Moses in rabbinic literature

Discussions in rabbinic literature of the biblical character Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt and through their wanderings in the wilderness, contain various expansions, elaborations and inferences beyond what is presented in the text of the Bible itself. Of all Biblical personages Moses has been chosen most frequently as the subject of later legends; and his life has been recounted in full midrashic detail in the poetic Aggadah. As liberator, lawgiver, and leader of the Children of Israel, who were transformed by him from an unorganized horde into a nation, he occupies a more important place in popular legend than the Patriarchs and all the other national heroes. His many-sided activity also offered more abundant scope for imaginative embellishment. A cycle of legends has been woven around nearly every trait of his character and every event of his life; and groups of the most different and often contradictory stories have been connected with his career. Moses' influence and activity reach back to the days of the Creation. Heaven and earth were created only for his sake. The account of the creation of the water on the second day, therefore, does not close with the usual formula, "And God saw that it was good," because God foresaw that Moses would suffer through water. Although Noah was not worthy to be saved from the Flood, yet he was saved because Moses was destined to descend from him. The angels which Jacob in his nocturnal vision saw ascending to and descending from heaven were really Moses and Aaron. The birth of Moses as the liberator of the people of Israel was foretold to Pharaoh by his soothsayers, in consequence of which he issued the cruel command to cast all the male children into the river. Later on, Miriam also foretold to her father, Amram, that a son would be born to him who would liberate Israel from the yoke of Egypt. Moses was born on Adar 7, in the year 2377 after the creation of the world. He was born circumcised, and was able to walk immediately after his birth; but according to another story he was circumcised on the eighth day after birth.