February 4, 2024|כ"ה שבט ה' אלפים תשפ"ד The Story of Yitro: Do Miracles Really Change Us?
Print ArticleA person called the doctor’s office and says, “I have a terrible pain in my stomach and I can’t move. When is the next appointment available?” The receptionist answered, “I think I can schedule something for you in two weeks.” “Two weeks!” the man exclaimed. “I can’t wait two weeks! The pain is killing me! I feel like I’m going to die by then!” “Well,” the receptionist responded. “You can always cancel.”
The pain that so many of us are feeling for the hostages, for those who have lost loved ones in Israel, is excruciating. I almost don’t want to think about the atrocities that the hostages are likely being subject to on a daily basis. It’s just too painful. And as I pray for an end to the war and the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the return of the hostages, I also think about what I have heard many say, that maybe this tragedy has provided an opportunity to restore achdut and unity in Israel and to restore greater Jewish spirit and pride throughout the world. And I wonder whether this prediction will come true. Will we emerge from this tragedy as better people, more unified and more committed to our holy mesorah or will we revert back to our pre-October 7th selves after the war is over? And I think that this week’s parsha has something to say about this.
I would say that Yitro gets a good deal. He is a non-Jew who wasn’t enslaved by the Egyptians, and yet, he becomes the father-in-law of arguably the greatest man that ever lived and he even gets a parsha named after him. I find it rather odd that we actually tell the story of Yitro in this parsha at this time. This should be the parsha of matan torah, of the Sinaitic revelation. But before we read about matan Torah, we are told that Yitro comes to visit Moshe and offers Moshe some advice that he should appoint assistants to help him judge the people. Why do we read about this story at this point in time? So you may tell me that we read about this story at this time because it happened at this point in time, but that’s not so simple.
There is a strong textual indication that the Yitro story occurred much later. The Ibn Ezra brings a whole host of proofs. First of all, the Torah states that Yitro came to Moshe “asher hu choneh sham Har Ha’Elokim” – where Moshe and Bnei Yisrael were already camped for a long time. Additionally, the Torah states that Yitro and Aaron came to eat bread lifnei Ha’Elokim- before God. What does “before God” mean? The Ibn Ezra interprets it to mean in front of the mishkan, meaning that the mishkan was already built so this story is taking place after the Torah was given. Additionally, when Yitro is giving advice to Moshe, Moshe tells Yitro that his daily routine is ki yihyeh lahem davar ba eilai v’shafat’ti- whenever someone has an issue, I will judge it, v’hodati et chukai ha’Elokim v’et torotav- and I will inform him the statutes of God and the laws. As such, there must have been laws and statutes, meaning that the Torah must have been given already. Moreover, in Sefer Devarim when Moshe recounts the story of appointing judges, it seems that it takes place in the second year in the desert. The Ramban disagrees with these proofs, but the Ibn Ezra builds a strong case that this story did not take place at this time. Yitro only arrived in the desert after the Torah was given. So why does the Torah record the story here? And why do we care that Yitro gave Moshe advice about appointing judges? Why was this story included in the Torah at this point?
The Ibn Ezra writes the following: v’ata afaresh lamah nichnsah parshat Yitro bamakom hazeh – now I will explain why the story is Yitro was recorded here. Ba’avur she’hizkir l’mala ha’ra’ah she’asa Amalek l’Yisrael hizkir knegdo hatovah she’asa Yitro l’Yisrael – since the Torah mentioned the evil that Amalek did to Yisrael, it mentioned to contrast the evil that Amalek perpetrated against Israel with the goodness of Yitro. In fact, there are a number of significant literary parallels between the two stories, some of which are unique to both of them. In both stories, Moshe selects and the word bachar is used. In both stories, Moshe sits and the word yashav is used. In both stories, something is kaved, or too heavy and there are other literary parallels between the stories. Both Yitro and the tribe of Amalek heard about God’s miracles, the ten plagues and the splitting of Red Sea, and they responded with opposite reactions. Amalek brutally attacks the Bnei Yisrael to attack the values that Bnei Yisrael represent and Yitro embraces the Bnei Yisrael for the values that they represent. And the Torah contrasts these two responses to tell us that, yes, it is true that there are people who want to destroy us and our way of life. Yes, it is true that there are people who enthusiastically support these people who want to destroy us and our way of life. Yes, it is true that there are people who falsely claim that we, the State of Israel, are engaging in genocide. Yes, that’s all true. But do you know what else is true? There are also Yitro’s in the world. We have many non-Jewish supporters in the world. I was just reading an article on Aish.com from a few months ago celebrating eight righteous gentiles who supported Israel. They included Dr. Phil, Chris Rock and billionaire Harvard graduate Ken Griffin who vowed he would not hire Harvard students who supported Hamas and blamed Israel for the attack on October 7. Just because there are many Amalekites out there, the Torah tells us to also look out for the Yitro’s out there, the political leaders, the celebrities, the influencers and many others who support us, and express our gratitude to them.
