Dear Friends:
Here is what I consider as the Seder unfolds every year.
First, it is absolutely reasonable to “believe” that the general outline of the story presented by the Torah corresponds with events that did take place.
Although the writers of the Torah didn’t supply us with specific dates and didn’t specify the Pharaoh who enslaved our ancestors, most modern historians do accept the overall historicity of the exodus account. There are several reasons why historian (and me as well) accept the notion that the ancient Israelites were slaves in Egypt and then become free.
For example, the Torah’s description of the way in which bricks were made for the pyramids happens to correspond with contemporaneous Egyptian records. Unless our ancestors had firsthand experience of these bricks it would seem surprising for them to know as much as they did. In addition, Egyptian names such as Moses and the midwives Shiphrah and Puah appear in the Hebrew Bible- suggesting that whoever wrote the text was familiar with Egypt.
Most importantly, I believe our ancestors were slaves at one point in time because it would not be to their advantage to have invented such a tradition. If they wre going to create some story of their origins, it would have been so much more attractive to have said we Jews originated with grand or wealthy people. The fact that the Torah presents the opposite (“We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt”) suggests to me that the tradition of slavery was something with which our ancestors were simply “stuck.” It was an unavoidable part of their heritage.
But did the plagues actually take place as described in the Book of Exodus? Did our ancestors actually cross the Red Sea (more accurately called the Sea of Reeds)?
When it comes to these two questions, I have a suggestion. Don’t ask them using such phrases as “actually take place” or “actually cross.” Don’t phrase the questions that way because question of this sort force an answer which is too simple!
Of course, I’m aware of the fact that the plagues and the Sea narrative are fantastic. It is hard to “believe” that events literally unfolded as they are described in the Torah. On the other hand, I don’t every want to be forced into the simplistic notion that the Torah is either true or false. I don’t want to have to accept the stories precisely as they appear or altogether reject them.
Instead, of that, I would rather enter into the drama of the narrative. I would rather not worry about the details of Plaque #4 or Plague #7. I would rather touch base with the energy that pulses through the overall story.
I don’t know if our ancestors witnessed the Sea split neatly in two. (I suspect that they didn’t, I suspect that whatever happened was a lot less clearcut than the Book of Exodus tell us.) But that doesn’t matter as much to me as trying to capture the feelings of surprise and wonder that the events of the exodus elicited from our ancestors. They were awestruck. They felt that God had transformed their lives. AND the belief that God cared about freedom and justice went on to become the cornerstone of all future Judaism.
Of course, you and I could debate the “truth” of the narrative. Biblical scholars have been doing this for years. (Come to a Saturday morning Torah Study session where that is our purpose.) But what matters at the Seder is getting caught up in the spirit of 4,000 years.
The “truth” of the matter is that the Haggadah is grand theater, and on Passover evening we become the players in the drama that teaches truths of historic proportions.
Enjoy the show! Let yourself become part of it!