When the Critics Outnumber the Faithful
     By Gerald M. Steinberg
April 10, 1998

     In every generation, the Jewish people relive the Exodus 
from Egypt, putting ourselves in the position of slaves, suddenly
freed and beginning their march into the desert. The Haggada,
which provides a guidebook for this exercise, is full of songs
and rejoicing over the miraculous event.
     However, the Seder, with its singing and celebration, is far
from complete, and may even be misleading. The Haggada tell us 
about the suffering of the slaves, and then about how later
generations of Jews viewed the Exodus. There is almost no information
about how the men, women, and children who suddenly left Egypt at
midnight viewed the unfolding events at the time.
     If someone had conducted a public opinion poll at the time, the
results would probably have shown a high level of anxiety and fear. 
Even following the signs and wonders of divine intervention, many
would have been cautious and pessimistic. After generations of slavery
and degradation at the hands of the most powerful nation in the Middle
East, it was not easy to be very optimistic about the future.
     After the team of Moses and Aaron took over (without elections)
and initiated the confrontation with Paraoh, conditions became worse.
The pattern was set in the previous plagues; first Paraoh announced 
that the Israelites were free to go, but as soon as the pressure 
abated, he changed his mind. After so many false starts, how many 
people actually believed that this time, the pattern would be broken?
     Even after the dramatic midnight Exodus, any euphoria was short
lived. A few days later, when facing the Red Sea, the massive army 
of former slaves stood terrified when they heard Paraoh's chariots
approaching. It took many generations until the historic magnitude of
the Exodus began to be understood.
     Three thousand years later, and 50 years after the miraculous 
rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael, many Israelis still 
view the future as bleak and uncertain. Like the Israelites after
leaving Egypt and marching toward the Read Sea, today's Israelis are 
an anxious lot. The daily headlines predict imminent disaster, in the
form of civil war between secular and religious, or a colapse of the
peace process and the possibility of renewed regional warfare. Now,
we have public opinion polls, and they show a lack of enthusiasm when
it comes to the 50th anniversay of national independence.
     On the talk shows and in newspaper columns, writers complain that
the leadership is out of touch and incompetent. Binyamin Netanyahu is 
certainly no Moses, and there is no political figure to play the role
of Aaron. Now, as in many other periods of Jewish history, the 
government suffers from a credibility gap, and the critics outnumber
the faithful.
     In the midst of the storm, it is always very difficult to see
clearly. In the grand sweep of Jewish history, 50 years is a very
short time. This is clearly not enough to close the gaps between 
religious and secular views of the future of the Jewish people, to
provide a new generation of qualified leaders, or to indicate a clear
direction for the future.
     However, if we take a broader view, removed from the daily news
events, the picture looks very different. For the Jewish people, the
creation of the State of Israel and its survival is the outstanding
event of the past two millennia.
     In the generations and centuries to come, these events will be 
seen as a central event of the Jewish and world history, on the scale
of the biblical Exodus. The past five decades can rightfully be 
compared with the miraculous Exodus from Egypt and the entry into the
Promised Land. Not only did we survive, but we managed to overcome
many barriers and to build a thriving economy.
     In this half-century, the population of Israel has grown from
600,000 to 6 million. Millions of Jews have joined the ingathering,
and the prisoners of Zion from the former Soviet Union have been
freed to rejoin the Jewish people. They have been absorbed with far
less strife and problems than anyone expected. Two heros of this
modern Exodus, Natan Sharansky and Yuli Edelstein, are serving in the
Israeli cabinet. This, in itself, clearly serves to be classified as
miraculous.
     Jewish culture, which was on the verge of extinction 50 years
ago, is being restored. The intense debates and conflict between
different groups and perspectives are the inevitable consequences
of this process. The revival of the Hebrew language, with its deep
roots in the history and literature of the Jewish people, and
associations with the Land of Israel, is an important accomplishment
in itself. The transition from war and rejection to peace and
acceptance, although unsteady and slow, is also a critical milestone.
     None of this is going to change the long-standing Jewish traditions
of worrying about the future, of criticizing our leaders, of whining
and begging for devinie intervention. However, in the midst of our
anxiety attacks about the future, and while we consider the events of
the Exodus from Egypt, we should take a step back to appreciate how
much has been accomplished in the past 50 years.