This portion contains one of the most important and misunderstood ideas of the Torah. God tells us that we are an ‘am segulah’, a precious people. Precious means that every Jew is special before God; it means that every Jew has worth before the Almighty.
It does not mean that we are a chosen people, and therefore more important than the other nations of the world. It does not mean that as a consequence of being born Jewish we are better in any way than any other people.
It does not tarnish that American idea which proclaims that all people are equal before God. It does not allow us to look at others with a jaundiced eye.
Precious simply means ‘dear’, ‘important’ and special. There is no sense of comparison in the idea of precious. Why every person and every people can share that attribute. We see the concept in play wherever we go. A child can be precious to his mother and father, and to his spouse. One can have many friends, and all of them can be precious. God can be the God of all humanity and hold that every soul is precious before him. Indeed that is what God maintains when he compares us to the people of Ethiopia.
Precious means that every person can serve God equally. It means that Rehab the prostitute could save our people during the time of Joshua. It means that Yiftach, who sacrificed his daughter, could also save our people during difficult times. It means that as unlikely a person as Deborah could become a general, and Cain who killed his brother could become the builder of cities.
Precious means that all of us, no matter our color or ethnic origin, in some way can bring redemption to the world and love God by working to bring salvation to all humankind.
We are an ‘am segulah’ before God, and so can every nation and every people be before God.