01x01 - Part One The Prophet

[bunniefuu]

[solemn music playing]

[Yahweh] I am what I am...

and what I will be.

[thunder rumbling]

[narrator] The Bible speaks
of a lowly shepherd

called to a mysterious mountain

somewhere in the Sinai Peninsula.

[epic music rising]

{an8}The journey is perilous.

And he's filled with fear.

But a powerful force
he does not yet understand

pulls him onward.

Faith.

[baby squalling]

The man carries with him a secret past.

[man] My brother,
not an Egyptian, but one of us.

I'm Hebrew?

[narrator] Each step brings him closer
to his true destiny.

[man] God has spoken to him.

[woman] I told you not to bring him back.

[man 2] You are not one of them, Moses.

[screams]

[locusts buzzing]

[Moses] It's time to let my people go.

[narrator] Deliverer of the Israelites.

[ethereal voice] Show them the way.

[narrator] Messenger of God.

[Yahweh] I am what I am
and what I will be.

[somber music playing]

[narrator] In a time of great famine,

the Israelites, descendants of Abraham,

settled in Egypt...

[woman screams]

...where they were enslaved for 400 years.

They suffered for centuries,
but their numbers grew.

Fearing they would rise up against him,

the king ordered all male Hebrew babies

drowned in the Nile.

[dark musical flourish]

- [baby crying]
- [dramatic music playing]

Adopted in secret by Pharaoh's daughter...

[teacher speaking indistinctly]

[narrator] ...he is raised
in the royal court...

alongside his uncle, the future king.

His name is Moses.

[Andy Lewter] Even though
he was a prince of Egypt

and he had all of the benefits
of Pharaoh's house,

growing up in that household,
being a member of the royal family,

{an8}I think inside of him, he knew that there
was something different about him.

{an8}He knew that he was born different.

{an8}[Maurice Harris] The Torah doesn't tell us
what his Hebrew name was.

{an8}It's one of the mysteries
that's wrapped into this story.

{an8}And it's also partly a story
about Moses discovering in increments

{an8}his identity and his destiny.

[whip cracking]

[man screaming]

{an8}[narrator] "And it came to pass
in those days when Moses was grown,

he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew."

[woman] No! No! No!

[melancholy music playing]

[taskmaster] Back to work!

[Lewter] I am convinced that there was
an innate spirit inside of Moses

that identified with the oppression

that this Hebrew sl*ve
was undergoing at the time,

and I think there was
a moment of awakening.

[melancholy music continues]

[man screaming]

You! Stop!

Stop!

Let him go.

I said, let him go.

Yes, sir.

Day over!

[tense music playing]

[heart pounding]

[ears ringing]

[tense music swells]

[gasps]

{an8}[narrator] "Now when Pharaoh
heard this thing,

{an8}he sought to slay Moses."

"But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh."

{an8}[ominous music playing]

He wanders east in the desert
towards Midian.

A stranger in a strange land.

[inspiring music playing]

No longer an Egyptian prince,

and not yet the prophet
who will free the Israelites.

So much of the Judeo-Christian religion
rides on Moses.

He's a founding father.

{an8}Everything that you might know
about the Bible

{an8}in some way, shape, or form,

{an8}can be drawn back to Moses,
his life, and his ministry.

{an8}Moses is unique
in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition

{an8}in that he appears in all three.

He's accorded honor
as a prophet in all three.

{an8}[Celene Ibrahim] The prophet Moses
is mentioned in the Qur'an

{an8}upwards of a hundred times.

{an8}And so it's very unique in the sense
that very few prophets

{an8}have their entire life story
told in the Qur'an.

{an8}[Shlomo Einhorn] Everything
about his life,

{an8}what he went through, his challenges,

{an8}and what he's done,

{an8}there's not a piece of it
that is not relevant to us today.

What do you do
when other people are suffering?

Stand up or stay quiet?

Social justice?

Social justice began with Moses.

Moses the m*rder*r to Moses the liberator.

