The Jewish nation constitutes a "closed" spiritual
community. This means that they believe that they have been chosen by God for a special
mission, and that this mission comes together with a set of 613 obligations
(commandments, or "mitzvot" in Hebrew) that only they must observe. For example, the
prohibitions of eating pork and refraining from work on the Sabbath are obligatory only
for Jews; similarly, the obligations to study the Torah and to eat matza (unleavened
bread) on Passover are for Jews only.
Still, any human
being may convert to Judaism if he or she displays a sincere desire to live as a
Jew.
Furthermore, Judaism has a feature which few other
religions posess: it has a "program" for those who are "outside" of its spiritual
community. A non-Jew can merit eternal life by observing the href="http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/seven-laws-of-noah/">Seven Noachide
Laws, which include the rejection of idolatry, refraining from murder, theft,
and sexual immorality.
Judaism presents this "program"
because it recognizes that all humanity belongs, in a sense, to one spiritual community,
which consists of all the descendants of Noah. So, the answer to your question is both
"yes" and "no." Jews believe that they form a special spiritual community within the
larger spiritual community of humankind while href="http://www.convertingtojudaism.com/Historical-Background.htm">historically
accepting converts and providing for nonconverts.
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