Imagine the scene: The Jewish people are finally leaving Mitzrayim after centuries of enslavement by the Egyptians. Sadly, many did not survive this brutal period. Jewish children were drowned in the Nile, and numerous Jews refused to leave. Tradition holds that only one-fifth of the Jewish people departed Egypt; the remaining eighty percent perished during the Plague of Darkness.1 The survivors, who did leave Egypt, were the physically beaten slaves who had lost family members and could not fully rejoice in the miracle of their salvation.
Now on their journey to freedom, they faced a new terror: the Egyptians in pursuit, trapping them between the sea and their former oppressors. Confusion and fear engulfed the people. They questioned Moshe's leadership, complaining, “Why have you brought us here to die?”
The people expressed their despair to Moshe: “Were there not enough graves in Egypt, that you've brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done by leading us out of Egypt? We m…
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