SHABBAT TABLE***
What aspects of your life and your faith connect you to people of other faiths, and what aspects are an obstacle to connecting and forming relationships with people from other faiths?


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 28
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 28](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/28)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
Do you think the fact that Jews have a particular and special relationship with God and a specific covenant with Him make the Jewish people superior in any way?


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 29
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 29](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/29)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
How does Judaism’s dual approach of universalism and particularism make it a unique message?


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 30
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 30](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/30)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
**EDUCATIONAL COMPANION TO THE QUESTIONS**


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 31
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 31](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/31)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***THE CORE IDEA***
The human experience is universal, and *Elokim* represents the God of that universal experience. All humans who are open to finding room for God in their life should be able to connect to the God of science and creation, and each religion provides a suggested path to that connection (but organised religion is not necessarily the only path to connecting to this universal God).


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 32
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 32](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/32)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
A personal God, the God who plays a role in history in general, and in your life specifically, the God who listens and answers prayers, is a God with whom a relationship takes a deeper faith and harder work to cultivate. These two modes of relationship with God were expressed by the modern Jewish philosopher Martin Buber as I-It and I-Thou relationships respectively.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 33
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 33](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/33)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
This is a personal question that requires self-introspection and a personal answer.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 34
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 34](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/34)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***IT ONCE HAPPENED…***
One possible approach to this story, found in chapter 19 of I Melakhim, is that the God of Power whom Eliyahu brings to judge the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and the God who reveals Himself to Eliyahu on Mount Ḥorev/Sinai in the power of nature (the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the fire) was the God of creation, represented by the name *Elokim*. The personal God, *Hashem*, was found in the “still, small voice” that Eliyahu could connect to.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 35
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 35](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/35)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
A possible lesson that God is teaching Eliyahu is that while there is a time and a place for the powerful God of nature (and supernatural miracles like those that happened on Mount Carmel in the story), that is not the personal God with whom one can form and nurture a relationship. Only the God of the “still small voice,” the voice found within us, can be connected to on a personal and intimate level.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 36
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 36](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/36)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***FROM THE THOUGHT OF RABBI SACKS***
According to Rabbi Sacks, it is vital that Jews learn *ḥokhma* as well as Torah, to fulfil the mission and destiny of the Jewish people to the world. Rabbi Sacks believes the Jewish people have a radical responsibility to improve the world through spreading the values of the Torah through modelling them individually and as a nation. In this way, we will bring about redemption for the world. However, the only way it is possible to do this is through understanding the world by studying the wisdom of the world. He called this kind of knowledge *ḥokhma*, which can be explained as natural and social sciences (including the arts and general human culture). In this way, we will be able to apply Torah values (revelation) to the world (creation) and bring about redemption.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 37
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 37](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/37)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The Jewish people have been charged with the mission of helping to bring redemption to the world through spreading Torah values through living them, and hence were brought into a specific covenant with God, which is the observance of the Torah. This is a task given to the Jewish people, not because of any inherent superiority or preferential treatment or relationship with God. Rather, it is a responsibility placed on them (and this is what Rabbi Sacks believes is the meaning of the Jews being a Chosen People).


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 38
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 38](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/38)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
***AROUND THE SHABBAT TABLE***
Ultimately, all humans share the basic experience of humanity, and this should be enough for empathy, connection, and relationship. There are many aspects of Judaism specifically that can be found in other faiths and cultures and provide other ways to connect to people of other faiths and cultures. These may come from both the universal aspects of Judaism, as well as the particular aspects of Judaism, providing a particular example of faith and religion similar enough to other particular specific faiths, reminding us all that we have so much more in common than that which separates us. There are many examples of these particular and unique laws, especially the aspects of Judaism that are designed to strengthen our national and religious identity, perhaps at the expense of a more general identity that can be shared with the rest of humanity. These include laws such as Shabbat and kashrut, for example. However, these in themselves can also bring people of various faiths together if they are all approached as examples of ritual law, which all religions have.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 39
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 39](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/39)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
The particular relationship the Jewish people believe they have with God does not preclude God having other relationships with all other people, just as the particular loving relationship a parent has with one child does not preclude a second deeply loving and special relationship with a second sibling. In fact, it is a core belief of Judaism that “God is the God of all humanity. He created all. He is accessible to all. He cares for all. He has made a covenant with all.” God’s unique relationship with the Jewish people does not impact that in any way, just as God’s unique relationship with other peoples has no impact on the Jewish people and their relationship with God.


###### Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 40
[Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Miketz, II; The Universal and the Particular 40](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Covenant%20and%20Conversation%20Family%20Edition/s/Miketz,_II%3B%20The%20Universal%20and%20the%20Particular/r/40)

**Covenant and Conversation Family Edition, Maggid Books, 2023:**
Some other religions are only universal or ultimately particular in their message. This means that according to these religions, there is only one way to serve God and live in His shadow. Those who choose to convert and live their lives according to the doctrine of this religion will be saved, and those who refuse will miss out on salvation, facing whatever alternative they believe God has in store for those outside of the true faith. In Latin, this is called “*extra Ecclesiam nulla salus*.” However, Judaism’s approach is diametrically opposed to this. The universal dimension of Jewish thought allows an open and tolerant approach to all people, lifestyles, and religions that are compatible with the basic morality contained in the Noahide covenant and the seven laws contained therein (see *Thinking More Deeply* above). Those who wish to convert to Judaism can, but this is not a necessity (and in fact Jewish law makes this process challenging in order to ensure the integrity of the motivation of the would-be convert).