Were the eirev rav Jewish? If they were in fact Jewish why are they described by the term eirev rav instead of just referring to them as we would any other Jew? If they were not Jewish why were they not cast out after repeatedly causing trouble?
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They could have been Jews. "Eirev Rav" was their name like Reubenites, Shimonites, etc. – ertert3terte Feb 20 '12 at 20:10
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@ShmuelBrill Don't forget the Issacharites and the Zebulonites! :) – Double AA Feb 20 '12 at 21:47
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Only one tribe, the tribe of Yehuda, was actually Jewish at that point (or ever). Everyone else was Israelite. – Adam Mosheh Jul 05 '12 at 22:26
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...Huh?? Please clarify what you mean by your use of the word "Jewish". – Gary Oct 15 '12 at 21:38
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@Gary, I think he's using it literally. Unnecessarily so, IMO. – Seth J Oct 18 '12 at 02:49
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so...the B'nai Yehudas were the only Yehudim ever? No wonder the Persians named the province Yehud...I wonder when the Judeans became Jews....Hasmonean times? – Gary Oct 19 '12 at 02:35
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@Gary, to ask Adam Mosheh, tag him like so... – Seth J Oct 26 '12 at 17:25
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@AdamMosheh, ping. – Seth J Oct 26 '12 at 17:26
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@Gary The first mention of "Jew" (Yehudi) that I am aware of is in Megillas Esther 2:5. Ish Yehudi ... Ushmo Mordechai ... Ish Yemini (from the tribe of Binyamin). – sabbahillel May 08 '14 at 17:52
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Rashi in Parshas Bo 12:38 says that it was a mixture of converts that went out together with the Jews. Perhaps it was difficult to cast them out as there were bona fide Jews that were also part of the Erev Rav.
Gershon Gold
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They stood at Mount Sinai when the Torah was given, so I would think that it was given to them too, as they were then part of the nation. Also, if they were Egyptians, they did not drown in the sea - so they must have become Jewish. Perhaps accepting the Torah allowed them to become Jewish. And if they were not Jewish, then they likely died during the generation of the desert because they would also have spoken badly about the land. Interesting question though.
Adam Mosheh
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They were from the Jews that Hashem wanted to kill at the plague of darkness so Moshe begged Hashem to give them a chance and this is what happened
mbloch
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friedman pinchos
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3Hi. How do you know this? Do you have a source for this? If so you should [edit] that citation into the post, as none of us know you that we should take your word for it. – Double AA Feb 03 '16 at 16:42
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1Hi Friedman and welcome to Mi Yodeya. Did you get a chance to look at the tour already? Also note that Mi Yodeya is big on sources so we can trace back what you say. Please stay around and keep learning with us! – mbloch Feb 03 '16 at 20:34