That is a fascinating story.

[choral music playing]

Look. Someone is coming.

Who are you?

[Moses panting]

I will work for bread and water.

You may drink for free.

[Moses coughing]

Who do I thank for this kindness?

Jethro. Owner of the well.
Priest of the mountain.

I meant your name.

His daughter.

Zipporah.

[Harris] When Moses flees Egypt,

he ends up in the care
of this nomadic pastoral clan

in the wilderness near Mount Sinai.

That is the place
where Moses finds rescue.

[horse whinnies]

[menacing music playing]

Entertaining suitors at our expense?

Our expense, Naim.

And our suitors are none of your business.

Desert rats are not welcome.

This one wants to die.

Perhaps, but he will gladly
take two of you with him.

k*ll him.

[Naim breathes deeply]

Not today.

[uplifting music playing]

Come.

[Ibrahim] It's the women themselves
who see in Moses something special

because they accept his help.

They recognize in him these qualities
of strength and trustworthiness.

[Shady Nasser] In the Qur'an,
it's a funny story where Zipporah...

In Arabic it would be Sephora.

{an8}She was walking in front of him,

{an8}and then the wind blows,
and then her skirt is lifted a little bit.

And then Moses, of course,
he doesn't want to look at her.

So he walks in front of her
so that he doesn't look at her back.

And they were impressed with his chivalry.

The daughters,
they went back to their father

and they tell him that Moses,

the trustworthy, strong one, he helped us.

{an8}[soothing music playing]

What brought you to Midian?

[Moses] Our pharaoh is building a city.

The people were told
to work as serfs or pay tax.

- So I left.
- For the desert?

A man can be free there.

Egyptian ways are not like ours.

But for your bravery
on my daughters' behalf,

you may stay the night.

[Harris] Jethro is
one of my favorite characters

in the entire Moses saga.

What we know about Jethro is he is loving,

that he provides shelter,
that he's a good judge of character.

It doesn't matter to him
whether this guy is Egyptian or Midianite,

or whatever he might be.

He did something to help and he's in need.

Jethro is a priest
of the Midianite people.

They were a polytheistic people

that lived at the same time
as Ancient Egypt

and eventually as ancient Israel.

{an8}I don't think they really
had monotheists back then.

{an8}Um, I think pretty much everyone
believed that many gods existed.

{an8}The question is, which one do you worship?

So, I mean, the term is monolatry.

It's not monotheism,
where you only believe there's one God.

Monolatry means you only worship one God.

You acknowledge
the existence of others, right?

But there's only one that you worship.

[Kirsch] If you take the Bible literally,

God makes it absolutely clear

that he's the only God
that the Israelites should worship.

He doesn't necessarily make it
absolutely clear that he is the only God.

In the Ten Commandments, he says,

"Thou shalt not have
any other gods before you."

Now you could interpret that to mean

there are other gods,
and other people worship those gods,

but you, my chosen people,
must only worship me.

[Yahweh] Show them the way.

[ethereal music playing]

Your bedding is ready.

What do you see?

Who lives in the mountain?

[Zipporah] No one. Why?

I saw a fire there on the summit.

No, it's impossible.
It's holy ground. No one may go there.

[Moses inhales deeply]

Then what did I see there?

[ethereal music swells]

The mountain is a very significant place
in many religious traditions.

There are gods who are imagined
to dwell on mountaintops

because a mountaintop is high
and hard to reach

and may be hidden by clouds

from which occasionally
you saw flashes of light.

You could imagine how that would
impress someone down in the flatlands

as an object of great mystery.

[grave music playing]

[Yahweh] Show them the way.

Show them the way.

[boy] Who am I, Mother?

[heart b*ating]

[mother] What a question for a boy.

You are a prince of Egypt.

Why?

[boy] The other boys make fun of me.

They say I'm different.

That I'm not royal like they are.

The highest symbol in the land.

In our family since time began.

Never lose sight of who you are.

You are as royal as anyone.

Hmm?

Sleep now.

