The Passover story isn't true. It's something better.
Historians debunk the Exodus, and yet Jews turned it into the most successful piece of fiction ever recorded.
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This is a guest essay written by Binyamin Zev Wolf, a socially Modern Orthodox non-believer.
You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
Most historians and biblical archaeologists agree that the Exodus story, as written in the Bible, didn’t happen.
There’s simply no material evidence to support it.
On top of that, miracles like the splitting of the sea or the Nile turning to blood don’t exactly scream “historical truth.”
So, what actually happened?
The prevailing theory among historians is that the Jews were originally a tribe of Canaanites who lived in Canaan. Over time, they began worshipping one god, Yahweh (Hashem), and forbade worship of other gods. This tribe took over the Canaanite region after the Bronze Age collapse.
Maybe there was a historical core to the Exodus story, like a small group of Canaanite slaves escaping Egypt, or perhaps the myth arose because Egypt once controlled Canaan, and the story reflects Egypt losing its grip during the Bronze Age collapse.
The truth is, we don’t know for sure. The origins of the myth are murky, and whether there’s any “historical core” is impossible to say.
And yet, despite believing the Exodus story didn’t happen, I love the story so much and love transmitting it each year at the Seder1. Think about it: What other people in the modern West has a mythic origin story spanning back thousands of years?
Telling over this story in an intricate Seder feels like a tribal ritual. We’re telling our children the mythic story of our origin. It may not be historically true, but it’s still powerful.
Now imagine if we told the story the way historians see it: “A long, long time ago, a group of Canaanites started believing in Yahweh. Over time, they only believed in Yahweh. They differentiated themselves from their neighbors and became the people of Israel.”
That’s it. No miracles, no drama, no larger-than-life narrative. So boring. Maybe you’d have one Seder with that story, but it would never have survived more than a year. Who would want to repeat a story like this?
Instead, we have this incredible story packed with fantastical elements like rivers turning to blood, sticks turning into snakes, God miraculously parting the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to cross on dry land to escape the pursuing Egyptian army, and so forth.
We have a story of slavery and hardship transformed into freedom. We have a story of a newly freed people meeting God on a mountain and wandering the desert to their promised land. It’s a story that has not only sustained the Jewish People through thousands of years of exile and oppression, but inspired others too.
The Exodus story may not be historical, but it filled slaves under their masters with hope for their freedom. It inspired people to fight under oppressive regimes and governments. Look at America, for example: During the American Revolution, British rule was likened to Pharaoh by people like Thomas Paine and the then-president of Yale University, Ezra Stiles.
Two-thirds of George Washington’s eulogies compared him to Moses. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson even proposed making the U.S. seal an image of Moses splitting the Red Sea.
Ironically, America still kept slaves. Later, African-American slaves used the Exodus story as an example of freedom from oppression. Freed slaves and abolitionists used the story to show that slavery is cruel and wrong, and that God will hear the slaves’ oppression.
The Exodus is a story of perseverance and hope. It has inspired millions and perhaps billions. And for us, as Jews, it’s our story. It’s the mythic tale of our people’s origins. Whether or not it’s historically true, it’s a powerful tale that we’ve carried and transmitted for thousands of years.
It’s incredible to be part of the people who invented this story and continue to transmit it, year after year, at the Seder.
That’s why I love Passover. It connects me to my ancestors, to my community, and to a story that has shaped not only Jewish identity, but the world.
A ritualistic meal celebrated on the first two nights of Passover, a Jewish holiday commemorating the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt
 | A guest post by
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I believe every word. Why not? Non-believers ask for proof it happened. I ask for definitive proof it didn't happen, not speculation or what agnostics or atheists believe. Show me the proof it didn't happen. Do you believe in miracles? We walk everyday amongst miracles, most of us blind and deaf to them.
Though there may not be archaeological evidence yet, the proof of the exodus is us, the Jewish people and our continued existence. History as we know it continues to change almost daily due to new technologies. Look what they have discovered under the pyramids, an entire city, places we thought were always frozen have turned out to have been verdant green forests in another age. The same will hold true for us Jews. Just wait. Chag Sameach to all.