“Eliphaz, Eliphaz, where are you?”
“I’m right here, Shira. Is something wrong?”
“See for yourself.”
“What happened to the bread? It’s totally flat. No puff, no pocket, no nothing.”
“I don’t know what happened. I guess maybe the dough didn’t have time to rise.”1
“So much for our lunch. I was looking forward to a nice hummus and vegetable sandwich. This cracker thing won’t even hold a cucumber.”
“Let’s go check with Ari and Nava. Maybe they have some extra bread they can spare.”
“Ari, Nava, our bread didn’t rise. Our lunch is ruined. You wouldn’t happen to have any nice, soft, fluffy bread to share?”
“We wish! But our bread didn't rise either. It’s more like a burnt cracker than a pita.”
“Maybe somebody else in our tribe has some bread to share. Let’s go check around.”
“No, sorry, our bread came out flat.”
“Ours too. Must not have had time to rise.”
“Everyone’s bread is flat. What a disaster. And on our first day of freedom.
“Yeah, and after we had such a delicious meal last night. Roast, lamb, bitter herbs—what could be better.”
“I blame it on the erev rav, the mixed multitude that decided to leave Egypt with us. They caused so much chaos. They just kept coming. Every time we were about to start, another one would come running up yelling ‘wait, wait, hold up, we’re coming too.”
“Yeah, they held up for so long I was afraid Pharaoh would change his mind.”
“What right do they have to be a part of our exodus anyway? They weren’t slaves. They didn't suffer the way we did. For all we know, there could be some of those horrible taskmasters among them. They beat us and worked to death and now they want to go with us just because they are out of a job in Egypt. Or maybe it's those magicians who tried to make their own plagues. They're out of a job too.”2
“I heard Pharaoh emptied out the prisons and sent all the criminals in Egypt to us.”3
“I heard that they are the poorest people in Egypt. Pharaoh doesn’t want them. They saw us collecting all that gold and silver before we left Egypt, so they came to us looking for a free ride.”4
“What are they doing here anyway. They’re foreigners. They are not part of the covenant with God. We need to send them back to Egypt right away, before they make any more trouble for us and the other Israelites.”
“That’s right. Today, they are ruining our bread. Tomorrow, they could be selling us out to Pharaoh.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Hold up. You guys don’t know what you’re talking about. A lot of that “mixed multitude” you are blaming for everything are just Egyptians married to Israelites. My brother’s wife is an Egyptian and she suffered just as much as we did in Egypt. Her family disowned her. She on our side now.”5
“Someone told me that a lot them were really impressed by what God did with those plagues and want to convert to Judaism. They want to be a part of our people. We should go out of our way to include them.”6
“There you go with that inclusion talk again. We are all descendants of Jacob and we want to keep it that way. We don’t need diversity. We need people like us who are loyal to God and have all suffered together in Egypt.”
“We need people who will fight alongside us when we go and conquer the land of Israel. More people. It doesn’t matter where they came from. What matters is that they will join with us and put their lives on the line when we go into battle.”
“Are you kidding. You can’t trust that mixed multitude. They are already making trouble. Just wait until the first time we run short of food or water and see who complains and starts telling us we were better off in Egypt. 7
“We need to get rid of that mixed multitude right now.”
“Yeah, send them back to where they came from.”
“Everyone who agrees follow me. We will go to Moses right now and force him to send those troublemakers back to Egypt.”
“Let’s go. Come on everyone. EREV RAV, THEY MUST GO. THEY’RE THE ONES THAT WRECKED OUR DOUGH. EREV RAV, THEY MUST GO. THEY’RE THE ONES THAT WRECKED OUR DOUGH.”
“Wait, wait. Did you hear that. It’s the sound of the shofar. Moses is calling us together to make an announcement.”
“Maybe he is going to send that mixed multitude away for good.”
“Let’s go find out.”
“My fellow Israelites. I know that many of you are unhappy that your bread didn't rise today. But rest assured, it is all a part of God’s plan. God has spoken to me once again today, saying: From now on, you shall make the Passover offering once a year on this day. You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live. 8
So go back to your camps and eat the crispy unleavened bread you have made. And know that you and your descendants will be eating this crispy, unleavened bread, this matzah, seven days each year as a reminder of how quickly God brought you out of the land of Egypt today.
