Iran’s Attack on Israel
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Thank you very much for all your wise and interesting writings. For the last two years, I've been teaching an adult seminar called "Discovering the Beauty of Judaism" at a Reform congregation, and I use Aish HaTorah material.
Now my question: I remember that the number of Jews leaving Egypt was 600,000. But I read recently that the number was in the millions! Is this true?
It is written in the Torah, "The Children of Israel journeyed... 600,000 adult males on foot, besides the children." (Exodus 12:37)
Since the verse only includes the number of men who were 20 till 60 years of age, we can extrapolate the total population by including the women, children and elderly as well.
A plausible estimate, commonly propounded, is three million. (See Targum Yonasan (by Rabbi Yonasan ben Uziel, cir. 1st century CE, author of an Aramaic translation on the Pentateuch), to Exodus 12:37. He writes that each of the 600,000 had (on average) 5 children (under the age of 20). This implies a total of 600,000 men + 600,000 women + 3,000,000 children = 4.2 million (not including the elderly). However, some understand that it means there was a ratio of 5 to 1 of everyone else to the men, implying 3.6 million or more simply that the total population was 5 times the men = 3 million. See also Igros Moshe O.C. V 29.)
By the way, the Talmud says that 80 percent of the Jews never even left Egypt. 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.
Best of luck in your Torah studies – and teaching!
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There were actually zero Jews that took part in the Exodus. They were all Israelites.
They were 70 people when they came to Egypt and left in the forth generation.
Moses was Levi’s grand grandchild.
Beside I have read that archaeologists think 3 -5 millions lived along the Nile when Josef lived.
So how could this 70 people become millions in FOUR generation?
Thank you. I am here studying the same question.