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Link to Transcript here: https://madlik.com/2024/01/31/jethro-and-the-druze/
(ד) "וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ". שִׁבְעָה שֵׁמוֹת נִקְרְאוּ לוֹ: יֶתֶר, יִתְרוֹ, חֶבֶר, חֹבָב, בֶּן רְעוּאֵל, פּוּטִיאֵל, קֵנִי. יֶתֶר, שֶׁהוֹתִיר פָּרָשָׁה אַחַת בַּתּוֹרָה. יִתְרוֹ, שֶׁהוֹתִיר בְּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים. חֶבֶר, שֶׁנִּתְחַבַּר לַמָּקוֹם. חֹבָב, שֶׁהָיָה חָבִיב לַמָּקוֹם. בֶּן רְעוּאֵל, שֶׁהָיָה כְרֵעַ לַמָּקוֹם. פּוּטִיאֵל, שֶׁנִּפְטַר מֵעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה. קֵנִי, שֶׁקִּנָּא לַשָּׁמַיִם, וְקִנָּה לוֹ אֶת הַתּוֹרָה.
(4) "And Yithro heard": Yithro had seven names: Yether, Yithro, Chovav, Reuel, Chever, Putiel, Keni. Yether — he added (yiter) a section in the Torah; Yithro — he was "abundant" (yiter) in good deeds. Chovav — he was beloved (chovev) by the L–rd. Reuel — he was a "friend" (rea) to the L–rd. Chever — he was a "companion" (chaver) to the L–rd. Putiel — he "weaned himself" (niftar) from idolatry. Keni — he was zealous (kinei) for Heaven and he acquired (kanah) Torah.
אל המדבר INTO THE DESERT — Indeed we know that they were in the wilderness, and it appears unnecessary to state that Jethro came to Moses there. But by stressing this Scripture is speaking in praise of Jethro: that he was living amidst all the splendour that the world could provide, and nevertheless his heart prompted him to go forth into the desert, a waste place (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:5:2), to hearken to the words of the Torah.
(לג) (שמות יח,ז) ["וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה לִקְרַאת חֹתְנוֹ, וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ, וַיִּשַּׁק לוֹ, וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ לְשָׁלוֹם, וַיָּבֹאוּ הָאֹהֱלָה."] "וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה לִקְרַאת חֹתְנוֹ". אָמְרוּ: יָצָא מֹשֶׁה, אַהֲרֹן, נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא, וְשִׁבְעִים מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִשְׂרָאֵל. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: אַף שְׁכִינָה יָצַאת עִמָּהֶם.
(33) (Exodus 18:7) "And Moses went out to his father-in-law": They said: There went out (also) Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, followed by all of Israel. Other say: Even the Shechinah went out with them.
Wife of Heber the Kenite,
Most blessed of women in tents. (25) He asked for water, she offered milk;
In a princely bowl she brought him curds. (26) Her [left] hand reached for the tent pin,
Her right for the workmen’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, crushed his head,
Smashed and pierced his temple.
Festive Dairy Shavuot
Some of the reasons why we eat dairy on Shavuot:
In the Torah the Jewish people are promised a "Land flowing with milk and honey." Dairy meals recall this lyrical description of Israel.
The Hebrew word for milk, chalav, has the numerical value of 40, symbolizing the number of days Moshe Rabenu, zs'l, was on Mt. Sinai.
With bravery and courage, Yael, a'h, single-handedly freed Am Israel from the cruel and dangerous Sisra by feeding him warm milk - this happened Shavuot nite...
See: https://www.torah-box.net/news/news/yael-the-courage-of-a-woman-with-delicacy_508.html
(16) The descendants of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, went up with the Judahites from the City of Palms to the wilderness of Judah; and they went and settled among the people in the Negeb of Arad.