Now, are there any questions? Yes, you in the back, the tall guy in the short robe.”
“Are you saying that the mixed multitude, the erev rav, didn’t ruin our bread?”
“No, the erev rav had nothing to do with it. It was all God. Their bread was flat just like everyone else’s.”
“But, wait, does that mean they will have to eat matzah every year just like everyone else?”
“Yes, yes it does. God wants us to include them in everything—as long as they have had a certain little surgical procedure. Everyone is welcome to be a part of the covenant with God, the more the better. After all, aren’t we all created in the image of God?”
“Sorry, that’s all the time I have for questions. Thanks everyone. Go back to your camps and get some rest. We’ve got a long, hot walk to the Sea of Reeds starting tomorrow at sunrise.”
“The Sea of Reeds? Won’t we be trapped . . .”
“Sorry, no more time for questions. But don’t worry. God has a plan.”
.(1לט) וַיֹּאפ֨וּ אֶת־הַבָּצֵ֜ק אֲשֶׁ֨ר הוֹצִ֧יאוּ מִמִּצְרַ֛יִם עֻגֹ֥ת מַצּ֖וֹת כִּ֣י לֹ֣א חָמֵ֑ץ כִּֽי־גֹרְשׁ֣וּ מִמִּצְרַ֗יִם וְלֹ֤א יָֽכְלוּ֙ לְהִתְמַהְמֵ֔הַּ וְגַם־צֵדָ֖ה לֹא־עָשׂ֥וּ לָהֶֽם׃
(39) And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
(לח) וְגַם־עֵ֥רֶב רַ֖ב עָלָ֣ה אִתָּ֑ם וְצֹ֣אן וּבָקָ֔ר מִקְנֶ֖ה כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃
(38) Moreover, a mixed multitude went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
2. Rabbi Joseph Hertz (1872–1946), in his classic commentary The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, writes a “mass of non-Israelite strangers, including slaves and prisoners of war, who took advantage of the panic to escape from Egypt. They were not a desirable class of associates, as appears from Num. xi, 4, 5.”
(לח) ערב עלה אתם: ערב רב עלה אתם: וגם ערב רב עלה אתם. מלמד שעלו עמהן גרים ועבדים שלשה כיוצא בהון
An "erev rav" went up with them - it teaches that converts and slaves came up with them,
אֶלָּא (שמות יב) עֵרֶב רַב עָלָה אִתָּם. עַמָּא חַד הֲוָה, וְלִישָׁן חַד, אֲבָל כָּל חֲרָשֵׁי מִצְרַיִם, וְכָל חַרְטוּמֵי דִּלְהוֹן הֲווֹ, דִּכְתִּיב בְּהוּ, (שמות ז) וַיַּעֲשׂוּ גַּם הֵם חַרְטוּמֵּי מִצְרַיִם. דְּבָעוּ לְמֵיקָם לָקֳבֵל פְּלִיאָן דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, כֵּיוָן דְּחָמוּ נִסִּין וּפְלִיאָן דְּעֲבַד מֹשֶׁה בְּמִצְרַיִם, אָהַדְרוּ לְגַבֵּי מֹשֶׁה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה, לָא תְּקַבֵּל לוֹן. אָמַר מֹשֶׁה, מָארֵיהּ דְּעָלְמָא, כֵּיוָן דְּחָמוּ גְּבוּרְתָּא דִּילָךְ, בָּעָאן לְאִתְגַּיְּירָא. יֶחמוּן גְּבוּרְתָּךְ בְּכָל יוֹמָא, וְיִנְדְּעוּן דְּלֵית אֱלָהָא בַּר מִנָךְ. וְקַבִּל לוֹן מֹשֶׁה.
Rather, "an erev rav went up with them" (Exodus 12:38). They were one people, and one language, but all the sorcerers and the magicians of Egypt were those, as it is written "and the magicians did the same" (Exodus 7:11). They tried [at first] to stand against the Holy One’s wonders. Once they saw the miracles and wonders that Moses performed in Egypt, they turned to join Moses. The Holy One said to Moses: “Don’t accept them.” Moses said: “Master of the world, now that they have seen your power, they wish to convert. They will see your power manifest daily and they will know that there is no God but you.” And Moses accepted them.
