Asher Bachar Banu The Chosen Ones

The Gemara calls the bracha of Asher bachar banu the finest of all brachos. As Rashi explains, it thanks Hashem and praises the Torah and Klal Yisrael. Throughout Tanach, we see that the Jews are Hashem’s chosen ones. This makes some people uncomfortable. How can we think we are better than everyone else? But when Hashem wanted to give the Torah, no one accepted it but us—the sacrifice was too great. We were the only ones to say naaseh v’nishma. As a result, where other nations have seven commands, we have 613. We spend every moment of our lives serving Hashem—is it surprising that He favors us?

Adapted from Emunah in the Classroom