Explore
About Us

And they saw the God of Israel: Under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity.
—Exodus 24:10

A quarterly journal of ideas for a thriving Jewish future

The Issue On Chosenness

Volume Eighteen Summer 2025
Read It Now

Chosenness

September 8, 2025 12 noon ET

Is Israel the Chosen Nation? with Michael Oren

“For many of its secular pioneers,” writes former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, “Zionism was a revolt against chosenness. It was an attempt to become a nation like every other.” Today, many Israelis are reevaluating this very notion and wondering: is the Jewish state chosen, and if so, for what purpose? 

Join Amb. Oren and SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens on September 8 at 12:00 PM ET, for a searching discussion on Israel’s identity and destiny in a post-October 7 world. 

Register now
Browse the archive
Upcoming events
Letters to the editor

Explore articles by theme

Antisemitism
Campus
Contemporary Culture
Departures
Education
Intergroup
International
Israel
Jewish Communal
Jewish History & Text
Media
Philanthropy
Religion
U.S. Politics

Popular Articles

Watch the latest SAPIR Conversations

The secret sauce of Jewish intellectual achievement does not lie in biology. It lies in Jewish ideas, role models, practices, and historical experiences.

— Bret Stephens, "Jews Were Chosen to Think"