The holiday of Passover is the celebration of our exodus from slavery in Egypt, as recorded in the Torah. Here’s a brief summary of the story:
The Israelites are living in Egypt (having travelled there generations ago due to famine). A new Pharaoh comes to power, and he fears that the numerous Israelite nation will rise up against him. He enslaves the Israelites and then orders that all Israelite baby boys must be thrown into the Nile. Yocheved and Amram have a Daughter, Miriam, a son, Aaron, and a new baby boy. They fear he will be found and killed, and so Yocheved weaves a basket, and uses it to float the baby down the Nile river. He is discovered by Batya, Pharaoh’s Daughter, adopted, and raised in the palace. Batya names him Moses (meaning “drawn from the water”).
As a young adult, Moses encounters an Egyptian taskmaster beating an elderly Israelite slave. He steps in between the two to save the Israelite, and accidentally kills the taskmaster. Moses tries to hide what he’s done, but discovers that others have learned of his actions. He flees Egypt fearing Pharaoh will punish him.
Moses finds a new life as a shepherd, finds a wife, and has two sons. One day as he is out with the flocks, a lamb wanders off. Moses goes searching for the lamb and finds the burning bush. God speaks to Moses, commanding him to return to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh let the Israelites go free. Moses is afraid to take on this responsibility, saying he is not suited to the task, as he is a poor speaker (Midrash tells us that Moses has a lisp). God tells Moses that he will reunite him with his brother Aaron, who will serve as his spokesman. Moses leaves his wife and sons at their home in safety, and returns to Egypt.
Aaron and Moses speak to Pharaoh, who refuses to let the Israelites go. They repeatedly ask, and Pharaoh continues to deny them. With each refusal, God sends a plague upon the Egyptians: The Nile turns to blood; frogs come up from the Nile and are everywhere; lice infest the city; then wild animals threaten everyone; a disease kills all the livestock; everyone gets boils; large damaging hail filled with fire falls upon the city; locusts invade and destroy the crops; 3 days of darkness fall where no one can see anything, not even candles/fires help… By the 10th plague, when all the firstborn males die, Pharaoh is frightened enough to finally let the Israelites go.
The Pharaoh is so scared that he orders the Israelites to leave at once. The Israelites are caught somewhat unprepared – they had begun packing, but had not finished making provisions for their travel. They had to bring their raw bread dough with them, and allow it to bake in the sun. As a result, the bread doesn’t rise (and that’s how we get Matzah).
The Israelites reach the sea of reeds and realize they are trapped. Pharaoh has decided that letting his slaves go wasn’t a good decision, and has sent his army to go retrieve them. With the Israelites caught between the approaching army and the sea, God creates a miracle and splits the sea so that the Israelites can cross on dry land. The Egyptian army follows them, but once the last Israelite exits the path, God allows the water to return to normal, and the army is drowned.
The Israelites are finally free, and Moses and Miriam sing songs of praise to God and lead the people in celebration.
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