I do think there would have been some event to free the Jews from Egypt if the Exodus hadn't happened. They might have called it Exodus as well, unless it didn't involve leaving, but was either the Jews rising up and killing the overlords, or evolving into a new niche in society.
You're right, though, in that I feel this way because it's remotely historical. There was nothing about it to make it real; it was just a story my parents told once a year, and not even a very well constructed one. (I remember one year arguing that it was unbelievable because it was a total and literal deus ex machina, and Moses lacked character depth.) I didn't understand what the point or the moral was supposed to be--grin and bear it until god saves us? Don't enslave people? The former seems like a bad plan, and the latter is just common sense (or at least is these days.) Most of the other Jewish stories I know seem similar.
I do feel a slightly more personal connection with the holocaust. I wouldn't be here if not for that--my maternal great-grandmother would have been able to return to Europe, rather than staying in the states, marrying an American and starting my matrilinial line. And I also know I would have a whole lot of family in Eastern Europe if Hitler hadn't wandered through.
Maybe it's a question of geneology then, and verification. I KNOW the holocaust happened, it's been verified beyond doubt, there are people alive today who experienced it, and there are hundreds of accounts of it. It's real. But Exodus? We have one account of that, which is patently unreliable (the whole miracle thing), no eye witnesses or corroborating evidance, and I have no idea at all how my family came out of it or was effected by it. So it all comes back to the original question: why does it matter to ME?
I'm sorry if I'm coming across as aggressive/antagonistic. this is something like a decade of frustration poking it's head above ground.
Hmm...I suppose I see your point. I think I may be slowly finding that answer. It took following my Wiccan journey plus moving a thousand miles from home and everything familiar to me for it to happen. The old adage/cliche, I guess, that you only know what you had once you've lost it. Or at least, once it's no longer a burden, a constant presence in one's life.
You're right, though, in that I feel this way because it's remotely historical. There was nothing about it to make it real; it was just a story my parents told once a year, and not even a very well constructed one. (I remember one year arguing that it was unbelievable because it was a total and literal deus ex machina, and Moses lacked character depth.) I didn't understand what the point or the moral was supposed to be--grin and bear it until god saves us? Don't enslave people? The former seems like a bad plan, and the latter is just common sense (or at least is these days.) Most of the other Jewish stories I know seem similar.
I do feel a slightly more personal connection with the holocaust. I wouldn't be here if not for that--my maternal great-grandmother would have been able to return to Europe, rather than staying in the states, marrying an American and starting my matrilinial line. And I also know I would have a whole lot of family in Eastern Europe if Hitler hadn't wandered through.
Maybe it's a question of geneology then, and verification. I KNOW the holocaust happened, it's been verified beyond doubt, there are people alive today who experienced it, and there are hundreds of accounts of it. It's real. But Exodus? We have one account of that, which is patently unreliable (the whole miracle thing), no eye witnesses or corroborating evidance, and I have no idea at all how my family came out of it or was effected by it. So it all comes back to the original question: why does it matter to ME?
I'm sorry if I'm coming across as aggressive/antagonistic. this is something like a decade of frustration poking it's head above ground.
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In the end, this is not a question that anyone else can answer for you. I know why it matters to me, and I've explained why.
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