Exodus

**Exodus** is the second book in the Torah. Exodus in Hebrew is called _Shemot_, which means 'names.'

Exodus means 'going out' in Latin. It is about how the Hebrew people were led out of Egypt by God. Moses, their leader, hears God's words and then tells the Israelites. Exodus ends with God's laws and his instructions on how to build a holy container called the Ark of the Covenant.

## Summary

After the Hebrews went to Egypt to get food, the old Pharaoh died, and a new Pharaoh came to power and made each Hebrew a slave. The Pharaoh made the Hebrews work very hard and told his soldiers to throw their babies into the Nile River. One baby was put in a reed basket and floated on the Nile. He was later rescued by an Egyptian princess who named him Moses. Moses grew up in Pharaoh's palace, and later killed an Egyptian slavedriver. Moses escaped from Egypt and lived away from his people in Midian. He lived with Jethro, his father-in-law.

One day, while Moses was tending his flocks, God appeared in a burning bush to Moses and told him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. As Moses had no confidence in doing this, God gives him his brother Aaron to help him. Aaron was good at speaking and helped Moses speak to the Pharaoh.

When he returned to Egypt, Moses asked the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but the Pharaoh refused. Through God's power, Moses causes ten plagues to come on Egypt.

The last plague was the death of all the firstborns in Egypt. Only the Israelites' firstborns were spared, as they had the blood of a young lamb on their door, so God did not let the Angel of Death enter their houses (12:23). The Pharaoh finally decided to let the Israelites go.

While the Israelites were crossing the Sea of Reeds, the Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to follow them with his troops. The Israelites passed safely as Moses split the Sea with his staff by God's power. Once the Hebrews all passed the sea closed, leaving all the Pharaoh's troops to drown.

Later, at Mount Sinai, Moses received the law and the Ten Commandments from God. But the Israelites sinned against God by worshiping an idol (a golden calf). Moses broke the first two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in anger. God later gave him another two. He also told Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant.

## Rabbanic Literature

The first settlment of the Jews in Egypt came with the extended families of the 12 sons of Jacob settled in Egypt. On the 15th of Nissan of the year 2447 from creation (1314 BCE) -- exactly one year before the Exodus -- Moses was shepherding the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, at the foot of Mount Sinai, when G-d appeared to him in a "thornbush that burned with fire, but was not consumed" and instructed him to return to Egypt, come before Pharaoh, and demand in the name of G-d: "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.210 years after the settlement of JAcob Sons in Egypt on the 15 day of Nissan by the Jewish calendar year 2448  [1313 BCE] after the creation of the  world was  PAssoverand the Exodus of Jews from Egypt by the direction of the L-D under first Moses and then Joshua.Accoding to the Torah the Jews who left Egypt numbered 600,000 fighting men  with their extended families with an estimated total of 3,000,000 to 3,600,000. However the Torah also explains that of the total of Jewish persons in Egypt only 20% left-while the remaining 80% choose not to leave. Rabbanic Literature gives a number of reasons of why there were those who choose not to leave:. "..In short, there were millions of Israelites who had collaborated with the Egyptians and gained much power and wealth. As such, they didn't want to leave..."".. Our Rabbis explain to us that the 80 percent were so entrenched into their reality and culture of Egypt that they simply lost the will to leave..."Because of their refusal to leave..."..They were so steeped in Egyptian culture that they were unwilling to join the Exodus. As such, they were lost to the Jewish nation forever."Only 1/5 of Jews in Egypt survived {Those who left} the other 4/5 died during the 9th Plague of Drakness However of those who left:"Ten Times the Israelites rebelled and tested the L-D during Exodus despite his revealation to them; according to rabbinic literature it was because "..They were still laboring under the slave mentality of the Egyptian bondage."

### Media

The book has been filmed several times, as _The Ten Commandments_ and _The Prince of Egypt_.

## Modern Jewish Exodus

The Shoah of Jews in Europe killed an estimated 6/9 Jewish residents:
- In Raul Hilberg 1961 The Destruction of the European Jews Hilberg's own detailed breakdown in The Destruction reveals a total estimated death toll of 5.1 million Jews.
- In her book The War Against the Jews 1933-1945 (1975) Lucy Dawidowicz researched birth and death records in many cities of prewar Europe to come up with a death toll of 5,933,900 Jews

After the Shoah Many Jewish COmmunities rements went up to Israel.

At the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine war  the resonce of Jews in the Ukriane: some deceided to stay; others left and also deceided to come back andstay in the Ukriane; still others deceided that being in the middle of war zone wasnt conductive to one health and have fled to Israel:
In 2022, 43,685 individuals from Russia and 15,213 from Ukraine moved to Israel.
Over the past five years (2020-2024), approximately 160,000 individuals eligible under the Law of Return came from Russia and another 30,000 from Ukraine

In regard to Jews of Arab Muslin/North Africa/Asia Communites..Many of the Arab World adopted Judenfrei methods to their  resident jewish polulations
- In 2018 Last Jew in Eritrea reported shot and killed by an unknown person in 2018 https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalPowers/co...a72b3655b8
- 1948 Jewish Polulation
- 140,000  In 2020 Jews in Algeria numbered 5 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-of-algeria In 2022 World Jewish Congress website "Jews lived in Algeria from the pre-Roman period to the early 1960s. There is no Jewish community left in Algeria today."(Accessed 19 March 2022)
- 5,000 in 2021 Jews in Afghanistan numbered 0  {The last Jew Zablon Simintov and a Jewish cosuin of His fled the country)
- in 2025 Jews in Bahrain number 30-50
- 75,000  In 2024 Jews in Egypt number 3
- 200,000 and 350,000 In 2025 Jews in Ethiopia number 12,000-13,000
- In 2025 Jews in Jordan Number 0
- 140,000-150,000 In 2019 Jews in Iran number 9,300 {2025 number 8,000(?)
- 135,000 In 2024 Jews in Iraq number 3
- 20,000  in 2025 Jews in Lebanon number 20
- 38,000 in 2023 Jews in Libya number 0
- 265,000 in 2025 Jews in Morocco number 1,000
- ?       in 2025 Jews in Saudi Arabia number 0
- 800-,1000 in 2023 Jews in Sudan number 0
- 30,000 in 2024 Jews in Syria number 6
- 105,000 in 2023 Jews in Tunisa number 1,000
- 80,000   in 2025 Jews in Turkey number 14,300 to 14,500
- In 2025 Jews in United Arab Emirates number 2,000
- 63,000  In 2025 Jews in Yemen number 4 (including 1 in prison for saving a Torah scroll)
Total
- 1948-1,314,143    2025   24,395.9