(11) Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, descendants of Hobab, father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent at Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
(במדבר כד, כא) וירא את הקיני וישא משלו אמר לו בלעם ליתרו קיני לא היית עמנו באותה עצה מי הושיבך אצל איתני עולם והיינו
דא"ר חייא בר אבא א"ר סימאי שלשה היו באותה עצה אלו הן בלעם איוב ויתרו בלעם שיעץ נהרג איוב ששתק נידון ביסורין
ויתרו שברח זכו בני בניו לישב בלשכת הגזית שנאמר (דברי הימים א ב, נה) ומשפחות סופרים יושבי יעבץ תרעתים שמעתים סוכתים המה הקינים הבאים מחמת אבי בית רכב וכתיב (שופטים א, טז) ובני קיני חותן משה עלו מעיר התמרים
§ It is stated with regard to Balaam: “And he looked at the Kenite and he took up his parable and said: Though firm is your dwelling place, and though your nest be set in rock” (Numbers 24:21). Balaam said to Yitro: Kenite, were you not in Egypt with us in that counsel to drown the newborn males of Israel? Who placed you alongside the mighty of the world? The Gemara comments:
And that is what Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Simai says: Three were associates in that counsel, and they are: Balaam, Job, and Yitro. Balaam, who advised to drown the newborn males, was killed. Job, who was silent and was reluctant to express his opinion, was sentenced to suffer afflictions.
And Yitro, who fled after he disagreed with that counsel and Pharaoh sought to kill him, his descendants were privileged to sit as scribes in session with the Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, as it is stated: “And the families of the scribes who dwelt in Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These were the Kenites who came of Hammath the father of the house of Rechab” (I Chronicles 2:55). And it is written there with regard to the identity of the Kenites: “And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the city of the palm trees” (Judges 1:16).
Sources and Further Reading:
Moses’ Father-in-Law: Kenite or Midianite? In the ancient world, genealogy was not about family relations but about political alliances. Dr. Rabbi Zev Farber
Judaism’s First Converts: A Pagan Priest and a Prostitute Linked by words and acts of chesed (lovingkindness), Jethro and Rahab are rabbinic exemplars of true converts. Dr. Rabbi
David J. Zucker Rabbi Moshe Reiss
Shuaib, Shoaib, Shuayb or Shuʿayb (Arabic: شعيب, IPA: [ʃuʕajb]; meaning: "who shows the right path") is an ancient Midianite Prophet in Islam, and the most revered prophet in the Druze faith. Shuayb is traditionally identified with the biblical Jethro, Moses' father-in-law. Shuaib is mentioned in the Quran a total of 11 times. He is believed to have lived after Abraham, and Muslims believe that he was sent as a prophet to a community: the Midianites, who are also known as the Aṣḥāb al-Aykah ("Companions of the Wood"), since they used to worship a large tree. To the people, Shuaib proclaimed the straight path and warned the people to end their fraudulent ways. When the community did not repent, God destroyed the community.
Alongside Hud, Saleh and Muhammad, Shuaib is understood by Muslims as one of the four Arabian prophets sent by God. It is said that he was known by Muslims as "the eloquent preacher amongst the prophets", because he was, according to tradition, granted talent and eloquence in his language.
The Druze revere Shuaib as an important figure in their faith, and hold an annual pilgrimage to Nabi Shu'ayb, the purported location of his tomb, in the Lower Galilee.
The Galilean Shrine of Shu'ayb: the Druze believe the tomb of Nabi Shu'ayb is located near Hittin, in the Lower Galilee. Each year, on the 25th of April, the Druze gather at the site to discuss community affairs.
In the Quran
(7:85) And to Midian We sent forth their brother Shu'ayb He exhorted them: O my people! Serve Allah, you have no god but Him. Indeed a clear proof has come to you from your Lord. So give just weight and measure and diminish not to men their things ' and make no mischief on the earth after it has been set in good order. That is to your own good, if you truly believe .
(7:86) And do not lie in ambush by every path [of life] seeking to overawe or to hinder from the path of Allah those who believe, nor seek to make the path crooked. Remember, how you were once few, and then He multiplied you, and keep in mind what was the end of mischiefmakers.
