בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוק בְּדִבְרֵי תורָה:
Blessing for Torah Study
Barukh Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh Ha'Olam Asher Kideshanu Bemitzvotav Vetzivanu La'asok Bedivrei Torah
Blessed are you Adonai, our God, Sovereign of Eternity, who has made us uniquely sacred through Your mitzvot (sacred callings) and called upon us to immerse ourselves in the words of Torah.
Summary of Torah Portion from ReformJudaism.org
- Yitro brings his daughter Zipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to his son-in-law Moses. (18:1-12)
- Moses followed Yitro's advice and appointed judges to help him lead the people. (18:13-27)
- The Children of Israel camp in front of Mount Sinai. Upon hearing the covenant, the Israelites respond, "All that God has spoken we will do." (19:1-8)
- After three days of preparation, the Israelites encounter God at Mount Sinai. (19:9-25)
- God gives the Ten Commandments aloud directly to the people. (20:1-14)
- Frightened, the Children of Israel ask Moses to serve as an intermediary between God and them. Moses tells the people not to be afraid. (20:15-18)
We Begin with Kushiyot/Challenges/Difficulties in the Text:
- Grammatical inconsistencies (Words repeated, something left out, sentences that seem to not make sense)
- Theological inconsistencies (The Torah tells us something that is morally problematic or a character does something that isn't right)
- Ambiguities (Torah says something that can be interpreted in more than one way)
- Metaphor (The Torah uses a word or a phrase that isn't meant literally, but is figurative)
- Contradictions (The Torah says one thing here, another thing there)
- Superfluous language (The Torah includes information that doesn't seem important)
- Narrative Inconsistencies (The sequence of events is unclear or out of order)
As we read the following texts, ask yourself , what Questions/Kushiyot arise for you?
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What questions arise from these verses? (Kushiyo)
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Why the back story? What does it reveal?
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Why does Moses feel he can talk to Yitro?
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What is Yitro’s concern? Overworked, or lack of humility on Moses’ part
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Others??
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Why the back story? What does it reveal?
כבר נחלקו רבותינו (מכילתא כאן, זבחים קטז) בפרשה הזאת. יש מהם אומרים כי קודם מתן תורה בא יתרו כסדר הפרשיות, ויש מהן שאמרו שאחר מתן תורה בא. וזה ודאי יסתייע מן הכתוב (שמות י״ח:ה׳) שאמר ויבא יתרו חתן משה ובניו ואשתו אל משה אל המדבר אשר הוא חונה שם הר האלהים הנה אמר שבא אליו בחנותו לפני הר סיני שחנו שם שנה אחת, וזה טעם אשר הוא חונה שם ועוד, שאמר והודעתי את חוקי האלהים ואת תורותיו (שמות י״ח:ט״ז), שהם הנתונים לו בהר סיני ועוד, כי כאן (שמות י״ח:כ״ז) אמר וישלח משה את חותנו וילך לו אל ארצו, והיה זה בשנה השניה בנסעם מהר סיני, כמו שאמר בפרשת בהעלותך (במדבר י כט) ויאמר משה לחובב בן רעואל המדיני חותן משה נוסעים אנחנו, ושם כתוב (שמות י״ח:ל׳) ויאמר אליו לא אלך כי אם אל ארצי ואל מולדתי אלך, והיא ההליכה הכתובה בכאן וילך לו אל ארצו (שמות י״ח:כ״ז):
Our Rabbis have already differed concerning this section. Some say that Jethro came to Moses before the Giving of the Torah, as the sequence of the sections of the Torah indicate, and some say that he came after the Giving of the Torah. Now this [latter] opinion [that he came after the Giving of the Torah] is certainly assisted by the verse [here] which states, And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of G-d. Thus Scripture states that Jethro came to Moses when he was encamped before Mount Sinai, the place in which the Israelites camped for one year, this being the meaning of the expression, where he was encamped. Moreover, Moses said to Jethro, and I make them know the statutes of G-d, and His laws, [thus indicating that the Torah had already been given]. Besides, it says here, And Moses let his father-in-law depart; and he went his way unto his own land. This had taken place in the second year when they journeyed from Mount Sinai, as it is said in the parashah (section) of Beha’alothcha: And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law: we are journeying There it is written: And he [Hobab] said unto him [Moses]: I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land and to my kindred, this being identical with the departure mentioned here, and he went his way unto his own land.
