Why did 80% of Hebrew slaves choose to stay in Egypt?
Table for Five: Passover II
In partnership with the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
Edited by Nina Litvak & Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
So God led the people via the desert road toward the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites were armed when they went up from Egypt. – Ex. 13:18 (seventh day of Passover Torah reading)
Rabbi Pinchas Winston, Thirtysix.org / Shaarnun Productions
The Hebrew word for “armed” is chamushim, which opens up an interesting interpretation of the verse. Rashi says that the word chamushim can also mean a fifth, suggesting that only one out of every five Jews left Egypt. The other four-fifths died during the three days of darkness. That means that twelve million Jews lost their lives in the Plague of Darkness. Why? Rashi explained that earlier: “Because there were wicked people among the Jewish nation of that generation who didn’t want to leave Egypt, and they died during the three days of darkness.” Staying in Egypt wasn’t part of God’s plan, so when four-fifths of the Jews in Egypt chose to stay, they did, but not in the way they had planned. The eerie thing is, the Gemora says that something similar will happen at the end of history, when the final redemption happens. Rava said, “It will happen again in the Messianic Era.” Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein in his work, Ohr Yechezkel, in the section called, Emunas HaGeulah, added: “The Exodus from Egypt only freed one out of five Jews…because all those who were attached to Egypt and didn’t want to leave died in the three days of darkness and weren’t allowed to leave. Only those who truly wanted redemption were redeemed. The Final Redemption also depends on our desire.” Each year, the Pesach Seder reminds us of this, so that we can refocus on the importance of redemption, and instead be one of the fortunate “survivors.”
Rabbi Ilana Grinblat, Ahavat Torah
The day I was asked to write about this verse, I walked along the winding path of the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Jacinto mountains, listening to my friend Deborah recount the unexpected turns of events that led her to becoming a teacher in Kenya. The next day, I listened as a fellow hiker I met on the trail told me about the indirect route she took to arrive at her current career. She studied art and then linguistics, worked in communications, and then in renewable energy. That evening, I drove down the windy road down the San Jacinto mountains and headed home, wondering: Why does life take us on circuitous routes?
This verse has always puzzled me. When fleeing slavery with an army chasing you, I would want a direct exit route. Yet, perhaps, God took the people on a circuitous path to teach us an important life lesson. Life often takes us on turns we never saw coming. We shouldn’t consider our detours to be failures, but rather essential steps that taught us lessons we needed to get to our ultimate destination. Those turns helped us develop patience and perseverance. The windy trail brought good people into our life. As Deborah said, hiking straight up a tall mountain would be exhausting and impossible. Only through all the turns and ups and downs can we get where we’re meant to go.
As Rascal Flats sang, “God bless the broken road that led me straight to you.”
David Sacks – Happy Minyan of Los Angeles
Did you know that only 20% of the Jews left Egypt? That means that 80% stayed stuck there forever. Imagine the courage it took to follow Moshe into the desert.
If it were today, would you go with him?
It reminds me of a joke.
Back in the day, only rich people ate blintzes. So, a poor man says to his wife, “You know I’ve never had blintzes.” His wife says, “Here are the ingredients, go out and get them, and I’ll be happy to make you some.” She hands him the list, and he takes one look and says, “Cinnamon!? That costs a fortune! Raisins?? There haven’t been raisins around here in months! Sugar? I can’t afford that!” Finally, he comes back with some flour and water. She does the best she can and makes him the blintzes. He takes one bite and says, “You know, I really don’t know what rich people see in blintzes.”
This makes me laugh. But it also makes me think.
Do you know how many people think they’ve tasted Judaism, but really haven’t?
Afterwards, they put it aside thinking that it doesn’t speak to them.
But they never fully tasted the sweetness of Torah to begin with. For that you need all the ingredients.
Fresh baked challah, Shabbos, singing, dancing, deep Torah study, tefillin, mikvah, talking to G-d like you would your best friend. These are the ingredients. Without them…
It’s really hard to leave.
Rabbi Tova Leibovic-Douglas, Founder of The Ritual House @rabbi_tova
Emmanuel Levinas once wrote, “The face is the presence of the Other in its most exposed and vulnerable form, and it is as perilous as the crossing of the Red Sea.” In this, he speaks to our deep ethical responsibility as human beings. Passover, a timeless story of liberation, is not just a historical event but a personal call to action. Many mystical rabbis, especially within Hasidic teachings, suggest that this holiday urges us to liberate ourselves internally. Viewed through this lens, Passover becomes a call for deep spiritual commitment.
The Torah teaches us that the parting of the Red Sea was not as swift or graceful as we often recount before Dayenu at the seder. In fact, the Israelites took a roundabout route through the desert rather than a direct path. Many commentators argue that this detour was essential for their spiritual preparation. The desert journey wasn’t a mistake—it was a necessary process for their growth and readiness.
In our world today, filled with division—within our Jewish communities, our homes, and our broader society—can we dare ask if we are spiritually ready to cross the sea? Perhaps this is the year for detours—moments of self-reflection as perilous as the Red Sea itself. Like the Israelites, we must be willing to take the longer, sometimes more difficult path toward inner transformation. It is this roundabout, confusing journey that may, in fact, lead us to the miracles awaiting on the other side.
Rabbi Chanan Gordon, International Inspirational Speaker
When the Torah discusses the Israelites leaving Egypt with the words “… so G-d led the people via the desert road toward the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites were armed when they went up from Egypt.” (Shemos 13:18), it seems to be a matter-of-fact description of the orderly departure from Mitzrayim.
The Meforshim, however, extrapolate two important life lessons from these verses.
Lesson # 1: The reason Hashem took the Jewish People on a circuitous route out of Mitzrayim was to make it difficult for them to consider returning given our proclivity to revert to what we know, albeit bitter.
When embarking on any great undertaking, fear is a natural response. By creating a scenario where there was no way back, Hashem forced the Jews to develop strength that lay dormant during their years of slavery. Instead of thinking of themselves as subservient and limited – from living as slaves in Egypt – the lesson for our ancestors, and for us today as we approach Pesach, is not only to celebrate the fact that the Jews left Egypt, but to utilize the upcoming Chag to ensure that we take the Egyptian out of all of us.
Lesson # 2: We all face proverbial deserts in our lives where the way out is unclear. The second part of the pasuk is a reminder that we are all armed with the tools to overcome the fear of the unknown and to walk with faith to the Promised Land in our respective lives.
With thanks to Rabbi Pinchas Winston, Rabbi Ilana Grinblat, David Sacks, Rabbi Tova Leibovic-Douglas, and Rabbi Chanan Gordon.
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