EXOD40 Finally, what is the nature of the individual, the community, and the purpose of life as described in Judaism’s Exodus-Sinai story? We do not hear much about individuals; they seem to be glossed over in favor of the People Israel as a whole. We read though, that Moses risks his life and position to save a Hebrew slave, (Exodus 2:12) thus indicating the inherent worth of each person regardless of status. Similarly, later Jewish tradition has a dampen our joy at the Israelites’ release, quoting God as saying to the angels, “My children are drowning in the sea, and you are singing songs?” (B. Megillah 10b). Since then, we diminish our cup of joy at the Seder table by extracting one drop of wine for each of the plagues that the Egyptians had to suffer. Non-Jews as well as Jews have inherent, divine worth. ... The emphasis in the biblical story, though, is on God's covenantal relationship with the People Israel. We leave Egypt, we cross the sea, we stand at Sinai, and we marched toward the Promised Land all as a group. Moreover, the Torah revealed at Sinai speaks to us as a community, and its punishments and rewards, therefore, are those that applied to a community-- rain or drought, victory or defeat in battle, and so on. (For example, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 11:13-25, 28). God's covenant is also with the People Israel as a whole, and the goal is to make them “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6) Thus later Jewish sources would have us see our own individual actions as adding to one side or the other of the scale by which God will judge the People Israel-- and, indeed, the entire world-- as a group. (B. Kiddushin 40b and M.T. Laws of Repentance 3:2,4). In the Jewish story, then, individual identity is tightly intertwined with and defined by membership in the People Israel.