My darling Moses.

[discordant music playing]

[hissing]

[dramatic musical flourish]

It's been hard for... us since Mahar d*ed.

Seven daughters and no son.

He was my best shepherd.

Hmm.

Why not offer the stranger his job?

A man who risked his life for strangers
is half in love with death.

If he goes back to the desert, he'll die.

It will be on our hands.

You have your mother's cunning.

[uplifting music playing]

[Zipporah] Moses!

Please, don't leave.

My father, he offer you a job.

[Lewter] Midian was a refuge for Moses,

and I think it was a refuge
that allowed him

to enjoy comfort and convenience.

[Harris] It's the place
he's able to lay low

while the Egyptian authorities
are looking for him

because he is wanted for m*rder.

[Kirsch] He goes from being
a prince of Egypt to being a shepherd.

He has been reduced
from a high and mighty figure

to a humble and obscure figure.

He's tending to a flock
in the desert of Midian.

And that's where he gets the call.

[thunder rumbling]

[rain pattering]

[Yahweh] Show them the way.

[high-pitched ringing]

Show them the way.

[thunder crashing]

I brought breakfast.

[sighs contentedly]

I've seen marks like this before.

The tax collectors use them.

Did you learn them in Egypt?

For record-keeping?

And to tell stories with.

[Zipporah] Mm.

And what story do these tell?

Yours and mine.

[blowing horn]

Oh, god of the mountain.

Witness.

Today, we consecrate the marriage
of thy servants Moses and Zipporah.

[tender music playing]

Beside the majesty of thy dwelling place,

our lives are as nothing.

As fragile and rare
as this piece of glass.

May the union of thy servants...

[voice breaking]...be good in thy sight.

And bountiful.

[women ululating]

[music intensifies]

[Kirsch] It's intriguing to ponder

that Moses was in touch with
many different cultures and traditions.

He was a prince of Egypt.

He was the son-in-law
of the high priest of Midian.

He was the liberator of the Israelites.

And I think that, uh, multiple connections
with people in the world in which he lived

has relevance for the world
in which we live,

because it shows that having
more than one identity is possible

and maybe even inevitable.

[sighs]

[grunts]

[narrator] Moses and Zipporah
start a family in Midian

and have two sons.

Gershom and Eliezer.

[baby fussing]

[Rachel Adelman] The firstborn,
his naming is really important.

So Moses calls him Gershom...

{an8}[speaking Hebrew]

{an8}[in English] "For I was a stranger
in a strange land."

It speaks to Moses' sense
of not belonging, right?

Not belonging to Midian.

Not belonging in Egypt.

[baby crying]

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] In the years that follow,

the old Egyptian king dies
and Moses' uncle takes the throne.

He is Pharaoh,

the most powerful ruler of the age.

[Nick Brown] If we had to equate
the Pharaoh in the story of the Exodus

with a pharaoh that we know
from Egyptian history,

it could possibly be Ramesses the Great

because the story of the Exodus
talks about how the Israelites

{an8}were forced into labor

{an8}and were forced to build
these two great cities.

One of which was Pi-Ramesses,
or the House of Ramesses,

which was Ramesses the Great's
capital city in the Delta

during the Nineteenth Dynasty.

[singing]

{an8}[Monica Hanna] When he comes to power,

{an8}he leads several campaigns
to the area of Syria Palestine.

{an8}He conquers areas
even as far as, uh, Beirut in Lebanon.

The reign of Ramesses the Great
was one of the most influential

and one of the most powerful,

and really was the peak
of Egyptian empire.

How are the auguries?

There are always unruly ones, Majesty.

Where exactly?

In the desert, Majesty.

Scrub dwellers late with their tribute.

Inconsequential.

Even a beggar may be enlightened.

True, my lord.

[Pharaoh] The spell, sorcerer.

Let them feel our displeasure.

So they may come to us
in supplication and humility.

It will be done, Majesty.

[Nasser] He is harsh towards anyone
who is trying to thr*aten his kingdom.

