A Child’s Question

When I was leading the services for our religious school, a child raised her hand and told me that her parents had told her that Jews constitute less than one percent of the world’s population. She told me she did not believe her parents since it seemed that there were a lot more Jews in the world than that.

Indeed, it is amazing how few Jews there are in the world in light of our impact on society relative to our numbers. The most recent issue of Vogue magazine listed the hundred most influential people in the United States. Rather than the one to three as one would expect based on our percentage of the population, a full 50%, one half of the 100 are Jewish.

So, what did I respond to the little girl? I told her that even though it may not seem that her parents are correct, they are. I also told her how important it is for us to be sure, since we are such a very small minority and we do have such a positive impact on the world, to make sure that the Jewish people continue to survive and thrive.