We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence
תַּנְיָא, וְכֵן הָיָה רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי אוֹמֵר: קִבְרֵי גוֹיִם אֵינָן מְטַמְּאִין בְּאֹהֶל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְאַתֵּן צֹאנִי צֹאן מַרְעִיתִי אָדָם אַתֶּם״. אַתֶּם קְרוּיִין אָדָם, וְאֵין הַגּוֹיִם קְרוּיִין אָדָם.
§ It is taught in a baraita: And similarly, Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai would say: The graves of gentiles do not render items impure through a tent, as it is stated: “And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men [adam]” (Ezekiel 34:31), from which it is derived that you, the Jewish people, are called men [adam] but gentiles are not called men [adam]. Since the Torah introduces the halakha of ritual impurity of a tent with the words: “When a man [adam] dies in a tent” (Numbers 19:14), this halakha applies only to corpses of Jews but not those of gentiles.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ט) כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יד) בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.
He used to say: Beloved is man for he was created in the image [of God]. Especially beloved is he for it was made known to him that he had been created in the image [of God], as it is said: “for in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:6). Beloved are Israel in that they were called children to the All-Present. Especially beloved are they for it was made known to them that they are called children of the All-Present, as it is said: “you are children to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1).
וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ה' נקרא עליך ויראו ממך. מי שהוא עבד לשר אחד משרי המלך אין מעלתו גדולה כל כך כאלו היה עבדו של מלך, כי עבדו של מלך אפילו השרים והסגנים אשר למלך יראים מפניו לאימת המלך, מאחר שהעבד ההוא נקרא בשם המלך אדוניהם, וזה ענין הכתוב הזה ובאורו, יאמר וראו כל עמי הארץ שהם חלק הכוכבים והמזלות, כי שם ה' שהוא האדון עליהם ועל השרים שלהם, נקרא על ישראל, ושישראל הם מיוחדים לחלק האדון, אז ויראו ממך, בודאי ייראו ממוראן של ישראל. ודרשו רז"ל כי שם ה' נקרא, רבי אליעזר הגדול אומר אלו תפלין שבראש.
וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ה' נקרא עליך ויראו ממך, “and all the nations of the earth will realize that the Lord’s name is proclaimed over you and they will be afraid of you.” If someone is a servant of the king’s minister his stature does not compare to someone who is a servant of the king himself. Even the ministers of the king are in awe of the king’s “private secretaries,” etc. This is because the title of the private secretary contains the appellation “Royal such and such,” i.e. reminds people of the proximity of this individual to the king.
This is the subject discussed by our verse. Whereas the nations of the world are subjects (servants) of the King’s ministers, i.e. the sun and the moon, etc., all of whom are servants of the Lord, Israel knows of no intermediaries in its relationship with the Lord. As a result of appreciating this when aware of the bounty with which G’d provides the Jewish people, these nations will develop a sense of awe of the Israelites. Seeing they will develop awe of the Israelites, they will most certainly develop awe of the master of the Israelites, i.e. the Lord. Our sages in Menachot 35 explain the words כי שם ה' נקרא עליך as a reference to the phylacteries on the head (עליך), according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus.
שיהללום כל הגוים - כמו שהם מהללים להקב״ה שנאמר ״הוא תהלתך״ - כן יהיו מהוללים מכל האומות וכן יהיו לשם. שיכירו כולם ששם יהודי הוא שמו של הקב״ה כשתכניס היו״ד של יהודי בתוך הדל״ת נעשה הוי״ה, וזהו ״ויראו כל עמי הארץ שם כי ה׳ נקרא עליך״
SHACH of Tzfat, Devarim 26/19
“I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations"
John Adams, Second President of the United States
(From a letter to F. A. Van der Kemp)
Israel, as His treasured possession.
The free-thinking Jew, who loves his own people, is a pantheist. He sees the creativity of the national spirit from within, where the believer only sees a higher power intervening from without
"Achad HaAm" Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."
Karl Marx
The Jews, however, are beyond all doubt the strongest, toughest, and purest race at present living in Europe;
Friedrich Nietzsche