MOSES. 2010

“How small Sinai appears when Moses stands upon it” – Heinrich Heine

MOSES

1393 – 1273 BC

Jewish prophet and legislator, founder of Judaism

Moses was a great initiate of Egypt. It is believed that on Mount Sinai, Moses received 10 Commandments from the Lord and descended them to his fellow tribesmen with the Tablets of the Covenant. The unbridled people were not yet ready to accept the teachings. For forty years Moses had to lead Jews into the desert in order to raise them, and turn a small tribe of slaves into a state. With the help of difficulties and deprivations, he built the consciousness of the people. The leader had to protect those who are able to perceive the foundations of morality. Hence the severity of the laws, the need for strict rituals in order to accustom people to discipline and order. It was a temporary measure necessary in those conditions for the education of the people.

Moses was entrusted with an extraordinarily complex mission – the exodus of Jews from ancient Egypt, the consolidation of the Israeli tribe into a single people.

In Christianity, Moses is considered one of the most important prototypes of Christ. Through Moses the Old Testament was revealed to the world, likewise in the Sermon on the Mount the New Testament was conveyed through Christ. In the Muslim tradition, Musa is one of the greatest prophets, the interlocutor of Allah, to whom the Torah was sent down.

WORKS Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.