He said, "We do not celebrate this festival exactly as our forefathers did. They always sacrificed a lamb. They were also careful to eat no leavened food for the whole seven days. We follow the rule about unleavened bread still, and we look upon the first and last days as holy. You must never do labour of any kind on these two days." Then he went on to tell the story of the first Passover, and how Pharaoh, as the ruler of Egypt was called, wished to keep the Hebrews in bondage. He was building two treasure-cities, and he needed great numbers of workmen to make the bricks. He did not wish the Hebrews to join his enemies or leave the country. He was a stern ruler, and he made his slaves work very hard. Yet they had many children. The Pharaoh did not like this. He feared they would become too powerful. So he ordered that every new-born boy among them should be killed. It happened at this time that a little boy was born in a family where there were already two children. This new baby was a boy, and was given the name of Moses. The mother of the child was fearful lest he should be discovered and killed by the cruel Pharaoh. She hid him as best she could for three months. Then she thought: "The danger grows greater every day. I must make some new plan to save him." She placed the baby in a little cradle or ark, and carried him down to the shore of the river, where she hid him in the reeds. She told her daughter Miriam to stay near her brother and watch over him. Then she went away. A little while after this, who should come but the noble princess, Pharaoh's daughter. She was going to bathe in the river. It was not long before she spied the smiling baby in the bulrushes. She was so pleased with the little fellow that she said, "I will adopt the child." Then the little Miriam came to her side and told the princess she knew of a good nurse. In this way it came about that Moses' own mother was hired to take care of the baby. As he grew up in the king's palace, his mother told Moses all about himself and his people. He was very carefully taught, and soon showed that he was "mighty in words and deeds." It happened one day that Moses saw one of the overseers cruelly beating an Israelite. He was so angry that he killed the overseer. Then he had to flee to save his own life from the wrath of Pharaoh. He went into the desert not far from the Red Sea, and there he stayed for forty years. He became a shepherd. Once while he was tending his sheep, he saw a strange sight. It was a burning bush. That in itself was nothing to wonder at. But the strange part of it all was that the bush looked as though it were in flames, yet it did not really burn up. It was a sign from Heaven! As Moses looked at the bush, he heard a voice. It cried, "Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground."