COMMENTARY: Reporting Live From Mt. Sinai …

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Significant archeological discoveries continue to be made in the Middle East. Objects of copper, iron, and bronze; written scrolls, inscribed stones and ancient pottery _ all can be found in long-abandoned caves or under the soil of that history-saturated region of the world. I recently gained possession of two […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Significant archeological discoveries continue to be made in the Middle East. Objects of copper, iron, and bronze; written scrolls, inscribed stones and ancient pottery _ all can be found in long-abandoned caves or under the soil of that history-saturated region of the world.

I recently gained possession of two newly unearthed parchment scrolls: news reports of the Pharaoh Broadcasting System (PBS) and the Canaanite News Network (CNN).


They provide previously unknown information about a news event in the Sinai wilderness during the spring of 1313 BC: The Israelite leader Moses ben Amram ascending Mt. Sinai to receive the Hebrew Scriptures from God and the commitment of the 600,000 people gathered at the foot of the mountain to accept and follow them.

It was a remarkable covenant made with an invisible, morally demanding God. Just seven weeks earlier, the 600,000 people were slaves in Egypt. They had only reluctantly followed the charismatic Moses in a mass exodus from that country.

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Hebrew for “weeks”) annually celebrates that Sinai event _ the giving of the Torah _ with special synagogue services, rituals and liturgies. This year the two-day festival begins at sundown on May 22.

Because of the scrolls’ fragile condition, the PBS and CNN reports are fragmentary. However, thanks to some friends who are skilled translators, I can now release their historic findings, just in time for Shavuot.

PBS reported it this way:

“A small group of disgruntled fugitives, formerly well-treated workers in the royal kingdom of Egypt, are lost in the vast wilderness of Sinai. These escapees _ it is impossible to know how many there are _ claim their leader, Moses, once an Egyptian prince and now a traitor, has climbed a small hill in the wilderness allegedly to commune with the tribal deity of the serfs.

“There is widespread discontent among the fugitives, and much complaining about the hot weather and poor living conditions of Sinai. Many of the fleeing workers desperately want to return to the loving protection and excellent job security provided by the Pharaoh.

“But the self-appointed leaders of the Hebrews, Moses and his brother Aaron, could face state charges of treason if they ever return to Egypt. Many observers believe Moses, by disappearing atop a hill, has deserted his followers and will never return from his so-called encounter with a deity.”


CNN had a different take:

“Some 430 years ago, a small band of brothers, the children of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, left Canaan for Egypt because of a famine. Now it appears that Jacob’s descendents, numbering around 600,000, want to return to Canaan and begin life as a free people.

“In an exclusive CNN interview with Moses before he climbed Mt. Sinai to receive, as he put it, `eternal instructions from God,’ the Hebrew leader admitted the rag-tag band of former slaves is not ready to assume the huge responsibilities of being a free and independent people living in Canaan, or what he’s calling the land of Israel.”

PBS, for its part, expressed doubts that the “fugitives” would continue to follow Moses. A news anchor confidently predicted that “the Hebrews will soon be back in Egypt happily working to build our cities and pyramids. The people seem afraid of freedom and are leery of worshipping a God they cannot see. They are also angry with Moses for leading them into such a desolate region, and he may soon have a rebellion on his hands.”

CNN was more optimistic: “The Hebrews seem dazed by their recent exodus experience, but most appear determined to follow Moses wherever he leads. They also express a collective promise to carry out their God’s ethical demands. Observers say it’s unwise to underestimate the leadership skills of Moses and the people’s willingness to move forward despite the difficulties they are enduring.”

It has been 3,320 years since that CNN report, and it proves that sometimes journalists do, in fact, get a story right.

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of the recently published book “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us.”)


KRE/LF END RUDIN725 words

A photo of Rabbi Rudin is available via https://religionnews.com.

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