Each spring, Jewish families all over the world get together to celebrate the holiday of Passover. In addition to eating a large and symbolic meal, they retell the story of Moses leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in Israel.
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The story begins in ancient Egypt, where the Pharaoh had demanded that all newly born, male Jews should be cast into the Nile River to drown. This was due to a prophecy that a Hebrew slave would rise up and bring his people to freedom. Despite the decree, a Jewish woman named Jochebed places her newborn son, Moses, into a basket. Rather than drowning, Moses floats down the river in the basket. He is eventually found by the daughter of the Pharaoh, who raises the child as her own.
Moses grew up in the royal Egyptian court, having no clue of his true identity. However, he was still compassionate toward the Jewish slaves. Upon witnessing an Egyptian slave master beating a Jewish slave, Moses responded by killing the slave master. After this event, Moses left the royal court in shame and fled to the land of Midian, where he became a humble shepherd.
One day as Moses was tending his flocks upon Mount Sinai, one of the lambs ran away. As he was searching for it, he saw the unusual sight of a burning bush. Despite being on fire, the bush didn't turn to ash. It turned out that this burning bush signified the presence of God, who then spoke out to Moses. God instructed him to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt and bring them to Israel.
After arriving back in Egypt, Moses, with the help of his brother Aaron, demanded that the Pharaoh let the Jewish people go. The Pharaoh refused, so Moses told him that his God and the God of the Jewish people would cause ten plagues of devastation upon Egypt. The Pharaoh was defiant as ever and wouldn't let the slaves go free. So, Aaron unleashed the first plague. He put his staff into the Nile River, and the water soon turned into blood.
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Moses and Aaron asked the Pharaoh again to free the Jewish people. When he refused, the rest of the plagues struck the people of Egypt one by one. These included frogs appearing everywhere, people and animals being covered in lice, swarms of flies, death of livestock, painful boils, violent hailstorms, crop-eating locusts, and unending darkness. Despite all of these hardships, the Pharaoh still wouldn't let the slaves go.
Since the first nine plagues couldn't persuade the Pharaoh, God saved the worst plague for last. The tenth plague caused the death of all firstborn children in Egypt. The Jews protected themselves by covering their doorposts in lamb's blood. The blood caused the plague to "pass them over," giving us the name of the holiday. Though the first-born Jewish children were safe, the Pharaoh's son fell victim to the plague. This act finally led to the Pharaoh freeing the Jewish slaves.
The freed slaves then started the long journey toward Israel. A few days after leaving Egypt, the Pharaoh changed his mind and wanted the freed slaves to be recaptured. With the Egyptians in pursuit, the Jews made it to the edge of the Red Sea. At this point, Moses, with the power of God, parted the sea, making it safe for the people to walk across. When the Egyptian army tried to cross, the sea came back together, drowning them.
Moses then led the Jewish people through the desert. Along the way to the Holy Land, Moses went back up to Mount Sinai, where God gave him two stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. These laws became the backbone of the new nation of Israel and continue to be the moral standards for people all over the world.