The Bible Never Happened!
by Gil Mann 

Gil’s Jewish Email columns began on his popular America Online feature called "Judaism Today: Where Do I Fit?". 
Gil welcomes any additional questions or comments about this topic or any other Jewish issue. Email him at GilMann@beingjewish.org.

I once read on the front page of the Los Angeles Times a feature entitled Doubting the Story of Exodus. The article reported about Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Westwood, California, who said, “The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all.” 

He went on to say he wants his religion free from myth and physically dubious events like the Red Sea parting and water gushing from a rock. His viewpoint is so radical it seems to make the Rabbi’s religious role invalid. If he’s right, the synagogue ought to be closed! 

Is his a generally held belief? Does Judaism condone such rejection of its foundation? One would have to conclude that if Exodus didn’t happen, the Passover didn’t either and then wouldn’t the whole scenario fall apart? 

D 

Dear D: The hoopla surrounding Rabbi Wolpe’s comments surprised me because his thoughts were not new or unique. In fact, not long ago Time magazine did a cover story asking if Moses even existed and essentially concluded as Wolpe did: no archeological proof has ever been found that can prove the Exodus story happened. 

Ah but that is Time magazine — and Wolpe is a rabbi! How dare he utter such a thing. He’s certainly not the first rabbi to do so. So is this a generally held belief you ask? Depends what you mean by “generally held.” 

Within the Orthodox world, most people would probably reject Rabbi Wolpe’s comments. On the other hand, if you were to do a poll of Jews “on the street”, I suspect you would find many Jews who agree with Rabbi Wolpe. I have heard from many people over the years (via email and in person) who find the Bible unbelievable. 

If a person has trouble accepting the Bible’s narrative, doesn’t the entire foundation of Judaism fall apart you ask? I don’t think so. 

The Jewish way of life is based on the values that our people have derived from the narrative over thousands of years. These values have not only stood the test of time for us, they have been adopted by much of the planet… regardless of whether or not we can prove the Exodus story. 

The values I am speaking of spring from the core Jewish value of monotheism — that there is one God and all human beings are children of that one God. Therefore, every person is precious and deserves dignity, justice, and compassion. I could add many other values but my point is we have adopted these values that are directly linked to the Exodus story. Even if one asserts that the "myth"never happened, these values now have a worthy life of their own. 

You could draw something of a parallel to the narrative of the U.S. Revolution.The story includes the myths of George Washington cutting down the cherry tree and the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Did they happen? At this point, it does not matter because from these stories Americans have been taught the honored values of honesty, bravery, and freedom.

Yehuda Bauer, perhaps the leading Holocaust scholar in the world and an atheist, was quoted as saying that although he does not believe in God himself, he does "believe in Jews who believe in God". I interpret his comment to mean that even though he does not embrace the Exodus narrative, he does have faith in the Jewish set of values that were inspired by belief in God. 

Personally, I think that dismissing the narrative of the Bible is a mistake because every word in the Torah adds context that help us understand our values. At the same time, I think believing every word literally in the Bible is also a mistake as we cannot understand exactly what is meant by many things written in the Bible. 

This is why we are told to study the Torah all our  lives… a fundamental value that I am confident Rabbi Wolpe endorses. If the Bible is to help us to  become better people, then we will need to continue to dissect the words and the narrative, helped along the way by commentaries from ancient and modern readers. This requires thoughtful and honest critique. With this in mind, I respect Wolpe’s questioning, just as I respect your questions of him and to me. Thanks for writing! 

Happy Passover!

Gil

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