For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; lo, the people shall live alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Numbers 23:9)

Balaam, the non Jewish prophet curses Israel with uniqueness; they will be a nation alone, counted as outcasts among the nations. The Israelites long to be free of this curse and to be like the other nations as we hear in their cry to Samuel:

1 Sam 8:20

"Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

Many nations, like Balaam and the Israelites, make the mistake of seeing uniqueness as a curse.

Since the beginning of time nations have sought to create armies of identical human beings unified by uniforms, battle cries shouted in unison, one banner which unites all etc

Uniqueness of the individual members of a nation is seen as a weakness, while sameness is seen as strength.

Contrary to this opinion Judaism requires the Jewish Nation to be unique by being a nation made up of uniquely different individuals. Each person in the Jewish Nation should be different and not exactly the same as other men. The individual Jew is only responsible to God on an individual basis. There is no nationally unifying song or dress code, chant etc. Even such national festivals like Passover are only celebrated as a way for the individual Jew to express his gratitude to God for saving him, personally from the suffering of slavery.

Observance of such laws like kosher, the Sabbath, circumcision etc. aren't prerequisites to being a member of the Jewish Nation, their observance makes the Jew distinctive and unique among members of other nations who don't observe these laws. The only factor that unifies the Jews as a nation is their common heritage from Abraham.

Other nations have customs to identify an individual as a member of that nation, such as a dress code, particular songs of the nation, music, flags, symbols of the royal houses of the nation etc. Judaism has none of these and in fact strongly objects to outward symbols that identify them as Jews. For example the ultra orthodox Jews in Israel oppose the singing of the national anthem, Hatikvah, or the waving of the flag of Israel. Another example is the prohibition of orchestral music in the synagogue or the kindling of the seven branched candelabra, which burned in the Temple as a symbol of God's presence in the nation not as a banner to rally the nation to unity.

Uniqueness as a method of unifying a nation, in the way most nations use uniqueness appears to be a blessing but is really a curse. A nation that doesn't require its citizens to be all the same is an unusual phenomenon and so is unique among the nations and therefore alone. This kind of uniqueness appears to be a curse which is really a blessing.

This is a common error among nations. The attempt, by nations throughout history, to wipe out uniqueness in its citizens has lead to the worst totalitarian societies the world has ever known.

Examples of countries that emphasize militarism like Nazi Germany and North Korea try to make, not only their armies are unified as one man but their entire nation. Jews living in nations like this, like Jews in Nazi Germany were threatened with extinction. Their uniqueness became something hated by the rest of the population who had become nationally united in being identical. Hatred of uniqueness of the individual in Nazi Germany lead to Hitler's almost annihilating the Jews, not only in Germany but in every country which would become part of His master race.

To this day there are many nations who cannot understand the stubborn determination of Judaism encouraging uniqueness and individualism in its followers, making them people who think for themselves, controllable only by being self controlled but uncontrollable by a dictator.

They, like Balaam, think that sameness in a nation is strength. It only looks like strength when you see millions of identically dressed, identically chanting, identically thinking people. When you see that you think you are seeing a strong nation. It's only appearance.

Uniqueness and the faith which results from it is indeed a threat to the idea of sameness in a nation. Uniqueness is infectious; the uniqueness of individual Jews makes other people also want to be unique. Like all unique people they become ambitious and full of faith in achieving their objectives. Because of this nations who see strength in sameness will always hate the Jews and turn them into outcasts.

The Biblical expression "Strange Land" relates to a kind of land where everyone is the same, in other words a totalitarian run country. In such a country a Jew is a "Stranger in a Strange Land."

In his brilliant book "Man is not alone", the great 20^th century Jewish religious philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel describes man's uniqueness as the motivating factor in Judaism. It is being alone which leads man to faith in God. Only as a man uniquely created in the image of God does man have the ability and need to have faith in God.

Contrary to being a curse uniqueness has produced many blessings:

Uniqueness has lead to a greater desire to increase the number of the people in the world, because the more populated the world the greater the uniqueness of the single individual and the stronger his faith.

Man needs the presence of other human beings so that he can be unique among them. Each nation needs the presence of other nations to highlight their own uniqueness.

Uniqueness thrives in a populous world. It is only apparent in a world full of other unique people. This is why uniqueness makes man strive for density of population and so becomes an instrument of procreation beckoning to faith. Without uniqueness we'd become sterile

Uniqueness is the reason for communication because only through communicating our unique ideas and customs to other human beings can an individual or a nation really expresses his uniqueness.

Man, in his uniqueness, was created alone. No matter how much he will come close to another human being there will always be times when he will feel alone.

Uniqueness makes man reach out to his fellow man; when I feel you and you feel me I become unique and we cause each other to feel unique. If I lived isolated from other human beings it would be impossible for me to be aware of my uniqueness and it would be impossible to live.

Therefore every man and every nation needs a loving relationship with all other men and all other nations. Being unique is the cause of man's need of his fellow man and fellow creatures.

Feeling unique is vital to man's existence. This is the basic principle of faith in Judaism. Ultimately man's task on earth is to make other people and creatures feel unique. Only by feeling unique can a person fulfill this vital task.

When man feels ordinary, just another number among the innumerable number of objects in the world, he feels disposable..

He feels that his existence isn't noticed by anybody. He feels that his existence isn't important to the smooth functioning of the world. Yet if a man feels unique then he's an essential part of the world. He feels that he's been put on earth for a purpose and that he should devote his life to fulfilling that purpose.

When you feel unique you are capable of carrying out the most important task on earth. That task is to make others feel unique. You can love other people and so make them feel unique. You give uniqueness when you love someone.