(שֶׁהָיוּ בְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאוֹתוֹ הַדּוֹר רְשָׁעִים וְלֹא הָיוּ רוֹצִים לָצֵאת…  (רש”י שמות י:כ”ב

“… There were [evil] Israelites in [the generation that left Egypt] who didn’t want to leave…” (Rashi on Shemot 10:22, quoting Shemot Raba)

עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם, וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ מִשָּׁם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה. וְאִלּוּ לֹא הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם, הֲרֵי אָנוּ וּבָנֵינוּ וּבְנֵי בָנֵינוּ מְשֻׁעְבָּדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם. (הגדה של פסח)

“We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the L-rd our G-d brought us out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, had not brought our fathers out of Egypt – then we, and our children, and the children of our children, would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.” (Passover Haggadah)

I hope you and the rest of the family are doing ok. I’m sorry we didn’t get to say a better goodbye – things got a little crazy in the end, didn’t they?

And I’m sorry if I disappointed you by deciding to stay.

You know better than anyone how unsure I was about the whole leaving thing. Following your brother and a G-d I’ve never spoken to into a barren desert to die. I mean the plagues were really impressive and all, I don’t deny that, and I’m so happy that you guys finally got out.

But my home is here. My ancestors found food and a refuge here when they were starving. My great-great grandparents lived their whole lives here. Egypt is all I know. I’m not running away from it.

The new pharaoh is much better and we are finally getting paid for the work we do. I finally understand what freedom feels like and I thank G-d every day for getting to experience this.

Of course we will continue our raising our kids with all our rituals and traditions. They are important and will help us stay connected to our roots.

Good luck with the rest of your journey to the Promised Land.

I hope we get to visit someday.

Please take care of yourselves and keep in touch. You are constantly in my thoughts.

Most Midrashic traditions claim that even if there was a large contingent of Israelites who did not want to leave Egypt, no Israelites were left in Egypt after the Exodus. Those who didn’t come willingly were either forced out (by G-d’s “strong hand”) or died during the plague of darkness. (Kli Yakar, Toldot Yitzchak and Midrash Raba)

Nevertheless, I found it interesting to imagine what might have happened if some Israelites had remained in Egypt (and they had a functioning international postal service).

If you’re interested in reading more letters between Leah and Miriam, feel free to comment below.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)