The Birth of Moses

The day approached when, according to the Egyptian astrologers, the liberator of the children of Israel was to be born. Since they did not know whether he would be of Jewish or Egyptian descent, all male children born that day were to be thrown into the water by order of King Pharaoh.

On this day, the seventh of Adar, Yocheved, Amram's wife, gave birth to her third child, a boy. Right from the first moment of his birth, it became apparent that he was an extraordinary child, for the house was filled with a radiant light. His parents tried everything possible to prevent his falling into the hands of Pharaoh's men, who were continuously searching for newborn Jewish children.

After three months, Yocheved saw that she would not be able to conceal her child any longer. She therefore made a small, water-proof basket in which she put the child and set him down among the papyrus reeds growing on the brink of the Nile. While Yocheved tearfully returned home, her daughter Miriam remained nearby to watch the baby.