Judaism has always sought a balance—between inward focus and
outward focus, between the particular and the universal,
attention to Jewish needs and attention to human needs, standing
apart from the world and being an integral part of the world.
The Sinai Covenant requires that Jewish attention be paid to
both of these directions. On the one hand, there is work to be
done on God’s earth and Jews need to join with non-Jewish allies
to undertake and accomplish that work. No group can go it alone.
On the other hand, Jews have always been committed to a vision
of God’s will for the world that is unique. Our commitments—and
the way of life that flows from them—have set us apart. As a
small minority that has lived for most of our history in the
midst of non-Jewish religions, cultures, and populations, we
have had to take special care to guard our distinctiveness. The
covenant thus impels Jews to care about and cooperate with
others—and mandates, too, that we preserve our difference and,
to some degree, our distance.