וגם ערב רב עלה אתם: אמרו שהם מאנשי מצרים שנתערבו עמהם להתגייר בראותם עוצם הנפלאות אשר עשה ה' בעבורם, ושהם האספסוף הנזכר במקום אחר (במדבר י"א ד'), ול"נ שאם היה שהתעוררו אנשים להתגייר אין טעם שיצאו אתם כי ישראל לא אמרו ללכת לצמיתות אלא לחזור מיד ולא יתכן לאנשים נכרים שיתערבו עמהם בחגם אשר יחגו לאלהיהם אם עד היום ההוא לא ירָאו את ה' ולא דבקו בישראל ולא נימולו, וכטעם וכל ערל לא יאכל בו. והנה מצאנו בנחמיה (י"ג ג') ויבדילו כל ערב מישראל שהכוונה עירוב ע"י חיתון, ע"כ נ"ל כי ערב רב זה היה מעורב עמהם מלפנים והם מצריים שנשאו ישראליות ומצריות שנישאו לישראלים והם הם האספסוף. והנה תרגום האספסוף ערברבין, וכן כאן בס' השמרונים וגם ערברב עלה אתם מלה אחת, ולפי זה תהיה המלה כפולה כמו ירקרק אדמדם פתלתל, והוא ממש כמלת אספסוף, ואמנם אין צורך לזה אחר שמצאנו בנחמיה ויבדלו כל ערב מישראל משמע שאומרים בלה"ק ערב להוראת אספסוף.
And also an "erev rav" went up with them: they said that these are Egyptian people that mixed [nit'arvu] with them to convert as they saw the greatness of the miracles that God did for them, and they are the asafsuf which is mentioned in a different place (Numbers 11:4). And it does not seem so, because if they were just mixed to convert, it does not make sense that they would go out with them, since Israel did not say they would be going away forever, rather, they wanted to go back immediately. And it does not make sense that strangers would join them in a feast for their God if up to that moment they did not fear Hashem and did not cling to Israel and weren't circumcised. Now we find in Nehemiah (13:3), “they separated all the alien mixture (erev) from Israel,” and the intention there is to intermarriage. Therefore, it seems to me that the erev rav was mixed with them from earlier times, and that they are Egyptian men who married Israelite women, and Egyptian women who married Israelite men, and they are the asafsuf. And behold the Aramaic translation for asafsuf is arvravin. And the word sounds double, like yerakrak [greenish], adamdam [reddish] and petaltol [stupid], really like the word asafsuf, and even if this idea is not needed after we found the verse in Nehemiah, it still teaches that in the Holy Tongue they use erev to teach asafsuf.
(א) אף חובב עמים - גם אומות העולם, כגון [ערב רב] ומן האומות
שנתגיירו ובאו לקבל התורה עם ישראל,
גם אותם חיבב הקב"ה
וקבלם ושכן עליהם,
כדכתיב במזמור
(1) אף חובב עמים, also members of the gentile nations, such as the mixed multitude whom Moses had accepted as converts at the time of the Exodus, and who had done so in order to receive the Torah, G’d became fond of and accepted them so that they too were included in the camp which Shekhinah, benevolent presence, rested over the people.
והאספסף. אֵלּוּ עֵרֶב רַב שֶׁנֶּאֶסְפוּ עֲלֵיהֶם בְּצֵאתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם:
והאספסף AND THE THRONG — This was the mixed multitude that had gathered themselves unto them when they left Egypt (the word is from the root אסף, “to gather”) (Sifrei Bamidbar 86). — The next words of the Biblical text must be inverted to read as follows:
לֹא־תֹאכַ֤ל עָלָיו֙ חָמֵ֔ץ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֛ים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָ֥יו מַצּ֖וֹת לֶ֣חֶם עֹ֑נִי כִּ֣י בְחִפָּז֗וֹן יָצָ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכֹּ֗ר אֶת־י֤וֹם צֵֽאתְךָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.