Moshe in ‘Exodus’: Considering the full story

With the new movie “Exodus: Gods and Kings” in theaters, the story of Moshe is being revisited by Hollywood once again, creating what could most positively be described as a modern midrash. On the negative side, this new interpretation makes nary an effort at presenting this tale from any perspective based in Jewish sources.

While the depiction of the plagues in Egypt is always fascinating on film, the motivation behind the punishment aimed at both Everyman Egyptian and the House of Pharaoh leaves something unsaid. And while the human element of it all — did the Egyptians deserve what came upon them? — is touching, it is very hard to tap into the true feelings of the Israelites for the Egyptian citizenry and vice versa when considering that we simply don’t know, beyond that their cries reached heaven (2:23-25), how the Israelites felt in all their slavery and suffering.

We do see that Moshe’s missive was originally embraced (4:31), but when the labor almost immediately became more intense with the cessation of the provision of straw for the bricks, Moshe quickly fell into disfavor (5:21).

Unlike in this latest film installment, there is very little indication in the text that Moshe was planning an armed revolt against Egypt (though one interpretation of 13:18 is that they left Egypt armed for battle). The Torah’s view is very clear that G-d intends to fight this battle, and that the end result for the Nation of Israel is to understand Who their G-d is as He demonstrates His wonders against the Egyptian oppressors, who took their role as slavemasters far beyond anything ever intended by the Covenant Between the Pieces (Bereshit 15:13-14).

The biggest challenge film adaptations face is in filling the gap of Moshe’s formative years. With rare exception, none do it justice. And while this film has Moshe spending several years in Midian tending Yitro’s flock, marrying Zipporah, and raising Gershom, the numbers still don’t add up when we see the Torah clearly telling us Moshe was 80 when he approached Pharaoh (7:7).