THE EXODUS DEBATE
Many Jewish people believe that the most important events in Jewish history occurred with the Israelite Exodus
from Egypt. It was during this time that the various tribes came together and fled from slavery. They adopted the
laws that Jews were to live by for hundreds of years. Many of these same laws were adopted by different cultures
and people to help define what was to become the laws for all civilized societies. The Israelites learned about
self-government, independence, and where to draw their spiritual strength. There were many missteps along the
road to nationhood. The Israelites returned to idol worship when they knelt down to the golden calf. They
constantly complained of food and water shortages. Some Israelites even wondered whether they would be better
off as slaves back in Egypt.
Every generation of Jews must take away their own lessons from the Israelite Exodus. This is why the story of
the Exodus is repeated every Passover at the Seder table. You could go back in time 100 years or even 1,000 years
and Jews would be telling the same story and debating the same parts of the story. Right now we are going to take a
trip on an imaginary time machine back to Iran. The year is 460 C.E. (Common Era). The great rabbis at the
Yeshiva in Teheran are debating the Exodus story. Let's listen in.
Reb. Navon: I do not care what you tell me Rabbi Solomon. I believe that the Israelites were fed by the manna
that the Almighty sent down from the heavens. Nothing else can explain it. How else could so many thousands of
Israelites be fed in a vast desert wilderness?
Reb. Solomon: Remember Rabbi Navon that there may have been just enough food in the Wilderness for a small
nation living a nomadic existence. If the Israelites had left in the spring when we celebrate Passover they would
have seen migrating flocks of quails returning to central Africa. There would have been coriander seeds on the
ground. Perhaps the Israelites grabbed the sleeping quails and the coriander seeds every morning
and these things sustained them until they could raise sheep and trade with other nomads.
Reb. Ben David: But, Rabbi Solomon if you give up the manna from heaven. If you give up the swirling wind
through the dessert don't you also give up faith?
Reb. Solomon: Faith is where we look for our strength. You choose to look toward the heavens, but there are all
sorts of Jewish faith. Certainly you would agree that the Israelites had faith in each other. They fled from a very
powerful King, Pharaoh, with his chariots and armies. They embarked upon an adventure not knowing what was 5
miles down the road, much less 50 miles.
Reb. Navon: I must have faith in a God in heaven to believe in the survival of the Jewish family. It helps me live
with the troubles of the world. It helps me live with things that cannot always be explained.
Reb. Ben Mamon: Rabbi Navon you misunderstand Rabbi Solomon's ideas. What Rabbi Solomon is saying is
that each Jew must look for his own faith. But, there is a bigger question. We must all ask ourselves what is the
most important part of the Exodus story to us? Rabbi Solomon is saying it is unimportant whether you believe in
God or do not believe in God. What is important is what lessons you can learn about living as a Jew or as a good
person.
Reb. Ben Simeon: Could someone explain the plagues to me? Were out ancestors freed from Egypt by the hand
of God? Or did these catastrophes simply happen?
Reb Navon: It was the Almighty's divine plan to free the Israelites to use Moses and his brother Aaron as
messengers to Pharaoh to speak the words, "Let my people go." Not even you Rabbi Solomon can dispute that.
Or do you believe that the plagues just happened out of the blue without rhyme or reason?
Reb Bas Deborah: I believe Rabbi Navon that there are two different explanations for the plagues.
Reb. Navon: And what are they?
Reb. BasDeborah: Several disasters may have happened in Egypt at the same time. The
Nile may have flooded. Red clay from the headwaters may have overflowed its banks.
This drove the frogs farther into the surrounding fields. Flies and other insects followed
the frogs and so brought pestilence to all Egypt. If you look at the order of the plagues:
blood, frogs, vermin, beasts, cattle disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and striking the
first born, this explanation makes a lot of sense.
Reb. Ben-Simeon: Would you say that God's hand is in all of this?
Reb. Deborah: This I do not know. One could believe that all these events were orchestrated by a God in heaven, or
made directly possible by him. One could also believe that they came about on their own. Whatever path you
follow one thing is certain.
Reb. Navon: And what is that?
Reb.BasDeborah: That the Israelites were brave to take advantage of these catastrophes to leave Egypt. Some
believe that Pharaoh Ramses had marched his army northwest to meet an invasion. Others believe that the
Almighty brought down a plague, the killing of the first born, to finally soften Ramses about letting the Israelites
go.
Reb. Ben Simeon: And what do you believe Rabbi BasDeborah.
Reb. BasDeborah: I don't know Rabbi Ben Simeon. Sometimes I believe there is a God that sent the plagues down
on the Egyptians. Sometimes I believe that these things just happened but our ancestors were quick to take
advantage of them.
Reb. Ben Mamon: I think that what Rabbi Deborah is getting at is that whether you believe in God or do not
believe in God you can celebrate the brave thing that our ancestors did in fleeing slavery.
Reb.BasDeborah: Exactly.
Reb. Navon: But if you don't believe in God how you can then believe in the Ten Commandments and the Laws of
Moses?
Reb. Reuben: There is a Jewish legend Rabbi Navon that I am sure you are familiar with. That is that when Moses
came down from Mt. Sinai with the Commandments the Jews became the chosen people.
Reb. Navon: Yes Rabbi Reuben. I am familiar with the legend. It says that we Jews were not the first people that
God offered the Ten Commandments to. They were offered first to the Babylonians, then the Egyptians. The Great
Empires of the era. These peoples turned them down. They found the Commandments too difficult to live by. But
we Jews believed that nations and laws should be more than just the King's word.
Reb. Reuben: So that is why we are called the "Chosen People."
Reb. BasDeborah: It is not that God in heaven chose the Jews above all the people of the earth to spread his word,
but that we chose the Commandments to live by. Even the greater civilizations of the time did not have the "faith"
in themselves to do that.
Reb. Navon: I think that I see what you are getting at now. All Jewish people whether they believe in God or do not
believe in God belong to the Jewish family if they agree to live up to the responsibilities of the laws of our people.
Reb. BenSimeon: Exactly. And this is not to say that the "laws" exist unchanged or that they are blindly followed.
Every generation of Jews must reinterpret the Commandments and the Laws. Each generation must draw strength
from our People's triumph over adversity. This is what sustains me Rabbi Navon. For me faith in God is not
enough. I must look to the brave examples of my ancestors.
Reb. BasDeborah: If we look upon the laws as only coming by the hand of God, or the hand of Moses as inspired
by God, then we could never change them. And the laws must be changed. We know from the early Bible stories
that a man could have more than one wife. We know that women were not always treated fairly. This would need
to change if the Jewish people were to be allowed to thrive and grow.
Reb. Navon: But I must still believe in the existence of God.
Reb. BenMamon: Rabbi Navon, no one here would take that away from you.
Reb. BenSimeon: On that note I think that we should turn in for the night and continue the debate
another time.
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