Are Jews a Light to the Nations or Served by Them? The True Purpose Explained

Ari asks: “Hello. A few days ago in Düsseldorf, Germany, we celebrated the dedication of a second Torah scroll in the Bukharian synagogue. When we went out to the courtyard, I overheard a conversation between two older men who seemed more knowledgeable than me. They were discussing the relationship between us (the Jewish people) and the nations of the world.

One claimed that God created the nations in order to serve us, for our purposes. I didn’t join the discussion, but I remembered a verse from Yeshayahu that I learned in school: that we, the people of Israel, are meant to be a ‘light unto the nations.’ As I understand it, this means the nations are not here for us, but we are here for them — to teach them God’s ways, to lead them toward peace, and to show them that God’s path is spread not through war but through guidance and example. Which is correct? Thank you in advance.”

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It seems there is a misunderstanding here. All of creation exists to serve one Master — God Himself.

The Sages taught (Pirkei Avot 6:11): “Everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world, He created only for His glory, as it says (Yeshayahu 43:7): ‘Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him.’ And it also says (Shemot 15:18): ‘The Lord shall reign forever and ever.’ Rabbi Chananiah ben Akashia says: The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to bring merit to Israel; therefore He gave them much Torah and commandments, as it is said (Yeshayahu 42:21): ‘The Lord desired, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify the Torah and make it glorious.’”

The Jewish People were chosen as a treasured nation, but that still means we are servants of God: “For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, I am the Lord your God” (Vayikra 25:55).

The ultimate purpose is service of God which is fulfilled through Torah study and observance. To achieve this purpose, God created many nations and structures, as in a kingdom: Israel is the heart and central organ, while the nations are like citizens. Just as there can be no king without subjects, and no body without its limbs, so too the world cannot exist without the variety of its creations. The ultimate purpose however is not us, but the service of the King.

The nation of Israel was chosen to preserve the Torah, by which the entire world exists: “If not for My covenant by day and by night, I would not have set the ordinances of heaven and earth” (Yirmiyahu 33:25).

Thus, the Jewish People lead the world and carry the responsibility of sustaining it spiritually, as Yeshayahu says (49:6): “It is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also make you a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

As the Netziv of Volozhin wrote, the Jewish People's mission to be a light to the nations could only be fulfilled through dispersion in exile.

The prophets describe the end of days: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established at the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it… For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Yeshayahu 2). Then, “I will turn the peoples to a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:9).

To describe it with a metaphor, the world is like one living organism. Israel is the head, guiding the limbs, which are the nations, but both are serving the same purpose of honoring and serving God. As it says (Shemot 19:6): “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Even the angels who are spiritually greater than humans, were made to act as messengers to the prophets. Yet human beings possess the power of free will with which they can repair creation in a way even angels cannot. The Torah was therefore not given to angels, but to us. For this reason, a righteous person can surpass an angel, and a Torah scholar can reach a level higher even than a High Priest. As it says in Tanna d’Bei Eliyahu (ch. 9): “I call heaven and earth to witness, whether Jew or non-Jew, man or woman, slave or maidservant — the Holy Spirit rests upon each one according to his deeds.”

The nations have their role, to serve God in their own way, and for that they receive reward in the World to Come. The Jewish People, however, were given the special mission of Torah, and therefore their reward is greater, for reward is always measured by effort and responsibility.

In the ideal order of creation, the nations support the nation of Israel so that they can learn Torah, and in turn, the Jewish People brings blessing and sustenance to the world through the power of Torah.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (the Ramchal) explained that God’s ultimate purpose is to bestow good. In order for that good to be complete, it must be earned through human effort, not received passively. Creation, with all its diverse beings and connections, is designed so that everything works together toward this one purpose of honoring God and elevating humanity step by step, until it cleaves to Him.

Thus, the true purpose of creation is service of God. The nations achieve this according to their level, while the Jewish nation was given the highest responsibility through Torah and mitzvot. And yet, we must never forget that all were created to serve the one King, who is the true goal of all existence.