He was merciless, he's brute,
he is k*lling people.

He only cares about his, uh...
Maintaining his wealth, his power.

If you want to describe someone
as a tyrant in Arabic, you would say...

[speaking Arabic]

[in English] Is to behave like Pharaoh,
or to become like a pharaoh.

So it really became, uh, synonymous,
this word, with... with Pharaoh's actions.

[narrator] The new pharaoh
has many enemies outside his kingdom.

But the biggest thr*at to his rule
is his nephew,

now a humble shepherd in Midian.

Gershom!

What have I told you?
Eyes on the flock at all times.

Yes, Father.

What were you looking at?

Three riders on the plain
heading for our village.

- Ishmaelites coming to make trouble.
- No.

They were white horses.

[dramatic music playing]

[Jethro] This is
a most unexpected pleasure.

Enjoy the comforts of our home.

[man] Thank you.

[Jethro] My foreman.

Ambassadors from Egypt.

Kneel before His Majesty's emissaries!

Kneel!

Apologies. He's foreign-born.

You must inform him.

The old pharaoh has joined the gods.

His firstborn is the new pharaoh.

[tense music playing]

All the desert tribes must send tribute.

Um... we are blessed and honored,

but we are also poor.

We saw your flock.

It's quite healthy and bountiful.

Please. Rest after your journey.

We must continue our mission.

But we will return.

How do we pay when we are already in debt?

We stall, negotiate, as always.

Not with this pharaoh.

You know him?

[voice echoing] m*rder*r.

[foreboding music playing]

Leave me.

Leave me alone!

[ethereal music playing]

[whip cracking]

[younger Moses] Stop! You! Stop!

[Zipporah] Moses! Moses!

[panting]

You have been up here for days.

Come down now.

This is where I belong.

You have... two sons now.

And a wife.

I do not deserve them.

And how does that help us?

[somber music playing]

[Yahweh] Show them the way.

Show them the way.

There are things about me you must know.

I was brought up as a prince
of the royal household.

[Zipporah] A prince?

Why didn't you tell us?

Egyptian royals
are not liked by desert people.

All this time you kept it hidden?

If your father had known,
he would not let me stay.

I k*lled a man.

A taskmaster.

And this is why you left Egypt?

They would have punished you.

More than that.

They would have known
what I always suspected.

That I was not really one of them
any more than I'm one of you.

- Then who are you?
- I don't know.

I need to find out.

There is a sign on the mountain again.

I must go there.

No one has ever been.

You might not come back.

[somber music rising]

I love you more than life.

[expectant music playing]

[Lewter] I think
God calls us in a variety of ways.

Sometimes our call
is the result of struggle.

{an8}But sometimes our call is a rejection

of the comfort and the convenience
we have so come to enjoy.

And I think that's what Moses represents.

{an8}Moses was deeply flawed
and extraordinarily resilient.

He was conflicted about his identity.

He was an adopted child.

He was a person with a criminal record.

He was homeless for part of his life.

And his failures teach us
as much as his achievements.

[Kang] God calls who he wants to call.

{an8}In fact, I can't think
of a... a single person

{an8}in the Bible outside of Jesus

that doesn't have
a glaring character flaw or impediment

in some way, shape or form
that is like, "Really?"

But God just specializes in that.

The God of scripture
is a god who specializes

in taking broken things
and not just fixing them,

but repurposing them
for something even greater.

[expectant music continues]

[thunder crashing]

[dramatic music playing]

[solemn music playing]

[Yahweh] Take off your shoes.

Who are you?

This is holy ground, Moses.

Take off your shoes.

- Tell me, what do you want from me?
- Do as I say.

I am what I am and what I will be.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The God of the Israelites.

The God of everything.

And you are what you are

and what you will be...

my messenger.

{an8}The Hebrew Bible makes a fundamental point

{an8}that human beings cannot see God.

They cannot be
in the physical presence of God.

There is one great exception.

The exception is Moses.

You are truly God?

