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A Spiritual Seder Without History?

A Spiritual Seder Without History?

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"A Spiritual Seder Without History?." TheTorah.com. Accessed November 4, 2026. https://www.thetorah.com/symposium/seder-without-history.

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"A Spiritual Seder Without History?" (n.d.). TheTorah.com. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://www.thetorah.com/symposium/seder-without-history

Question

I have always loved studying Torah. But over the years, as I have added the study of history and philosophy in depth, I find it more and more difficult to believe in the traditional version of the Exodus. I simply can’t accept a story with plagues and miracles, splitting of seas and manna falling from heaven as historical.

I still feel connected to God, as well as to Torah and the mitzvot and I would like to have a spiritual Seder Night. How can I recite the haggadah and talk about a story that I don’t believe actually happened, in a meaningful way? As my kids get older, this will become an even more pressing question.

Thank you,

A Reader