ויספר משה לחתנו. לִמְשֹׁךְ אֶת לִבּוֹ לְקָרְבוֹ לַתּוֹרָה (מכילתא):
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“Capable People” are people of wealth who will not need to flatter others or show them favor. (Rashi)
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“A capable person” is wise, alert, and fair in the administration of justice and is strong and alert when it comes to organizing troops for battle (Nachmonides)
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“capable people” are those that have the strength to tolerate without fear the hardship of those who criticize their decisions. Leadership means independence, confidence in one’s opinions, and the strength to stand behind them. (Ibn Ezra)
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"Capable people" are individuals who possess the talent to lead Jews out of a fight, and a sufficient enough knowledge of an enemy’s strategies and resources to guarantee victory.” Those who understand how to compromise and resolve differences between angry parties. But they are not naïve. They also realize that not all disagreements can be settled. A capable person will know how to judge the weaknesses and strengths of the opponent and how to make efficient and effective use of all resources available for victory. (Sforno)
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Those who would never accept money while they were sitting in judgment. (Rabbi Joshua)
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Those who do not put great importance on their own money. If they do not put great importance on their own wealth, then they are not likely to place much importance upon taking the money of others to increase what they possess.” (Rabbi Hanina benDosa – Mechilta)
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As soon as a person is appointed to leadership, he or she must no longer say: I live for my own benefit. I do not care about the community. For now the whole burden of the community is on his or her shoulders. If a person is seen causing harm to another, or breaking the law, the leader must act to prevent the wrongdoing or be punished.” (Shemot Rabbah – Rabbi Nehemiah)
The model suggested by Yitro is (with some changes, of course) found in the justice system that we know today. The model is built on a hierarchy according to the severity of the issues. Minor issues are dealt with by the lower court, and more serious issues are dealt with by Moses himself. Only at that point, after Moses has established a justice system, the people are given the Ten Commandments and accept it.
Why now? Why is the Torah given to Israel at this point, and why is it suddenly necessary?
The answers to these questions are connected directly to Yitro’s advice. The people of Israel decide to accept the human justice system. From the lack of any criticism or comment, we can understand that the system is expected to work effectively without requiring God’s intervention.
The moment of acceptance of the principle that a society should be based on a fair and equitable human justice system–this is the moment for which God, as it were, has waited. From God’s point of view, the people are ready now to receive the Torah–they had to first reach the stage in which they would be worthy of it. God may now assume that the people are ready to follow the whole corpus of principles, basic values, and laws set down by the justice system that Moses will present to them in stages.
These stages, by necessity, are to be implemented without divine assistance, so the people can properly learn to adjust to this new form of human society, which they had never experienced when enslaved in Egypt.
Their response, "na’aseh v’nishmah," ("we will do and we will hear"), which appears in Parashat Mishpatim, now appears differently: na’aseh–we will do all the things to prepare, and we will define some basic values to be worthy of receiving God’s principles; nishma–we will hear God’s outpouring of moral content into the system that we establish, and it will provide principles, human values and laws which we will accept and obey.
This justice system is a human one. It is predicated on basic ideas that enable us to function as a moral society. Its entirely human administration makes the system much more powerful, much more part of us, and even much more part of each person.
These are the standards that we should adopt for ourselves, attempting to build a moral society. Humanity, in general, has experienced tremendous shocks recently–shocks that have raised basic questions about the way humanity should react. Have moral values collapsed, too, with the evil, animalistic behavior of some human beings upheld in their own countries in the name of justice?
The order of our Torah portion gives us an answer in first establishing and accepting the idea of a society based on a justice system and then filling it with details. We must not forget that our own social order is based on that first part of this Torah portion before the Ten Commandments in their specificity are given. In not accepting the basic rule of law and the fundamental principle of human responsibility, we run the great risk of possibly destroying our entire society.
Even in our most difficult moments, we must be aware that supporting the justice system allows us to live a moral life. We must maintain it to be worthy of our relationship with God, and to be able to be inspired by God. That is the real meaning of the midrash (rabbinic interpretation) which says that all of Israel was at Mount Sinai when the Torah was given. (Rabbi Uri Ayalon – A rabbi at Kehilat Yotzer Or, Jerusalem)