I am what I am and what I will be.

[Enns] You have a bush that is burning,
but not consumed.

A Jewish philosopher named Philo
who lived around the time of Christ

reads this allegorically.

He says it's symbolic
of Israel's enslavement,

which is, they're b*rned
but they're not consumed.

They're still surviving.

[Yahweh] I have watched you
for years, Moses.

Seeking. Questioning.

And I have brought you here
to reveal your purpose.

You will return to Egypt.

You will persuade the Hebrews
to follow you.

And in my name, you will demand
their freedom from Pharaoh.

Pharaoh will never free the Hebrews.

He will resist.

And I will smite him for it.

What have I to do with the Hebrews?

I am not a leader or man of words.

Until you find your way,

your brother, Aaron, will speak for you.

[uplifting music playing]

My brother?

Go to Egypt.

Announce yourself
to the Hebrews as my messenger.

I will tell you my name.

The name I am known by.

And they will know that you speak for me.

[in Hebrew] I am that I am.

[in English] Moses doesn't know
that he's gonna be convincing.

And God says, "Okay, don't worry.
I'll tell you my name."

"It's..."

[speaking Hebrew]

[in English] "I will be that I will be,"

or "I will become that I will become."

What kind of name is that?

It's a name that's a verb.

God is a verb.

I am not meant for this task.

I'm not even a good man.

I have chosen you.

Moses.

[Moses] Zipporah! Zipporah, we must go!

[Zipporah] Oh!

I have seen God.

God? Which God?

The God of the Hebrews.
The God of everything.

He has a task for me.

Pack clothes for you and the children.
We leave at once.

[electrifying music playing]

{an8}[narrator] "The Lord had said to Moses
in Midian,

{an8}'Go back to Egypt,

for all those who wanted
to k*ll you are dead.'"

"So Moses took his wife and sons,

put them on a donkey,
and started back to Egypt."

[wind blowing wildly]

[Zipporah] We are lost!

[Moses] God is showing us the way.

Just three weeks to Goshen.

And then what?

We stop at the village. There is an inn.

There, we will meet my brother, Aaron.

The brother this God told you of?
Who you don't even know exists?

It's God's word. I believe it.

- If there is no brother...
- There will be.

...when we reach Goshen, can we return home?

- There will be a brother.
- But if there isn't.

There will be a brother!

But if there isn't!

[sighs] Bring me the meat.

I do not believe in this God.

- The Hebrews are suffering.
- I believe in our family.

Then I am your husband!

Perhaps with you beside me,
I can deliver them.

[narrator] Moses heeds God's instructions

and journeys across the desert
to meet his brother, Aaron.

[mellow music playing]

How will you recognize your brother?

Him?

Sit.

[somber music playing]

Quickly.

And you.

A voice spoke to me in a dream

that said if I came here,

I would meet you.

How do you know who I am?

I've known you all your life.

I am Aaron, son of Amram.

A Hebrew.

Your older brother.

I'm a Hebrew?

It is a strange and wonderful story.

[dramatic music playing]

When I was a young boy,

Pharaoh feared the Hebrews
were growing too numerous

and would one day take over his kingdom.

He decreed that all new
Hebrew males be k*lled.

You were not yet born
when the k*lling started.

[Carol Meyers] Aside
from the tribal groups

that you have
at the beginning of chapter one,

{an8}the first two people named
in the Exodus story are Shiphrah and Puah.

And they're midwives.

And they do something remarkable.

They defy the orders of the most
powerful person in their world,

the Pharaoh of Egypt,

because they refused
to carry out the pharaoh's orders.

You could think of them

as the first example
of civil disobedience.

In Exodus they are described in Hebrew as...

[speaking Hebrew]

[in English]...which means
"the midwives to the Hebrews,"

or it could mean "the Hebrew midwives."

It's impossible to know, grammatically,

which of those it means.

These two women
who may not be Hebrew themselves,

they're sticking their necks out
for Hebrews.

They don't realize
what they're setting in motion.

