So I was sitting in the library last week reading for my class. Even though I just recently graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in Jewish Studies, I decided to, for a variety of reasons, take a graduate class in the new Jewish Studies MA program at Rutgers. While I was sitting there, one of the other three students in my class came into the room and sat down.
While we were talking about the reading, or whatever students stuck in a library for 6+ hours talk about, we got on the topic of our personal Judaisms and Jewish History. Knowing that I was applying to HUC in the coming fall, he seemed really interested in how I have formulated my ideas of Judaism.
"So you're applying to HUC, right? So let me ask you, how can you follow a religion? How can you believe in something that archaeologically can be proven false? I mean, we learned in class this week about how the Exodus didn't really happen the way it is portrayed in the Bible. How do you rationalize that?"
He was referring in particular to a discussion we had in class regarding the beginning of the Israelites and their migration from the desert into the land of Canaan. In the Bible it states, "There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children" (Ex. 12:37). So that means there were 600,000 men, all with wives, making the number 1.2 million. If each family had 2 children, that makes that number 2.4 million. With a gargantuan movement of people such as this, it would likely have been recorded somewhere other than the Bible. As it happens, it isn't. There is no evidence, outside the Bible, in any Egyptian, Philistine, Phoenician, or Mesopotamian historical document recovered that proves this event transpired the way it is highlighted in Exodus. Is it likely that a group of Semites migrated from Egypt, across the Sinai and into the highlands of Canaan? Yes. However, it is difficult for me to believe that it happened the exact way portrayed in the Torah.
So as I explained my point of view to my friend, I was highlighting what I came to find out later is the maximalist point of view when it comes to the historiocracy of the Bible (All credit for my knowledge is attributed to Prof. Gary Rendsburg). A maximilist believes that, although the stories in the Tanakh may not be exactly the events that transpired (those that haven't been proven true archeologically), they do represent a plausible situation that could have occurred, to a degree of historical accuracy. A minimalist believes that anything that cannot be proven to have occurred through either archeological evidence or secondary accounts, like royal decrees or inscriptions, must be a fictional tale created by the Bible's authors.
So what was my explanation to my classmate? I told him that, although the stories in the Bible may not be true, it does not make them any less important. Did Abraham actually almost sacrifice his son? Probably not. But there is a message in that story, mainly that one should have faith in God, that is just as important, if not more so, than the actual words written on the page. Did Noah actually live to be 950 (Gen 9:29)? No, but it does go to show that those who follow God's commandments, even if they do stray once in a while as Noah did, are rewarded. While I do not believe that every story told in the Bible is historical fact, or even that some of the commandments need to be followed, I don't think that discounts the tremendous valuable wisdom we can learn from them. I also don't think that believing that makes me any less a Jew than someone who believes that it is historical.
I happen to spend a good amount of time thinking about my religion and being introspective about what I believe and don't believe. Not everyone gets the opportunity, or has the interest, to do so. What I want to point out and end with is that, even if you don't believe every story in the Bible is true, there is still much to be learned from it's pages. And even if you don't follow all the commandments or keep the Shabbat, that doesn't make you any less a Jew. That is what I told to my classmate, and it's what I want tell to you too.
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