The History of Judaism - Essay Example

However, after three months she was no longer able to hide him and was forced to throw him in the river. In a strange turn of events, the pharaoh’s daughter picked up Moses and she decided to keep him as her son.

The royal family adopted Moses and he was raised as a prince. However, Moses soon find out he was Hebrew. He one day killed an Egyptian for mistreating a Hebrew. He was forced to run away and was adopted by Hobab after he rescued his daughter from rude shepherds. One day as Moses was grazing his father's in-laws sheep on MT Horeb, he came across a burning bush (Neusner, 2010). Moses went and talked to the burning bush and this marked the start of his relationship with God. Moses was instructed to go return to Egypt and free the Hebrews. He would then lead them to the Promised Land.

One key event that is associated with Moses is that he was sent by God to free the Hebrews from slavery. Moses went back to Egypt and met with the pharaoh telling him of God’s wishes. However, the pharaoh was reluctant to free the Hebrews. He turned his rod into a snake to show that he was sent by God. What transpired is that God sent ten plagues and Moses predicted each one of them. Moses turned the river Nile into blood and this killed all the fish. This marked the first plague. In the second plague, Moses was able to bring all the frogs from the river Nile to Egypt. Later, Moses infested Egypt with lice and flies. The pharaoh would still not allow the freeing of the Israelites. Moses inflicted a disease that killed all the Egyptian's livestock. He then caused Egyptians to suffer from incurable boils and brought thunderstorms and hails. In the eighth plague, Egypt was covered by locusts which all the food they had planted. Moses initiated total darkness in the ninth plague. After all these plagues, the pharaoh was still standing strong on his resolve of not to free the Hebrews. The 10th and final plague that would see all the first-born male children of Egyptians lose their lives (Neusner, 2010). Pharaoh’s son was also killed and this hurt Pharaoh deeply. This prompted him to order the release of Hebrews. The plagues, which lasted for 10 days, did not affect the Hebrews.

However, after the Hebrews left, the pharaoh changed his mind. He sent his soldiers to return the Hebrews to Egypt. The Hebrews had at this point reached the red sea and there was no path they could use, to cross the sea.  Moses performed a miracle where he split the sea into two. The Hebrews crossed and then Moses closed the path as pharaoh's soldiers were crossing. All of the pharaoh’s soldiers were killed in the process. However, Moses died along the way to the Promised Land. Joshua in was left in charge of taking the Hebrews to the Promised Land as promised by God.

One of the rituals associated with Moses is the Passover festival. During this time, Jews from all over the world celebrate the freeing of their ancestors from Egypt. Passover is also known as the Pesach. The Passover festival usually lasts for 8 days (Neusner, 2010). The Ten Commandments are also associated with Moses. God gave these laws to Moses while on MT Sinai which would govern how the Hebrews would live. The laws are still observed by all Christians today. The books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, Exodus, Leviticus and Genesis are all ascribed to Moses (Neusner, 2010). They are known as the Books of Law or the Pentateuch.