The German king Frederick the Great once asked the Marquis Charles De Bois “Can you offer me proof of G‑d’s existence?” Without hesitating the marquis replied “The Jews your Majesty.” Why can’t a young person schooled in our chareidi system feel the same certainty as the Marquis De Bois when he answered King Frederick?

We continue our discussion of how each of us as Jews living in the twenty-first century are living proof of the Torah’s Divine origin — as we compare our logic-defying fate to that of other nations in the course of history. And the greatest marvel of all is that the Torah spoke clearly of this unique supernatural survival thousands of years ago when no human being could have foreseen it. History simply had to bend before the force of those verses and fulfill their words against all reason. An open mind and a sensitive heart will perceive that the Torah is indeed Divine and accept all that this implies for him in his own life.

Let’s begin with a pasuk from Parshas V’eschanan in which Moshe Rabbeinu recounts to the Jewish Nation their experience at Har Sinai: “For ask now regarding the early days that preceded you since the day that G‑d created man upon the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens was there anything like this great thing or was anything like it heard of? Did ever a people hear G‑d’s voice speaking out of the fire as you heard and live?” (Devarim 4:32–33)

I assume that all my readers are familiar with this verse. The important thing now is the truth that it reflects the message it bears for all generations. The pasuk lays down the proposition that the Revelation at Mount Sinai was an event unparalleled by anything else in all of history from one end of the heavens to the other.

But the most significant point for us now is found in the words “Was anything like it heard of?” That is to say have you the Jewish People ever heard anyone else make such a claim that G‑d revealed Himself before an entire nation? Thousands of years after those words were written I asked a young man I was conversing with “Have you ever encountered a single religion in the world that claims to have been founded as a result of G‑d Himself speaking to the nation en masse?” Christianity doesn’t make that claim nor does Islam nor any of the religions of India for example. Every religion began with one person who succeeded through his charisma to influence others to follow him.

“Think about it” I said to him. “You are a firsthand witness to an amazing fact. The question is how did the Torah know it could state so confidently that no one else would ever make a similar claim? Can you come up with any other answer except that the Torah is the direct word of G‑d?”

In Parshas Lech Lecha HaKadosh Baruch Hu blesses Avraham Avinu ending with the words “and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

This may be understood as follows: HaKadosh Baruch Hu is detaching Avraham Avinu from the rest of the world in order to form the Jewish Nation as a special brigade. At the same time though HaKadosh Baruch Hu promises that the journey of Avraham’s descendants through the jungle of history will prove to be a blessing for all humanity. It would behoove us to take note that this same assurance of being a blessing to all the nations appears again in the Torah when HaKadosh Baruch Hu blesses Yitzchak and Yaakov. The intention of Divine providence here is that we through our adherence to our special path of Torah and mitzvos should bring blessing to the whole world. And indeed many psukim in the Chumash convey a promise from the Torah that the nations will recognize that we are a wise and discerning people who keep laws of truth.

That is the Torah’s prophecy.

We have no way of surveying how in fact the nations of the world viewed the Torah over the long course of history. We do know that alongside the anti-Semitism which is now on the increase (and this phenomenon too was predicted by the Torah) great non-Jewish scholars throughout the generations have acknowledged the Torah’s value and this too has increased during the past few hundred years.

It is no secret that the degree of influence that Jews and Judaism have had on the world is astounding considering what a small sector of humanity we are. During World War II Professor Cecil Roth wrote a book entitled The Jewish Contribution to Civilization as a rebuttal to the venomous propaganda of Hitler yemach shemo who called the Jews parasites nonproductive leeches on the back of humanity. Roth’s conclusion was that if the Jewish People had settled say in Bahrain and spread out toward the east then those countries would have developed while Europe would have lagged behind in every respect. Rabbi Nechemia Rottenberg who does kiruv work among students in Vienna recently penned a book in Hebrew called Lama HaYehudim Matzlichim (Why Do Jews Succeed?) in which he shows how the success of Jews in every field of endeavor has brought gains for the whole human race.

Throughout the years non-Jewish intellectuals have perceived this special quality and expressed gratitude to the nation of Avraham for its contributions to the world.

“The Laws of Moses as well as the laws of Rome contributed suggestions and impulse to the men and institutions which were to prepare the modern world; and if we could have but eyes to see the subtle elements of thought which constitute the gross substance of our present habit both as regards the sphere of private life and as regards the action of the state we should readily discover how very much besides religion we owe to the Jew.” (Woodrow Wilson quoted in The Jewish Contribution to Civilization)

“To them we owe the idea of equality before the law both divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of human person; of the individual conscience and so a personal redemption; of collective conscience of social responsibility; of peace as an abstract ideal and love as the foundation of justice; and many other items which constitute the basic moral furniture of the human mind. Without Jews it might have been a much emptier place.” (Catholic historian Paul Johnson A History of the Jews)

“The Jews gave us the Outside and the Inside — our outlook and our inner life. We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes. Most of our best words in fact — new adventure surprise; unique person vocation; time history future; freedom progress spirit; faith hope justice — are the gifts of the Jews.” (Thomas Cahill a distinguished American historian in his book The Gifts of the Jews which became a worldwide bestseller)

I capped off my conversation with the young student with the following anecdote: The German king Frederick the Great once asked the Marquis Charles De Bois “Can you offer me proof of G‑d’s existence?” Without hesitating the marquis replied “The Jews your Majesty.”

And you young man bear witness today in this twenty-first century that HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s words “And all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you ” continue to be fulfilled. And the more you look into the details the more surprised and astounded you will be and the closer you will feel to the G‑d to Whom you bear witness on this earth.

The pressing question for us is can a young person schooled in our chareidi system not feel the same certainty as the Marquis De Bois felt when he answered King Frederick the Great? I have just finished writing a book on this subject called Zeh Sinai Me’az Ume’tamid. Would it not be worthwhile to initiate shiurim on this subject to open discussion groups and do whatever it takes to cultivate the tender sapling of emunah that our young charges were born with? Why should we have to encounter so many observant adults whose hearts are alienated from the security of this basic faith?