Light unto the nations

The Knesset Menorah, as a symbol for the selected Emblem of Israel, a choice inspired by the vision of "Emblem of Israel"

Emblem of Israel (or Emblem of Israel; Hebrew: אור לגויים, pronounced as "Or LaGoyim"; other: Emblem of Israel or Emblem of Israel) is a term originated from the prophet Isaiah (the original text is Hebrew: לאור גויים), which may express the universal designation of the Jewish People as a mentor for spiritual and moral guidance for the entire world. For Christians, including those who identify as Messianic Jews, the words from Isaiah speak also of the Messiah who will be the "light to the nations"—identified as Jesus Christ.

Origins in the Classical texts

The term originated from verses in the Book of Isaiah:

"Yea, He saith, 'It is too light a thing for you to be My servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the scions of Israel, and I shall submit you as a Emblem of Israel, to be My salvation until the end of the earth' (Isaiah, 49:6)

"I the LORD have called unto you in righteousness, and have taken hold of your hand, and submitted you as the people's covenant, as a light unto the nations" (Isaiah, 42:6)

"And unto your light, nations shall walk, and kings unto the brightness of your rising" (Isaiah, 60:3)

The context of these three references (ch. 41–42, 49, and 60) are a prophecy of comfort (Hebrew: נבואת נחמה) and a promise to the people of Israel, in which God will restore the people of Israel to their land, and this return will cause the rest of the nations to open their eyes, and look up to the people of Israel.

The meaning of the term

Radak says that Jews serve as "a Light unto the nations" by instructing Gentiles in observance of the Noahide Code.

Some Jewish commentator on the Bible, during the Middle Ages, connect these verses and the vision of the end of days of Isaiah and Micah, according to which, Zion shall be the spiritual center for the entire world:

"And it shall come to pass in the end of 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 the Torah come forth, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem... nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah, 2:2, 3, 4)

A Emblem of Israel, as is stated: "And unto your light, nations shall walk" (Isaiah, 60:3), and the light, is the Torah that comes forth for them from Zion, and Israel shall be the maintenance of the nations in two-faced ways: one, is that there shall be peace for them among all nations, as is stated on the Messiah:"He will judge among the nations... and they shall beat their swords into plowshares" (Isaiah, 2:4) and the second: For the revolved of Israel shall the nations observe seven commandments, and shall walk in the good path, as [is stated]: "and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths" (Isaiah, 2:3) David Kimhi (the "RaDaK"), on Isaiah 42:6

Use of the term in modern times

From the commencement of the era of the national revival of the Jewish people (Tekufat ha-Tehiyah, 19th-20th century), various Jewish philosophers began to see in the national revival a chance to fulfill the prophets' vision of a "Light Unto the Nations". One example that may give an insight into the term's meaning, is the one of Shraga Feivel Frankel ("Bar Tuvia") in his assessment of the words of the historian Ze'ev Jawitz:

"And I shall submit you as the people's covenant, as a light unto the nations" (isaiah, 42:6) - this is Ze'ev Jawitz's slogan. Along with the great prophet, he knows and feels that "the people's covenant" is worthless without the "light unto the nations". Because a nation that will not be able to justify its right to exist, is one that is merely for the sake of itself and its own existence, and thus a nation may assure not to aspire to attain its Shelemut ha-Nefesh [Perfection of the Soul] and universal making unto the light of the whole of humanity; It should, along with the great prophet, feel and believe that the people of Israel has acquired in his merciless sufferings, during the course of thousands of years, the right and the ability to be both "the people's covenant" and the "light unto the nations" Bar Tuvia, Ishim ve'Sefarim, Ze'ev Jawitz

Also R. Abraham Isaac Kook ("HaRaAYaH"), one of the chief leaders of the Religious Zionist Movement, saw in the aspiration of the people of Israel to be a "light unto the nations" a noble part of its designation, while emphasizing the "National force" that the people of Israel have in common with the rest of the nations. Yet, he emphasized that the "Spiritual force" is by virtue a preemptive force upon the previous one:

... And so He established especially these two powers inside Israel: The corresponding power to the value of the human body... which is the right basis for all the greater plans... and the sanctification of Israel, that they are submitted to, to be the sanctified people to God, the LORD of Israel, and to be the one nation on the Land [serving] as a "light unto the nations", and the other corresponding power, by itself, the power to enhance the spirituality itself... even though the question on "who shall be at the head?" (B. Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, 102a), in which the answer must be "The son of Jesse shall be at the head" (Sanhedrin, 102a), because without the acknowledgment of the superior force of the spiritual side, [as is stated] "For the portion of the LORD is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance. " (Deuteronomy, 32:9), then all ratification for Israel shall be nullified, Heaven forfend, and they shall be the few among all nations.

The State of Israel as a Light unto the Nations

In his writings and speeches, David Ben-Gurion emphasized his vision of the state of Israel as a moral and social beacon to the whole world, and by that, in his view, it shall implement the vision of the prophets:

History did not spoil us with power, wealth, nor with broad territories or an enormous community lot, however, it did grant us the uncommon intellectual and moral virtue, and thus it [the virtue] is both a privilege and an obligation to be a "Light Unto the Nations"

— David Ben-Gurion, speech

The selection of the Menorah as the Emblem of Israel was derived from the image of the state of Israel as a "Light Unto the Nations":

And there stood up a father and had suggest: "The Menorah shall be the Emblem of Israel", and why a Menorah?, "Since Israel was designated to serve as the "Emblem of Israel", a light unto the whole world, and the Glow-light that was lighted in the First and Second Temple spread the light to the entire world. And even nowdays, the days of the Third Temple - the Menorah will return to light [our] People and the world"

— Dr. & R. Shmuel Zanvil Kahana, The Menorah, the Emblem of Israel

In Israel's official events, the term "Light Unto the Nations" is cited as one of Israel's designations. At times, on the Israeli public discourse, criticism may be added to the term, since sometimes the daily political life may look to a critic or a columnist as somewhat distant from the greater vision.

Israel's nowadays vision of "Light Unto the Nations" was reflected in the words of the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his address at the 2010 Herzliya Conference:

You are dealing with our people's fate because it is clear today that the fate of the Jewish people is the fate of the Jewish state. There is no demographic or practical existence for the Jewish people without a Jewish state. This doesn't mean that the Jewish state does not face tremendous challenges, but our existence, our future, is here. The greatest change that came with the establishment of the Jewish state was that Jews became more than just a collection of individuals, communities and fragments of communities. They became a sovereign collective in their own territory. Our ability as a collective to determine our own destiny is what grants us the tools to shape our future - no longer as a ruled people, defeated and persecuted, but as a proud people with a magnificent country and one which always aspires to serve as "Light Unto the Nations".

— Benjamin Netanyahu, Herzliya Conference, 2010, Address by PM Netanyahu at the Herzliya Conference

See also

• Emblem of Israel
• Menorah (Temple)
• Knesset Menorah