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The Jewish Exodus from Egypt never happened

The Exodus Myth
The Exodus Myth
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Shortly after I started to question my belief in God, I remember talking to my Rabbi about Passover and the Exodus from Egypt. My Rabbi knew that I was starting to doubt the supernatural aspects of the story and told me in confidence that while the basic story is historical fact, the supernatural elements might not have actually happened. He assured me that even though there might not have been plagues of frogs and that Moses might not have parted the Red Sea, that the Jews were really slaves in Egypt and that there was an Exodus. I have since learned that is not actually true at all. The Jews were never slaves in Egypt.

When I first heard that not a shred of evidence has been discovered in the Sinai Desert that a large number of Jews had wandered for 40 years, I thought that wasn’t such a big deal. I mean it’s a desert, right? Sand storms probably just swallowed up all the evidence. The more I looked into the story however, the more I came to realize that the lack of evidence was actually a pretty big problem. According to the Book of Exodus, there were a lot of Jews wandering this desert and it seems extremely unlikely (bordering on impossible) for this many people to leave absolutely no trace especially when traces have been found for smaller groups of people which predated the Exodus in that same desert.

Still, I didn’t think all that much about it until fairly recently when I stumbled upon an article called, “Did Jewish Slaves Build the Pyramids?” By Brian Dunning. This article really got me thinking about the Exodus story again. Dunning’s article reinforced my skepticism about the Exodus story and fueled my feelings of betrayal. I was taught for most of my life that it was a historical fact that the Jews were slaves in Egypt. This “history” was part of my cultural identity as a Jew. Even when I gave up the ridiculous superstitious beliefs associated with Judaism, I could still proudly feel connected to the Jewish culture which was grounded in a deep history of liberation from slavery.

As it turns out, well known Jewish commentator and author, Rabbi David Wolpe has also known about the Exodus Myth. In his article titled, “Did the Exodus Really Happen?” he mentions how other Rabbis wanted him to keep the fact that the Exodus story isn’t true on the down-low. The basic story of the Exodus from Egypt (extracting supernatural elements) was touted to me as one of the most historical aspects of the Bible and yet it never happened.

Further, how immoral is it for modern Jews to continue this myth at the expense of Egyptian dignity? For thousands of years the Jews have blamed the Egyptians for enslaving their ancestors when that never actually happened. By continuing to celebrate Passover without acknowledging the truth of history only perpetuates the shame.

Growing up, I loved celebrating Passover. I don’t think Jews need to stop celebrating it. However, they need to acknowledge that the celebration is based on a fictional story and that the Jews were never enslaved by the Egyptians.

If you are a Secular Jew in the Philadelphia area who wants to celebrate Passover in a secular fashion, check out Kehillah for Secular Jews in the Delaware Valley.

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