Do Jews believe that they are better than Gentiles?

Answer 1

No. Jews believe that they were chosen, but this does not connote superiority.

It is worth noting that many non-Jews (as well as less-educated Jews) misunderstand the concept of "chosen-ness". It is not a statement of ethnic superiority in the vein of the übermensch or "White Pride". The Jewish understanding is that the Jewish people were charged with a distinct mission/task that the rest of the world was not assigned and this is to elevate the spiritual character of the world. This charge is very similar to that which monks and nuns take on in Catholicism and nobody chastises them for this act because we understand the hardship that comes out of that level of dedication. Jews are compelled to be so dedicated. That's it. Jews do not claim non-Jews to be inferior, unimportant, unworthy or lacking full rights in this life, or even unworthy of entering "the good place" after death. They, in fact, advocate exactly the opposite (that non-Jews are equal, critical, worthy of rights, have a reserved place in the "good place" after death provided they are good people).

(Another more pop-culturally modern version of this is the idea of the "Fellowship of the Ring" in the "Lord of the Rings". The members of the Fellowship are in no way superior or better than the rest of the inhabitants of Middle Earth, they just have a specific task to which they have been assigned and upon which the entire world depends. People outside the Fellowship are more than capable of helping this mission, and some of them (like King Theoden of Rohan and Faramir of Gondor) certainly do. It is just that the onus of responsibility lies on the Fellowship.)

Answer 2

Answer 1

I think they do because they are the chosen race by God.

Answer 2

No. Jews do not feel superior to other people. Their "chosen-ness" is a question of required actions, not physical superiority. In the same way, nobody would say that a priest is an inherently superior person, he just has a very holy mission.

Answer 3

No

Answer 4

The Jewish tradition is mixed on this issue. During times of intense persecution (at various times, Romans, Christians and Nazis have all been pretty vicious), Jews have adopted a "they may be treating us like dirt, but we're better than them) attitude. At other times, Jews have been downright modest. It seems that the book of Jonah was included in the canon specifically in order to encourage such modesty, and Jonah is traditionally read on Yom Kippur. Jews do hold that the Jewish tradition is hard. Jews are subject to the 613 commandments in the Torah, while Jews consider non-Jews to be held to only the 7 commandments inferred from the story of Noah, the flood, and the covenant God made with Noah. The Jewish tradition does not deny non-Jews a place in heaven, but holds that "there is a place in the world to come for the righteous of all nations."