Being Chosen Means Accepting Responsibilities: "The prophet Isaiah says that Israel, God's servant, has been chosen for the task of spreading salvation. Israel must convince the other nations of the world that there is only one God, and must spread the true religion, and through it, happiness. "The prophet Jeremiah was extraordinarily important in the history of the people of Israel. In his criticisms of the people for their transgressions . . . and that after the sinful generation had died out God would contract a new covenant with the reformed people . . . " (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.) "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:" (Jeremiah 31:31-32)

Leadership Responsibilities Include Judah and Joseph: More than ten million Latter-day Saints call themselves "a remnant of Israel," mostly from the ancient tribe of Joseph through his son Ephraim. Their modern-day scriptures, living prophets, gathering in a land of "New Jerusalem" and identifying themselves as a "chosen people" has prompted reflection. Both Jews and Ephraimites are chosen - whether they like it or not. Both see each other as having ‘chosen’ responsibilities. Jews maintain a tradition, an "Aggadah" of a "Messiah Ben Joseph." The late Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook referred to the tradition when asked if the (Jerusalem) temple could be built soon. He deferred to a latter-day Joseph saying, "To him will be given the keys of the gathering of Israel, he will restore temple worship." Yet, the Latter-day Saints maintain that the Jews will build that temple.

LDS President John Taylor Instructs Baron Rothschild, a Prominent Jew: Rothschild said, "Elder Taylor, what do you mean by this (Salt Lake) temple?" President Taylor answered, ". . . One of your prophets said – ‘The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple’ . . . sir, will you point me out a place on the face of the earth where God has a temple?" Rothschild said, ". . . Do you consider that this is that temple?" President Taylor answered, "No, sir, it is not . . . The Lord has told us to build this temple so that we may administer therein [ordinances] for our dead and . . . matrimonial . . . covenants . . . you Jews have quite a role to perform in the latter days . . . you will be gathered to old Jerusalem . . . you will build a temple there; and when you build that temple, and the time has arrived, ‘the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.’" (Gospel Kingdom, John Taylor, Page 293)

Fulfilling Scriptural Prophesy, Judah Has a Chosen Role: A new temple in Jerusalem--you know, Jews pray for it at least three times a day. And as a first step, Jerusalem, where the temple will stand again, has become the capital of a modern State of Israel. ". . . not chosen arbitrarily; it was recognized as the historic land of the Jews, to which they had a closer connection and more justifiable claim than any other group. The national home was not to be established, but re-established after a 2,000 year exile." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Additional Scripture Reemphasises Joseph’s Chosen Role: On the other hand and to another part of the Israelite family, America also has a place as a chosen land as described in the Book of Mormon. "During the latter part of the 4th century A.D., Mormon, a prophet-general, made a compilation and abridgment of the records of the people of Lehi, a Jew who led a colony of his family and friends from Jerusalem to their American promised land in 600 B.C. Mormon's son Moroni added a few words of his own to the record . . . the records of these . . . peoples, preserved on the Gold Plates, were translated by Joseph Smith and are known as the Book of Mormon. The main part of the work deals with the period from 600 B.C. to 421 A.D." (Mormon Doctrine, Bruce McConkie, Page 98) These words are considered books of prophets, firstly because their authors were divinely inspired, and secondly because they are more than histories of another part of Israel: they also record the covenant between God and those Israelites, and they stress that only by continued and faithful adherence to that covenant can all of Israel hope to survive.