In a message dated 9/12/00 8:46:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< There is no
 reason to redefine the motivation involved just because we wish to
 minimize the mythical aspects.  Even if we think the mythical aspects
 contain a lot of "associated hocus-pocus", that doesn't mean we
should
 misreport the facts, as they are known. >>

The history is clear and unrelated to supernatural 'details'...whether
they
were leaving so quickly as to not be able to let the bread rise, which
is the
basic level of explanation, the idea of separation from bread as a
symbol of
things Egyptian makes sense too. As to the claim that some Egyptians
also
fled, it does not seem to me to make much difference.