Perhaps we can go one step further and argue that when the Rabbis divide the Torah up into different parshiyot, they included the story of Amalek in last week’s parsha and the story of Yitro in this weke’s parsha. The story of Yitro belongs in the parsha of matan Torah because Yitro’s story is in a sense what the Torah is all about. In last week’s parsha, Amalek attacked the weak, thereby standing for the principle that might makes right. I am stronger than you so I can rule over you. But Yitro arrives on the scene and understands the extraordinary nature of Moshe’s God who delivers the weak from the strong. According to the Midrash Tanchuma, when Yitro tells Moshe “ata yadati ki gadol Hashem mi’kol ha’elohim” – now I know that Hashem is greater than other gods, Yitro accepts Moshe’s God as his own. Yitro remembers that years ago his son-in-law saved Yitro’s daughters from the well, and now he hears about Moshe’s God who saved the weak from the mighty Egyptian nation and he joins his son-in-law’s nation. Amalek attacked the weak, whereas Yitro saw that Moshe seemed weak and exhausted from an entire daily schedule of judging so he gives Moshe advice as to how to make his life easier. The story of Yitro reflects the values of the Torah that the Bnei Yisrael are about to receive: celebrating a relationship with God and living a life of service to help others, especially to those who are weak. That in a nutshell is what the Torah is all about and that is the life that Yitro leads.
But maybe there’s another way to understand why we read the story at this point in the Torah. The truth is that we only hear about two groups that responded to the miracles of yetziat mitzrayim and the splitting of the sea. We hear about Amalek’s reaction and Yitro’s reaction. But what about everyone else? Did they hear about the miracles? In last week’s parsha, we read in the song that Moshe and the Bnei Yisrael sang after the splitting of the sea, “sham’u amim yirgazun.” The nations of the world heard and they trembled. Besides Amalek and Yitro, there was a third group that heard about the miracles. That third group was comprised of everyone else. In response to the miracles of yetziat Mitrazyim and the splitting of the sea, the antisemites, the Amalekim, attacked the Bnei Yisrael, Yitro decided to identify with the Bnei Yisrael and their God, but most of the world actually did nothing.
And maybe as an introduction to matan Torah, the Torah is telling us that, contrary to what we may believe, miracles and significant life events will not change most of us. Yes, there will be a few Yitro’s in the crowd who will change when they experience a significant life event or a miracle, but for most of us, they do not have a lasting impact on us. How many of us thought that we will be make significant ethical and moral changes in society because of COVID? Did that happen? Or did the achdut and unity that we achieved at the beginning of COVID last? Before the Torah is given, we read about how the miracles and significant life events changed exactly one person to tell us that it’s not the first half of the parsha, the miracles or major events, that will bring about change. It’s the second half of the parsha, observance of the Torah that the Bnei Yisrael receive. It’s about the daily mitzvot and values that we practice that build up our spiritual, ethical and moral muscles that ultimately change us.
Jennifer Airley, mother of fallen soldier, Binyomin Airley, is a woman of tremendous strength and inspiration. She spoke in a number of US shuls and schools this week and in one of her talks, she was asked how she can remain full of emunah, of faith, after what happened to her son. And she said that she regularly read sefarim about emunah and attended shiurim about emunah before October 7, so in a sense, she was prepared for this tragedy by already building up her emunah muscles through daily habits that she developed for many years. Yitro is the exception. For a small percentage of individuals, the first half of this parsha, the miraculous events alone, will shape us and transform us. However, for most of us, it’s the second half of the parsha that will transform us, the constant commitment to a Torah way of life. Did Covid change us? Those of us who made kabbalot, who undertook new practices during this time in mundane areas of halacha, may have changed. But those of us who did not make kabbalot, probably not so much.
Yes, we read the story of Yitro which may not have occurred at this point in time in history. And the story teaches us that, yes, there are unfortunately many Amalekites that want to destroy us, but there are also many Yitro’s, as well. And the values of Yitro, of gratitude to God and a life of service especially helping the needy is really what the Torah is all about. And perhaps most of all, yes, there will be Yitro’s out there who will be affected by major life events, but for most of us, the life events should inspire us to make small concrete changes in our way of life, perhaps in our davening, perhaps in our acts of service to others, perhaps in our commitment to Shabbat or Torah study or other mitzvot. It is those changes that we make now, during this over three month old war when we spend so much time reflecting on our lives and the lives of our nation, that will ultimately transform us.