But we know.

And one of the things I find
extremely moving is maybe, just maybe,

human redemption gets started
on a grand scale

when people bravely stand up

to do something for somebody else.

[Aaron] Our mother, Jochebed,

gave birth to you in secret.

[baby crying]

According to the Midrash,
when she first gives birth,

the whole room is filled with light.

When she sees the child,
she sees that he is good.

In Hebrew, it's...

[speaking Hebrew]

[in English] She sees that he is good.

And we haven't heard that expression,
that it was good,

since the first chapter in Genesis.

Since the first seven days of creation.

And she says, "He's special."

"He needs to be hidden.
He needs to be saved."

[dramatic music playing]

[Aaron] With the Egyptian soldiers
going door-to-door in Goshen,

we made a plan to keep you safe.

[knocking on door]

- [soldier] We know there's a baby here.
- They're coming. They're coming.

[Jochebed] Aaron, go to the hiding place.
Go to the hiding place. Go!

[Aaron] It was my job to look after you.

Keep you hidden.

I told you.

The child was stillborn.

Show us the body!

He was buried yesterday.

Must you trouble a mother in her grief?

[baby fusses]

Shh!

Wait. Wait.

[baby coos]

Listen.

[Aaron] I held you so tight,
worried that you would cry out.

[tense music playing]

We shall return.

Let's go.

No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

Oh, no!

No!

[Jochebed crying]

[fusses]

[all sigh in relief]

[Jochebed soothing baby]

[Aaron] You were safe.

But we knew it was only a matter of time
before the Egyptian soldiers returned.

[Harris] What's interesting to me is
that in those first couple of chapters

of the book of Exodus,

the text focuses so heavily on the wise,

clever and brave acts of defiance
carried out by women,

some of them Hebrews, some of them not,

who all take these courageous risks

in defiance of the pharaoh's
laws and decrees.

Moses' mother,
she makes the agonizing decision

to put this baby in a basket,

send it desperately off
along the waters of the Nile.

What a desperate act.

Oh, God.

[Harris] God, I hope there's just somebody
somewhere who isn't horrible.

And that if there is,
that they find this baby.

That's just crushing.

[solemn music playing]

[Aaron] Our mother
cast you adrift in the Nile,

not knowing what fate
had in store for you.

[Adelman] They're able to hide him
for three months.

{an8}And at the end of three months
they construct a little ark.

{an8}It's called a tevah in Hebrew.
It's the same word for Noah's Ark.

Noah's Ark is a tevah
likewise lined with pitch.

{an8}So you have these two stories.

{an8}One is in the early part of Genesis,

{an8}and now we have the early part of Exodus
where something big's gonna happen,

{an8}and it's because of the tevah.

And a tevah is carrying someone
that's gonna represent a new beginning.

City of Pi-Ramesses.

{an8}[tense music playing]

{an8}[Moses] It has grown.

{an8}[Aaron] A monster.

{an8}Fed on human blood.

Ours.

[Pharaoh] It will be glorious.

[woman] You are too proud, brother.

Our father built the Temple of Amun

so that his name
would be remembered for eternity.

Now, you remove the dedication
and replace it with yours?

Father made the inscription
before the temple was complete.

[woman] Our people remember Father fondly.

[Pharaoh] Father was a tyrant.

Hunting down Hebrew children
because he feared rebellion.

Amen... what is the makeup of our workforce?

One-fifth Egyptians, Sire.

One-fifth prisoners of w*r.

The rest, Hebrews.

Energetic, skillful workers.

And he wanted them pruned
because he was petrified of rebellion.

I am made of different mettle.

And as our city scales the heavens, yes,

our Gods shall bask in glory.

The notion of slaves in Egypt
did not exist.

Get to work here!

[Hanna] But we had prisoners of w*r.
Uh, we had servants.

There was forced labor.

{an8}This was business as usual
for Egyptian kings.

[dramatic music playing]

{an8}[Lewter] The sl*ve labor of Egypt

{an8}was critical to the economy of the same.