(7:87) And if there are some among you who believe in the message that I bear while some do not believe, have patience till Allah shall judge between us. He is the best of those who judge.'
(7:88) The haughty elders of his people said: 'O Shu'ayb! We shall certainly banish you and your companions-in-faith from our town, or else you shall return to our faith.' Shu'ayb said: 'What! Even though we abhor [your faith]?
(7:89) If we return to your faith after Allah has delivered us from it we would be fabricating a lie against Allah. nor can we return to it again unless it be by, the will of Allah, our Lord.73 Our Lord has knowledge of all things, and in Allah we put our trust. Our Lord! Judge rightly between us and our people, for You are the best of those who judge.'
(7:90) The elders of his people who disbelieved said: 'Should you follow Shu'ayb, you will be utter losers.
(7:91) Thereupon a shocking catastrophe seized them, and they remained prostrate in their dwellings.
(7:92) Those who had charged Shu'ayb with lying became as though-they had never lived there; it is they who became utter losers.
(7:93) Shu'ayb then departed from his people, and said: '0 my people! Surely I conveyed to you the message of my Lord, and gave you sincere advice. How, then, can I mourn for a people who refuse to accept the truth?
See: https://www.islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=7&verse=88&to=93
Are the Druze people descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses?
The Druze Religion was founded by Mohammad Al Darazi who had been associated with the maverick heretical (borderline Muslim) ruler of Egypt, Al Hakim (985-1021 CE). At first the religion was open to all but it quickly closed its ranks and ceased officially to allow newcomers. Nevertheless, over the centuries new people came in from such places as Kurdistan. The initial adherents had been concentrated in Lebanon among a group that is believed to have initially come from Persia and to already have had beliefs similar to those later associated with the Druze. The Druze in Israel revere Jethro and consider him their forefather. Jethro (Yitro) was the father of Zippora (Tsipporah) the wife of Moses. Jethro together with his clan attached themselves to Israel. Descendants of Jethro seem to have been divided into two sections: There were those who became completely Jewish and gave rise to some of the Sages. Others remained separate, led a nomadic type of existence and at times were only loosely associated with Israel. Jael (Yael) , who slew the Canaanite military leader Sisera in the story of Barak and Deborah (Judges chapter 4), was the wife of Hebrew the Kenite who would have been a descendant of Jethro. The Rechabites who kept the traditions of their ancestors, did not drink wine, and dwelt in tents (Jeremiah chapter 35) were also descendants of Jethro.
In the past the Druze claimed to be distantly related to the British, French, and Jews. The claim to have had a Jewish connection was repeated in recent years by their religious leader, Sheik Tarif. So too, MK Kara has reiterated belief in Israelite descent of the Druze community.
MK (Member of Knesset) Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews
http://www.israelnationalnews.co...
by David Lev
Extracts:
For centuries, practitioners of the Druze religion took care not to reveal any information about the nature of their beliefs, rituals, and traditions. Under penalty of communal ostracism, or worse, members of Druze communities have refrained from telling any outsider more than basic details about their religion.
'Druze here are too fearful to loudly proclaim their sympathies with Israel, or to convert to Judaism, although some do ' because of the fear of what might happen to their brethren in Syria and Lebanon.'
But now, the secret is out. Druze MK Ayoub Kara (Likud) says members of the Druze communities believe in many of the same things that Jews do. And that's not surprising, he adds, since the Druze are actually descended from the Jewish people ....
According to Kara, who is politically allied with the Jewish nationalist camp, there are many aspects of Druze beliefs that mesh with Judaism: 'All our prophets are Jewish ones: Moses, Judah, Jethro, and Zevulun, the son of Jacob.' In fact, he says, the Druze are likely one of the lost tribes of the Jewish people, probably Zevulun, considering his special status among them.
According to Kara... one symbol has stuck with the Druze throughout the centuries. 'Only among Druze do you find a red Star of David, in homes, cemeteries, and places of worship,' Kara says. 'This is one sign that has been open and visible for centuries, unlike most of the other ones, yet few have noticed.'