Why is Moses' achievement important to Jews?

Answer 1

Moses and the Exodus he led from Egypt are absolutely foundational to biblical history and the development of Jewish tradition. However, we have no historical or archaeological evidence for the Exodus from Egypt. Almost all scholars now believe that Moses did not lead the Israelites out of Egypt after 430 years there. They say that the Israelites did not really conquer the land of the Canaanites, but were themselves rural Canaanites who left the region of the rich coastal cities and settled peacefully in the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. Carol A. Redmount ('Bitter lives', published in The Oxford History of the Biblical World) says that recent research indicates that even more of the extant Exodus account than previously thought comes from periods during or after the Israelite monarchy or even the Babylonian Exile.

Some scholars believe the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt is so well attested in The Bible that there must be a historical basis behind the legend. They believe the Book of Exodus might be based in small part on a true story of a small band of escaping slaves who were found by the Midianites, near death in the desert, and nursed back to health and allowed to continue their journey northwards to be reunited with their Canaanite or Hebrew countrymen. On this view, there were no plagues of Egypt (and the Egyptian records support this), no parting of the Red Sea, no Ten Commandments and no Ark of the Covenant.

The biblical achievements of Moses are important to Jewish identity, even if we now know they were not important in history. For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/moses-in-history-and-tradition

Answer 2

Because Moses served as the leader of the Israelites in the Exodus and the Giving of the Torah.
Moses was an Israelite, a great-great grandson of Jacob. He was born 245 years after the death of Abraham. The time when Moses was born was when the Pharaoh ordered his people to kill all Jewish male infants because he (Pharaoh) was afraid that the Israelites would become too strong for him (Exodus ch.1-2). Moses' mother didn't want him to die. So she made a basket for him and put him in it to float in the Nile reeds. He was found by the Pharaoh's daughter, who took pity on him (Exodus ch.2) and raised him as her own son. He was forced to flee after killing a cruel Egyptian taskmaster, and went to Midian, where he wedded the daughter of Jethro. He eventually achieved the highest level of prophecy (Deuteronomy ch.34) and was called upon by God (Exodus ch.3). He brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery (Exodus ch.12). He received the Torah from God (Exodus 24:12) and later recorded it in writing (Deuteronomy 31:24). He went up on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights (Deuteronomy ch.9-10) and brought down the Two Stone Tablets with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18). He brought the Israelites into the covenant with God (Exodus ch.19 and ch.24), and he oversaw the building of the Tabernacle (Exodus ch.35-40). He was the humblest of men and the greatest of prophets (Numbers ch.12).

See also:

Evidence of Moses

Evidence of the Exodus

Answer 3

Moses is the Founding Prophet of Judaism, in the same way Muhammad is the founding prophet of Islam.