Books in Brief

Exodus and Revolution

Michael Walzer (New York: Basic Books, 1985) 177 pp. $15.95

The ancient rabbis made the bold, and at first glance, far-fetched assertion that if God had not brought the Israelites out of Egypt then “we, and our children, and our children’s children, would still be slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt.” Michael Walzer, a professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, draws a conclusion that suggests the rabbis had a correct political insight. The Israelite Exodus from Egypt was the beginning of history, not only for the Israelites and their descendants, but in Western political thought.

Walzer describes the Exodus as a radical departure marking the beginning of progression in political history. The Israelites move from the corruption and oppression of Egypt towards the objective of dwelling in the Promised Land. Once the Israelites leave Egypt, they do not return to it. They may murmur about some of the attractions of Egypt, but the movement is through the wilderness, the acceptance of a moral covenant with God at Mt. Sinai, the wanderings in the desert for 40 years, and then into Canaan, the Promised Land.

Before the Exodus, according to Walzer, history was viewed cyclically. Mankind was not marching toward any goal, merely reiterating what had occurred previously. History had no end or objective because it always resumed to the beginning. The Exodus changed that perception.