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Many details of Moses’ birth, childhood, and coming of age are not included in the book of Exodus. Louis Ginzberg’s The Legends of the Jews contains a collection of midrashes, or retellings/interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, that allow for insight into Moses’ earlier years and how he came to be the man responsible leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Both Exodus and the midrash begin when Egypt began oppressing the Israelites after the last of Jacob’s family had perished. Exodus tells, simply, of a new king of Egypt and how he looked unfavorably on the growing number of Israelites and wanted to control them. However, the midrash gives more insight for the Hebrews when it discusses how the Israelites had been kind to the Egyptians and come to their aid; “but instead of being grateful [the Egyptians] sought only the undoing of their benefactors” (Beginning of Egyptian Bondage 5). The details allow Hebrews to question Egypt’s cruel behavior toward them, when they had been kind to the Egyptians in the past. When the Israelite population continued to grow under Egyptian oppression, the king was perplexed and sought a way to control further growth in their numbers. The king called for the two Hebrew midwives and instructed them to kill all male babies during birth. The midwives, named Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus, and Jochebed and Miriam in the midrash, were fearful of God and neglected to kill any child while it was being birthed. The king, still wanting to control the Israelite population, then ordered that “all the male children that shall be born in Israel from this day forward to be thrown into the water” (Three Counselors 21). Midrash 2 According to the midrash, the Pharaoh took extreme measures of finding newborn children in the homes of Israelites and ensuring that the pregnancies of the Israelite women were watched over. Creating a success story from a deadly scenario, the midrash exemplifies the details of Moses’ life: he was born three months early, allowing his parents to hide his birth from the Egyptian bailiffs; he was able to walk and speak when only one day old; he was placed in the Nile, in a basket which floated; he was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter, who admired him immediately; and he was raised as a member of the royal family. In addition to providing Moses’ extenuating circumstances, the midrash also provides smaller details about Moses that are not included in Exodus. For example, when God tells Moses that he will bring the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses replies “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Exodus 4:10). The reason behind Moses’ slow speech is never explained in Exodus, but it is explained in the midrash. According to the midrash, the speech impediment came when Moses, only three years old at the time, grabbed the Pharaoh’s crown and placed it on his own head. Gabriel, disguised as an Egyptian, convinces the king to test Moses’ wisdom using an onyx and a hot coal. Gabriel guides Moses’ “hand away from [the onyx] and placed it upon the live coal, and the coal burnt the child's hand, and he lifted it up and touched it to his mouth, and burnt part of his lips and part of his tongue, and for all his life he became slow of speech and of a slow tongue” (Rescued by Gabriel 65). More insight into Moses’ life and personality is given when he sees the people of Israel working and suffering. The midrash continues to provide scrupulous details about Midrash 3 Moses, including his thoughts, feelings, and actions, allowing the reader to feel compassion for Moses and all that he does. In comparison, Exodus does not relay any of Moses’ emotions at this turning point of his life, in fact, it is strictly to-the-point; “he went out to his people and saw their forced labor” (NRSV, Ex. 2.11). When detailing Moses’ plight in trying to find relief for his people, the midrash makes an interesting connection with Moses and the Sabbath. In addition to physically helping the Israelites with their manual labor, Moses also uses his connection to the Pharaoh to give them time to rest. Moses told the king “that if a slave is not afforded rest at least one day in the week, he will die of overexertion. Thy Hebrew slaves will surely perish, unless thou accordest them a day of cessation from work" (Youth of Moses 72). The king agreed with Moses and allowed the Israelites to rest one day of the week, which was Saturday, later acknowledged by God as the Sabbath. Connecting Moses to the Sabbath is one of the ways that the midrash is able to exalt him in the eyes of the Israelites. All the information provided in the midrash allows the reader to connect to Moses, a mortal, who, against all odds survived as a male infant; gained valuable knowledge while living with the Pharaoh, the enemy of his people; was saved by God’s angels, once by Gabriel, once by Michael; and eventually led his people out of Egypt. Unlike Exodus, which only provides one or two sentences for each of the turning points in Moses’ life, the midrash’s history of Moses creates a scenario that brings him to life, creating grounds for a personal connection and allowing the Israelites to find favor in him.