A recent New York Times article will infuriate many Jews (and probably even some Christians):
The story of the Exodus is celebrated as the pivotal moment in the creation of the Jewish people. As the Bible tells it, Moses was born the son of a Jewish slave, who cast him into the Nile in a basket so the baby could escape being killed by the pharaoh. He was saved by the pharaoh’s daughter, raised in the royal court, discovered his Jewish roots and, with divine help, led the Jewish people to freedom. Moses is said to have ascended Mt. Sinai, where God appeared in a burning bush and Moses received the Ten Commandments.
In Egypt today, visitors to Mount Sinai are sometimes shown a bush by tour guides and told it is the actual bush that burned before Moses.
But archaeologists who have worked here have never turned up evidence to support the account in the Bible, and there is only one archaeological find that even suggests the Jews were ever in Egypt. Books have been written on the topic, but the discussion has, for the most part, remained low-key as the empirically minded have tried not to incite the spiritually minded.
“Sometimes as archaeologists we have to say that never happened because there is no historical evidence,” Dr. Hawass said, as he led the journalists across a rutted field of stiff and rocky sand.
The Exodus, most likely, is indeed a myth — to quote the word used by archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawassin in the article. But people frequently misunderstand what the word “myth” means. It does not mean that something is incorrect even though journalists (and Dr. Hawassin in the Times article) frequently apply that definition.
“Myth” refers to a legendary story that contains truth in the form of metaphors, themes and ideas while communicating a culture’s shared values. Whether the story actually occurred is immaterial — the ideas and truths are what is important.
In other words, it does not matter whether the Exodus happened. It does matter that the themes of freedom, suffering, liberty and faith, among the others that are embedded in the story, are remembered, incorporated into ourselves, and taught to the next generation of Jews.
For another example, one major theme of the Creation story in Genesis is that there is an order and structure to the universe; everything exists and occurs for a reason. The point is not that the earth is 6,000 years old. (Creationists, see metaphor.)
The same holds true for the major myths of all religions. The ideas are what is important.
Related: Passover Days in Israel