Never bet against this family…

Faithfulness: strict or thorough in the performance of duty; true to one’s word. That should be qualification #1 to look for when vetting a leader.

Today, there are approximately 15 million Jews in the world; about 80% live in either the United States or Israel. They represent less than 2% of today’s American population… yet, two of the frontrunners for the Democrats’ presidential candidate are Jewish.

One is an avowed capitalist, and is the 9th name on the Forbes 400 list of billionaires. The other is a self-described democratic socialist, who lived – briefly – as a young man on a kibbutz, and took his bride to the Soviet Union on their honeymoon. One is divorced with a live-in partner, who visits the synagogue on Jewish holidays; the other has a long-term marriage and does not practice any religion. Their common denominator: if 23andMe has a comprehensive search algorithm, both would trace their origins to an obscure Middle Eastern herdsman who had a Divine Encounter on a dark desert night.

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’” (Genesis 12: 1-3).

Later, as the unilateral relationship was in its earliest stages, God doubled-down: “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:3-8).

In legal terms, God established an “everlasting covenant” with Abraham and his heirs. And, it was unilateral: a promise that was not founded on any worthiness on the part of the beneficiaries. The offspring of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob – the race that we know as the Jews – would be born into benefits that were promised by God to their forebears. His blessing… and a land of their own, forever.

So what is it that makes Jews – with only two-tenths of one percent of the world population – win 23% of all Nobel Prizes? The fact that Jews are disproportionally successful in many fields of endeavor is undeniable. The statistics simply speak for themselves: Jews make up less than half of one percent of the world’s population, but they consistently have made up more than 20% of the Forbes 400 list. But, it is not just about making money; 30% of Nobel Prize winners in science are Jewish. In virtually every industry successful Jews are disproportionally represented. Some attribute these anomalies to tradition or culture; could there be more to it?

In the financial world, “the Invisible Hand” is often referenced as the unseen force that moves and benefits free-market economies. Could there be an Invisible Hand that is the unseen force that controls people – as individuals, as groups – through the flow of history?  Is the Chaos Theory behind what seems to be an out-of-control world with virulent viruses and plunging international markets, or is there an Almighty God who is, in fact, moving the players on the board in keeping with His intentions?

God promised Abraham that his future family would be unusually advantaged; but, “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48).

Faithfulness: strict or thorough in the performance of duty; true to one’s word. That’s the way God rolls; would that we would have leaders available to us with the same winsome quality…

Bob Shank