{an8}And so you say, "Let my people go,"

the natural question of Pharaoh
and the entire Egyptian economy is,

"Well, who's gonna do the work?
Who's gonna shoulder this labor?"

Just like, uh, 1863,

the Emancipation Proclamation
raised the question of,

"Well, if you let all the slaves go,
who's gonna pick the cotton?"

{an8}[narrator] Goshen sits on the outskirts
of Pi-Ramesses.

Abraham's grandson and great-grandson
settled there four centuries earlier

when famine drove them out of Canaan.

[intriguing music playing]

[Einhorn] Pharaoh says,
"Great, bring them all here."

"They'll settle the land."

Over time what happens,

the Israelites are seen
as like a fourth column.

They're growing fast.
They have their own identity.

They're not blending in
as well as we want them to.

We gotta watch out for them.

So a system is then set up
whereby to keep them as not yet slaves,

but these things happen gradually.

Rights get taken away. Before you know it,
you look around and don't remember

what life was like
before you had those rights.

Hey. Hey.

Miriam.

This is our brother, Moses.

[breathes deeply]

I told you not to bring him back.

[melancholy music swells]

Come.

It's fine. It's fine. Come. Please.

Please.

[Miriam] You must be parched.

[Aaron] Do you want some food?

Drink, and then you should leave.

[Aaron] When have you eaten?

That's how Mother wanted it.

You should listen to him, Miriam.

God has spoken to him.

God comes to all of us in dreams.

It was not a dream.

He spoke to me on the mountain.

He told me to come here,
to free our people,

to lead them back to Canaan.

Our God has not spoken to anyone
for hundreds of years.

It is true.

The Hebrews are in Egypt for 430 years.

And most of that time
they've spent as slaves.

What happened to the relationship
between God and the people of Israel

during all those hopeless,
endless centuries of sl*very?

Did they give up?

Did they conclude
that the stories they'd been told

about their ancestor Abraham

and the promise of eventually
being a free people in the Promised Land...

Did they just conclude that was not true?

And the Torah doesn't tell us.

But one of the lines
that really strikes me,

God is telling Moses,
"I have remembered my people."

"I have heard their cries."

Whenever I read that, my first reaction
is like, "What took you so long?"

[faint groaning]

Mother.

[groaning]

Mother.

- Let me take you to...
- She recognizes no one.

[emotional music playing]

My little Moses.

Have you come back?

[crying]

Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

[Miriam] Do not tell the foremen.

They owe their position to the Egyptians.
Just gather the elders for now.

Moses, when they come,
you can address them.

Not me. Aaron.

[Nasser] In the Qur'an, when Moses
was talking to God on the mountain,

he told him,

{an8}"Send Aaron with me
because he's more eloquent

{an8}and he can express himself
better than I do."

So the Qur'anic expression,
it's a tight or a knot in the tongue.

How you interpret that,
it could be a physical defect,

or it could be just psychological.

That he's really afraid
to go back to Pharaoh,

and probably he was not
as eloquent as Aaron was.

{an8}This is a really beautiful moment
because he's telling God,

{an8}"Look, I really could use some help
in this big mission."

And God responds, and Aaron is, in fact,
exalted to the status of a prophet.

So he's acting alongside Moses
to help in this mission.

This is Moses, my brother.

Not an Egyptian.

But one of us.

He has come to us with a message.

What message?

Dathan, the head foreman.

You remember my brother.

He's a good man.

Even when he lived as an Egyptian.

He slew the guard that whipped Bukki.

I remember well.

And God...

our God...

God of Abraham,

has come to my brother

and commanded him
to lead us out of bondage

so we may return
to the land whence we came.

Did he say how?

[woman] Ask him how.

We will ask Pharaoh
to let us travel outside the city.

- [man] My God!
- [woman 2] No!

All of us.

We shall say that our sacrifice
is due to our God.

Animal sacrifices
that would anger the Egyptians.

Pharaoh will let us go to the desert
for three days.

