“Rav Kook believed that just as in the Torah, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael, were eventually reconciled, so will Judaism, Christianity and Islam be in the future. They would not cease to be different, but they would learn to respect one another.

The point touches upon a fundamental of Judaism. What does it mean when we call Jews ‘the chosen people’? Does it mean that in choosing Jacob, God rejected Esau? Or that in choosing Abraham, God rejected humanity? God forbid. In the Torah, God appears to several non-Jews, among them Abraham’s contemporary, Malkitzedek, described in the Torah as ‘a priest of God most high.’ One of the great heroines of the Bible – Batya – the woman who saves Moses’ life, was an Egyptian, Pharaoh’s daughter. And so on. We believe as a matter of principle that ‘the righteous of the nations have a share in the World to Come.’

When Jacob was chosen, Esau was not rejected. God does not reject.

Chosenness means two things: intimacy and responsibility. God holds us close and make special demands on us. Beyond that, God is the God of all humankind – the Author of all, who cares for all, and is accessible to all. In an age of resurgent religious conflict, these are truths we must never forget.”