After Pharoah decreed that all baby boys born to the Israelites would be drowned in the Nile, an Israelite woman named Yocheved gave birth to a baby boy. She hid him for a few months, but when it became too dangerous to have him in her home, she wove a basket, waterproofed it with pitch, and set the baby floating down the Nile River. The baby's older sister, Miriam, watched as Pharoah's daughter found the baby. Pharoah's daughter named the baby Moses, which means "drawn from the water" and brought him into her home to raise him as her own. 

Moses grew up as Egyptian royalty. He felt comfortable in that role until one day, he saw an overseer beating an elderly Hebrew slave. Reacting in anger, Moses struck and killed the Egyptian. He fled to the desert to escape punishment, and lived among the Midianites, taking a wife named Tzipporah and becoming a shepherd.

One day, Moses was tending his flock when he saw something unusual. A bush was on fire, but not being consumed by the flames. Moses approached the burning bush, and heard God's voice calling out from it. God told Moses to go back to Egypt, in order to lead the Hebrews from slavery to freedom.

Moses returned to Egypt, and told Pharoah that his God had demanded that the Hebrews be let free. Pharoah refused. Plagues began to descend on Egypt, starting with the Nile River turning to blood. After each plague, Pharoah almost relented and let the Israelites go, but God hardened his heart. 

After the ninth plague, darkness, and another refusal from Pharoah to release the Hebrews, the Hebrews were instructed to sacrifice lambs and put mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood. That night, the Angel of Death "passed over" the homes of the Israelites, and killed every Egyptian first-born. The next day, a grief-stricken Pharoah finally let the Hebrews go.


haggadah Section: -- Exodus Story