According to the book of Exodus, the second book of the Torah, the Israelites were being enslaved in Egypt as a result of the actions from the story of Joseph and his eleven brothers, which I will not digress into during this blog (but I'll leave the bearable version at the bottom). Eventually the Israelite population grew to such an immense size that the Pharaoh before Ramses decided to give an order to the soldiers to kill all of the male newborns Israelites. Moses' mother Jochebed wanted to protect her son so she placed him in a basket and set him on the Nile. By chance he was retrieved by the Pharaoh's daughter and she kept him as her own, raising him in the royal family.
Eventually Moses gained knowledge of his Jewish heritage and stood up for a slave being whipped by a soldier Moses, pushed the soldier off a platform killing him. To escape the death penalty he fled Egypt and reached Midian a mountain across the Red Sea. A few years later he encountered the burning bush which told him that he was the messiah for the Israelites and that he would bring his people to Israel, "the land of milk and honey". Moses returned to Egypt and pleaded with the new Pharaoh Ramses about emancipating the Israelites, "to let my people go". Ramses refused and Moses sent a total of 10 plagues upon Egypt: Bloody Water, Frogs, Lice, Death of Cattle, Ravenous Beasts Locusts, Boils, Fire Hail and Lightning storms, Darkness, and the Angel of Death, combined with the deaths of the firstborn, in order to break the Pharaoh's resolve.
The most important plague that was used in this story was the death of the first born, it was a last ditch effort to crush Ramses’ resolve. The premise was that the Angel would go into Egypt and enact what it’s name implied, and kill everyone who was a first born, regardless of side.(There was also a “plot-hole” because it wouldn’t kill anybody who wasn’t a child, otherwise it would have killed Ramses as he was a first-born). Anyway, the only way it would distinguish enemies from friends is a mark above a household painted with lamb blood. Lambs in Judaism represent innocence so it can be implied that the mark of the lamb was a mark of innocence and that house needn’t be persecuted for having the mark. Anywho, the Angel did it’s business and Ramses was crushed by the loss of his son and he allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt.
The Israelites traveled to the Red Sea, and they had a dilemma about how to cross it. While that was happening, Ramses acquired second thoughts and sent the army after them. Moses recalled that his staff was magic and parted the sea for the former-slaves to trek through, then dispelled that and closed the sea. So in a way they were finally freed from their oppressors. The Israelites spent a total of 40 years traveling through the desert. The only way this could be reasoned is if they had a small party and were well-prepared for desert travel, they might have been able to do it in very well under 40 days. However due to the fact that they had a quite massive party size and little to no provisions they were very burdened in regard to desert travel. So after 40 years they arrived at Mount Sinai which goes into the story of the Ten Commandments which is where I'll end. Thanks for wading through this story, or just skipping to the end; either way I appreciate you spending time here. Look below for the story of Joseph if you want.
Thank you for this post david. I think in history too much of how much culture and religion play a part in it is left out. Holidays especially, and holidays in wartime as well. Several battles throughout history have been won and lost based on hold a celebration, such as the Hessian s who were ambushed by George Washington in the revolutionary war. As well as the most civil times and the best war stories come out of the holidays because sometimes it's the only thing that bridges the gap between the two sides.
ReplyDeleteCombining David's good post and Nathan's good comment, it would be cool to talk about Passover in American history. The two had a special connection during the Civil War, when Jews in the Union Army felt a special connection to the holiday, seeing themselves in Moses and his quest to free the Jews/slaves. One story is told of an Ohio regiment, which at the time was in West Virginia. Unsure of which part of the lamb was supposed to be on the seder plate, the men simply cooked the animal whole and placed the entire thing on the table, figuring that the right piece would be in there somewhere. Unable to procure apples and honey to make charroset, but knowing that the dish represented the mortar used to make bricks, the soldiers simply put a brick on the table. The celebration took a sad turn when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on the fifth day of the eight day long holiday, turning Jewish communities somber. To see the full story, look at https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/Civilseders.html
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