Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, took the concept of the guaranty to an even greater extreme. He states that not only all of Israel are guarantors for one another, but that the whole world takes part in the guaranty. Actually, there is no dispute here, for all agree that, to begin with – that is, only as a start in the rectification of the world – a single nation is sufficient to make a foundation for the Torah. It was impossible to begin with all the nations at once; and so the sages said [Avoda Zara 2b] that the Holy One went from one nation to another with the Torah, but they did not want to receive it. That is, they were immersed above their noses in the contamination of self-love – some with adultery, some with robbery and murder, and the like – to the extent that it was inconceivable at that time to ask them if they agreed to abstain from self-love.

Therefore, God did not find any nation qualified to receive the Torah other than the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for the refinement87 of their forefathers stood by them. As our sages said, “The forefathers observed the whole Torah even before it was given.” [Berachot 2b] That is, because of the loftiness of their souls, they had the ability to perceive and acquire all the ways of God which constitute the spirituality of the Torah that stems from attachment to God. This they achieved without first ascending the ladder of practicing the deeds of the Torah, for they had no possibility of fulfilling them at all [as stated in “The Giving of the Torah” section 16].88

Undoubtedly, both the physical refining89 and the spiritual exaltedness of our holy ancestors greatly influenced their children and their children’s children. Their refinement remained with those of that generation [that received the Torah], whose every member took upon himself or herself that sublime spiritual work, as each and every one stated wholeheartedly, “We will do and we will hear.”90 And this is the reason we were chosen – out of necessity91 – to be a treasured92 people from among all the nations. Hence, only the members of the Israeli nation were admitted into the required guaranty and not the nations of the world at all, because they did not take part in it. This is the plain reality; so how could Rabbi Elazar disagree with it?93