B’shalach 15 Shevat 5767 / February 3, 2007

We are all acquainted with the story of William Tell, of the man who shot an apple off the head of his son. Few of us, I suspect, are aware that William Tell is the hero of Swiss independence. It was his act of defiance and success with his marksmanship that led to the Swiss overthrowing Austrian rule some 7 centuries ago. Not only is there music in his honor—who of us of a certain age can forget the “William Tell Overture” as the introduction to “The Lone Ranger”?--, but Switzerland is dotted with monuments to him.

Alas, modern scholars have suggested that the story is mythic and indeed, have suggested that it is an adaptation of a Nordic tale of heroism, which probably was reshaped by the Swiss from tales of Danish pilgrims stopping in Swiss inns centuries ago.

This legendary quality of a foundation story for Switzerland comes to mind as we encounter the Torah’s prose and poetic renditions of the crossing of Yam Suf, usually translated as the Red Sea, but more accurately the Sea of Reeds. (The word “Suf” is the same word that is found in the beginning of Exodus, chapter 2, where Moses’ basket is placed “BaSuf”, “among the reeds.”) My colleague, Rabbi Benjamin Scolnic has a series of essays on Biblical themes which he provocatively entitles, If the Egyptians Drowned in the Red Sea, Where are Pharaoh’s Chariots?. He turns his attention not to the remains of that ancient Egyptian army, which have yet to be found, but rather to the textual evidence that suggests a plausible route for the Exodus. He posits a central route, perhaps across what is now part of the Suez Canal. He vigorously argues for the authenticity of the Biblical memory against Biblical minimalists, who point to the lack of physical, that is to say archeological, evidence as justification for denying the validity of the Biblical accounts.

In his battle against the minimalists, Rabbi Scolnic, who has a doctorate in Bible, offers a cogent defense of the Biblical accounts. I believe that Rabbi Scolnic is correct in asserting that no people would invent a degraded and debased past, which includes a period of servitude in a foreign land. However, at times he engages in too much special pleading, to explain away some of the problems that archeology presents: namely the lack of clear evidence and indeed at times contradictory evidence of the Egyptian experience, the Exodus and the Conquest of the land of Israel.

And so the question before us is does it matter if the Exodus and the Crossing of Yam Suf took place as the Biblical text sets down? Does it matter if there is some legendary material woven into a stratum of historical remembrance? I would argue that whether or not history unfolded as the text suggests or in a less grand fashion it doesn’t matter in the long run. What is essential here is that this is part of our foundation story that has shaped us and continues to shape us to the present day.

And so just as the Swiss continue to revere William Tell as the personification of Swiss independence, we as Jews continue to view the Exodus experience and Moses as shapers of our reality.