Moses and the Passover Story

When looking into the  Passover story and the reasons why it is celebrated as it is, it is important to understand who Moses was and the major role that he played in the story.  The story of Moses and Passover is recited during the seder on the first night of holiday, and it can easily be seen why he was so honored in this way.

The history of Moses is reflective of the history of all of the Jewish people in Egypt.  Jacob and his son Joseph came to Egypt and over the generations that followed, they were successful and multiplied in this country.  Because of their number and because of their power, the pharaoh of the land, Ramses II, enslaved them and underneath his cruelty, the Jewish people suffered severely.  Because they were so numerous, the pharaoh commanded that all newborn sons be killed and because of this, Jacob's great-grandson Amram put his own son, Moses, into the river in a basket of reeds, hoping that he might be saved.

Moses was discovered by the daughter of the pharaoh, who found him as she came down to bathe, and he was adopted into the Egyptian royalty.  She hired Moses' own mother, Yocheved, to nurse him, and in this way, he discovered his heritage.  At the age of eighty, Moses came before the pharaoh commanding that the Jewish people be freed.  The pharaoh, despite a display of Moses's power and faith, refused to do so, and thus the ten plagues came down on Egypt.

The tenth plague gives Passover its name; the Angel of Death came and slew every first born son in Egypt, sparing only the sons of the Jews, who had warded the Angel off with lamb's blood on the lintels of their doorways.  In this way, the first born sons of the Jews were “passed over.”

The Pharaoh freed the Jews, but as they left, he grew to regret it.  He pursued them to the shores of the Red Sea, where Moses parted the waters to allow his people to walk across.  Behind them, the Pharaoh and his army tried to follow, but the waves came down, drowning them all.

The story of Moses is the story of a man who had a deeply personal and powerful relationship with God, and how he chose to serve his people.  Though the story of Moses continues in great detail after the escape from Egypt, this is the portion of the story that most concerns the holiday of Passover.