Once out of sight, we will flee.

[tense music playing]

Son of Amram,
I want to believe your brother's story.

But if you go to Pharaoh
with this request,

he will laugh at you.

My brother has spoken to God.

[woman 3] What?

He commanded me to free you.

To free our people.

If God tells us to do it,

then it will work.

Moses.

Did he tell you his name?

Yes. Yes. I know it.

In every generation,

the name of our God has passed down.

So we would know it
when a time came like this.

Serah.

They said, "Let's consult the old lady,
Serah Bat Asher."

Does he have the special words?

[Miriam] You know the name, yes?

Your mother told you.

So if Moses knows the name,

he has seen our God.

Moses.

[tense music continues]

[singing]

[dramatic music playing]

God is with us.

She says, "Ah! He has the special words,
the words of redemption."

"He's for real."

"He's the redeemer.
He's God's chosen prophet."

So much for secrecy.

Is it true? Has our God returned?

Tell us about Him.

[dramatic music swells]

[Yahweh] Show them.

He is the one true God.

He is the God who protected Joseph

when his brothers betrayed him.

He is the God who told him

that one day his bones
will be returned to Canaan.

He is the same God
who made a contract with Abraham,

Joseph's great-grandfather.

So our people would belong to him forever.

Was it Abraham who wrestled with God?

No, that was Jacob, Joseph's father.

He met the Lord at night
and they wrestled until dawn.

And he would not let the Lord go
until He blessed him.

And when the Lord blessed him,
He named him Israel.

He who prevails with God.

What is our homeland like?

Is it true there was a flood?

What about the animals?

[all laughing]

Yes, there was a flood.

And the man who saved us from it
was called Noah.

He built an ark.

How many days did the flood last?

Forty days and forty nights.

How was the world made?

Our God made it in six days.

[narrator] And he speaks of Adam and Eve,

Noah, Isaac, and Ishmael,

Jacob and Esau.

The man who fled Egypt a fugitive
returns home a prophet.

[gentle music playing]

How did you know I knew the name?

I am a midwife.

We are close to God.

At birth and death
you can feel His presence.

Yet you have no children of your own.

When it was my time to take a husband,

they were still k*lling baby boys.

I prefer to help the others.

That's where you were.

Near the garden of the women's palace.

When the princess collected you.

You saw it?

I made it happen.

[dramatic music playing]

[woman sobbing]

[sobbing]

[baby wails]

[Ibrahim] So Moses's mother
says one word to his sister.

"Follow him."

And in Arabic, it's actually one word.

And so she is quite brave
in following this child.

Shiphrah! Shiphrah,
I need to tell you something.

[Ibrahim] And she is very witty
on her feet

and finds a way to get her brother
returned to their biological mother.

Forgive me, my lady.

I know a wet nurse
for the princess's baby.

The princess,
the daughter of Pharaoh, never asks,

"Who are you?"

Presumably, she does not know

that this is the infant's
biological mother.

So, of course the biological mother
is destined to become the one

at whose breast he will feed,

and he will spend
the first two or three years

nursing at his mother's breast.

That means that his mame-loshn,
his mother tongue, he hears from infancy,

lullabies, Hebrew.

Uh, I imagine a song,

a lullaby that he took with him
in his subconscious memory.

[humming]

[Ibrahim] I love the fact
that the story begins

with this one nursing woman
and her infant.

I mean, how... how likely
in our conception do we think

that a revolution is going to start
with a... you know, a nursing mother?

[Miriam] There was a higher force.

Always.

Taking you away, then bringing you home.

You are our link.

The one who goes between.

My mother will help me
speak to Pharaoh tomorrow.

Pharaoh's sister is not your mother.

She is not, and yet she is.

[dramatic music rising]

[tense music playing]

[handmaid] Someone approaches, my lady.

From a long journey.

A stranger.

Yet he knows your heart.

You've gone pale, my lady.

What's wrong?

My son has returned.

It's Moses.

[closing theme music playing]