A Taste of Torah - Bo

This week, we find the conclusion of the ten plagues and the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. (Next week, we'll get to the Sea of Reeds with the Egyptian army still on our tails.) In the midst of the story, we read that along with us, an erev rav, a mixed multitude went up with us from Egypt, along with all sorts of animals (Exodus 12:38). Our commentators ask about this erev rav, this mixed multitude who left Egypt with us. Most of the commentators agree that the mixed multitude were people of other nations (some say only the Egyptians and some say they had converted to Judaism) whom God chose to free alongside us.

Me'am Lo-ez, the 18th century Ladino commentary from the Ottoman Empire, teaches that when Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go, he refused to allow this mixed multitude to exit with us. But the Egyptians - those who would stay behind - saw that the Israelites refused to leave without the mixed multitude. We had our freedom, though it wasn't enough if those others who needed their freedom couldn't come along with us.
In the past two weeks following the earthquake in Haiti, its aftermath, and aftershocks, the world has responded. Most notably, CBS News highlighted the Israeli Defense Forces' "field hospital, the Rolls Royce of emergency medical care."




Beginning with our exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel have understood that unless the whole world is better off, we are not better off. We may at times choose to be critical of Israel and decisions her leaders make, but we should also count the blessings that Israel has bestowed upon the world and the role that the Jewish people continue to make towards fixing the broken world in which we live.