World Religion: Who was Moses?

One of the best known individuals in countless religious traditions, Moses overcame his fears and insecurities to lead the Israelite nation out of Egyptian slavery and into the promised land of Israel. He was a prophet, an intermediary for the Israelite nation who fought from a pagan world to a monotheistic world and much more.

Meaning of the name
In Hebrew, Moses is actually Moshe (משה), which derives from the verb "pull out" or "pull out" and refers to when he was saved from the water in Exodus 2: 5-6 by Pharaoh's daughter.

Main achievements
There are countless important events and miracles attributed to Moses, but some of the greatest include:

By removing the Israelite nation from slavery in Egypt
Guide the Israelites through the desert and into the land of Israel
Write the whole Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)
To be the last human being to have direct and personal interactions with God

His birth and childhood
Moses was born in the tribe of Levi in ​​Amram and Yocheved during a period of Egyptian oppression against the Israelite nation in the second half of the thirteenth century BC. He had an older sister, Miriam, and an older brother, Aharon (Aaron). During this period, Ramesses II was Pharaoh of Egypt and had decreed that all male children born of the Jews were to be murdered.

After three months of trying to hide the boy, in an attempt to save his son, Yocheved put Moses in a basket and sent him away on the Nile river. Along the Nile, Pharaoh's daughter discovered Moses, pulled him out of the water (meshitihu, from which his name is believed to have originated) and vowed to raise him in his father's palace. He hired a wet nurse among the Israelite nation to take care of the boy, and that wet nurse was none other than Moses' mother, Yocheved.

Between the fact that Moses is brought to Pharaoh's home and he who reaches adulthood, the Torah doesn't say much about his childhood. Indeed, Exodus 2: 10-12 skips a large chunk of Moses' life that leads us to events that would paint his future as leader of the Israelite nation.

The boy grew up and (Yocheved) took him to Pharaoh's daughter, and became like his son. Moses called him and said, "Because I drew it from the water." Now it came about in those days that Moses grew and went out of his brothers and looked at their burdens, and saw an Egyptian man strike a Jewish man of his brothers. He turned this way and that way, and saw that there was no man; so he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Adulthood
This tragic accident led Moses to land in the sights of Pharaoh, who tried to kill him for killing an Egyptian. As a result, Moses fled to the desert where he settled with the Midianites and took a wife from the tribe, Zipporah, daughter of Yitro (Jethro). While taking care of Yitro's herd, Moses came across a burning bush on Mount Horeb which, despite being surrounded by flames, was not consumed.

It is at this time that God actively involved Moses for the first time, telling Moses that he had been chosen to free the Israelites from the tyranny and slavery they had undergone in Egypt. Moses was understandably taken aback, replying,

"Who am I who should go to Pharaoh and who should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11).
God attempted to trust him by outlining his plan, reporting that Pharaoh's heart would have been hardened and the task would have been difficult, but that God will perform great miracles to free the Israelites. But Moses replied famous again,

Moses said to the Lord: “Please, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday, nor from the moment you spoke to your servant, because I am heavily of mouth and heavy of tongue "(Exodus 4:10).
Eventually, God got tired of Moses 'insecurities and suggested that Moses' older brother Aharon might be the speaker, and Moses would be the leader. With confidence in tow, Moses returned to his father-in-law's house, took his wife and children, and went to Egypt to free the Israelites.

The exodus
Upon their return to Egypt, Moses and Aharon told the pharaoh that God had commanded that the pharaoh freed the Israelites from slavery, but the pharaoh refused. Nine plagues were miraculously brought to Egypt, but Pharaoh continued to resist the release of the nation. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn of Egypt, including Pharaoh's son, and finally Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go.

These plagues and the resulting exodus of the Israelites from Egypt are commemorated every year on the Jewish holiday of Jewish Passover (Pesach), and you can read more about the plagues and miracles of Jewish Passover.

The Israelites quickly packed up and left Egypt, but Pharaoh changed his mind about the liberation and pursued them aggressively. When the Israelites reached the Red Sea (also called the Red Sea), the waters were miraculously divided to allow the Israelites to cross safely. When the Egyptian army entered the separate waters, they closed, drowning the Egyptian army in the process.

The Alliance
After weeks of wandering in the desert, the Israelites, led by Moses, reach Mount Sinai, where they camped and received the Torah. While Moses is at the top of the mountain, the famous sin of the Golden Calf takes place, which causes Moses to break the original covenant tables. He returns to the top of the mountain and when he returns again, it is here that the entire nation, freed from Egyptian tyranny and led by Moses, accepts the covenant.

After the Israelites accept the covenant, God decides that it is not the current generation that will enter the land of Israel, but rather a future generation. The result is that the Israelites have been wandering with Moses for 40 years, learning from some very vital mistakes and events.

His death
Unfortunately, God commands that Moses will not actually enter the land of Israel. The reason for this is that when the people rose up against Moses and Aharon after the well that had provided them with sustenance in the desert dried up, God commanded Moses as follows:

“Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aharon, and speak to the rock in their presence so that it emits its water. You will bring them water out of the rock and give the congregation and their cattle to drink "(Numbers 20: 8).
Frustrated with the nation, Moses did not do as God commanded, but rather hit the rock with the stick. As God says to Moses and Aharon,

"Since you did not trust Me to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, you will not bring this assembly to the Earth that I have given them" (Numbers 20:12).
It is bittersweet for Moses, who has taken on such a large and complicated task, but as God commanded, Moses dies shortly before the Israelites enter the promised land.

The term in the Torah for the trash where Yocheved placed Moses is teva (תיבה), which literally means "box", and is the same word used to refer to the ark (תיבת נח) in which Noah entered to be spared from the flood . This world appears only twice in the whole Torah!

This is an interesting parallel since both Moses and Noah were spared the impending death from a simple box, which allowed Noah to rebuild humanity and Moses to bring the Israelites to the promised land. Without teva, there would be no Jewish people today!