Yitro
Shemot 18, 19, and 20
Moral Understanding and Spiritual Experience: Yitro's Connection, Yitro's Distance
Aryeh Bernstein, 5761
In the parashah we read this morning, we heard of Mosheh's emotional reunion with his father-in-law, Yitro, and of Yitro's acceptance of Hashem as the ultimate divinity; Mosheh's acceptance of Yitro's advice for establishing an efficient judicial system; and the revelation at Mt. Sinai, with the Ten Commandments.
One of the main problems in our parashah is chronology: Does the Torah always unfold chronologically, or does it unfold thematically, sometimes at the expense of chronology? Without getting into detail now (as always, think about it yourselves and see what you find), suffice it to say that the indications of the "not necessarily chronological" position are compelling. One example is that if one looks at all the Torah's stories of Mosheh's father-in-law, there is good evidence that the episodes at the beginning of our parashah happened after revelation at Sinai, even though they are presented before. (It is a famous problem that Mosheh's father-in-law's name is different in every story I which he appears in the Torah. Whether we put on our midrashic or our scholarly hats will affect the way we describe solutions to this problem, but either way, we will end up viewing them all as one persona, whose relationship with Mosheh is religiously significant.) I will not develop the argument, but meanwhile, at least notice that already in 18:5, the Torah describes their encampment as "הַר הָאֱלֹהִים"-"the mountain of God" and that 18:13-27 depicts a nation already full of legal squabbles, even though, chronologically, God has not yet revealed the law at Sinai.
Let's suppose for a moment that the Torah works non-chronologically, such that Mosheh's reunion with Yitro happens after revelation. The Ramban, then, asks a poignant question: the parashah begins telling us that "Yitro...heard of all that God had done for Mosheh and for Yisrael his people, that Hashem had brought Yisrael out from Egypt." Why is the exodus the paradigm for Yitro of all that Hashem had done for the Israelites? Why not the revelation at Sinai?! As Mosheh reminds the people in his farewell address in Devarim 4:32-33, "For ask now of the days that are past, that were before you, since the day that God created humankind on the land...whether there has ever been a thing as great as this or whether anything has been heard like it? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?" If Yitro knew about God's revelation to Israel at Sinai, wouldn't that have impressed him more than the exodus from Egypt?
The Ramban concludes, therefore, that our Yitro episodes did transpire before revelation, as the order of the Bible indicates, and he offers solutions-some of which are farfetched-to the contradictory evidence. One need not draw the Ramban's conclusion and disregard all the other evidence. Ramban does so because he cannot accept that had Yitro known about revelation, that he would have been more impressed by the exodus. Maybe that is exactly the point, though: Yitro's focus on the exodus-even though he knew about revelation-might indicate something about Yitro's character.
Let us re-examine the verses at the beginning of the parashah:
| (1) Yitro, priest of Midian, Mosheh's father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Mosheh and for Israel his people-that Hashem had brought Israel out of Egypt... (8) Mosheh then told his father-in-law everything that Hashem had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel's sake, all of the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and how Hashem had delivered them. (9) And Yitro rejoiced over all the kindness that Hashem had shown Israel in delivering them from the Egypt. (10) And Yitro said, "Praised be Hashem who delivered you from Egypt and from Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of Egypt. (11) Now I know that greater is Hashem than all other gods..." (12) And Yitro, Mosheh's father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God... | (א) וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹהִים לְמֹשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ כִּי הוֹצִיא יְהֹוָה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם:...(ח) וַיְסַפֵּר מֹשֶׁה לְחֹתְנוֹ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה לְפַרְעֹה וּלְמִצְרַיִם עַל אוֹדֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כָּל הַתְּלָאָה אֲשֶׁר מְצָאָתַם בַּדֶּרֶךְ וַיַּצִּלֵם יְהֹוָה: (ט) וַיִּחַדְּ יִתְרוֹ עַל כָּל הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הִצִּילוֹ מִיַּד מִצְרָיִם: (י) וַיֹּאמֶר יִתְרוֹ בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר הִצִּיל אֶתְכֶם מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם וּמִיַּד פַּרְעֹה אֲשֶׁר הִצִּיל אֶת הָעָם מִתַּחַת יַד מִצְרָיִם: (יא) עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי גָדוֹל יְהֹוָה מִכָּל הָאֱלֹהִים... |
The main literary feature of this section is the repeated reference to God's deliverance of the Israelites. My teacher, Rabbi David Silber, the head of the Drisha Institute for women in New York, points out that this idea is likewise prominent in Mosheh's first meeting with his future father-in-law. In chapter two of Shemot, Mosheh, upon reaching adulthood, goes out, sees the suffering of his people and witnesses an Egyptian smite a Hebrew. Mosheh kills and buries the Egyptian. The next day, when he tries to break up another fight, he learns that the combatants know that he killed an Egyptian the previous day and that Pharaoh has a contract out on his life. Afraid, he flees to Midian, where he encounters ruffian shepherds harassing young women and preventing them from drawing water. Mosheh immediately intervenes and helps them water their flock. They return home and when their father asks them why they returned home so early (verses 19-20):
| They said, "an Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds and also drew water for us and watered the flock." And he said to his daughters, "And where is he?! Why did you leave this man?! Call him so that he may eat bread!" | וַתֹּאמַרְןָ "אִישׁ מִצְרִי הִצִּילָנוּ מִיַּד הָרֹעִים וְגַם דָּלֹה דָלָה לָנוּ וַיַּשְׁקְ אֶת הַצֹּאן": וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל בְּנֹתָיו "וְאַיּוֹ?! לָמָּה זֶּה עֲזַבְתֶּן אֶת הָאִישׁ?! קִרְאֶן לוֹ וְיֹאכַל לָחֶם": |
Rabbi Silber points out that for all of Mosheh's prominence in the Torah, Yitro is really the only person whom we can describe as his friend, with whom he interacts as a colleague and confidante. In our parashah, it is striking that when Yitro sends word that he is coming to meet Mosheh with Mosheh's wife and sons, we read (18:7),
| Mosheh went out to meet his father-in-law and he bowed and kissed him; each asked of the other's well-being, and they went into the tent. | וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה לִקְרַאת חֹתְנוֹ וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ וַיִּשַּׁק לוֹ וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ לְשָׁלוֹם וַיָּבֹאוּ הָאֹהֱלָה. |
Although we may be troubled, as the commentators are, by Mosheh's total disregard of his wife and children, we cannot help but be moved by the emotional power of his reunion with Yitro. The verse deliciously emphasizes the mutuality of their relationship through its ambiguous pronouns. (Who kissed and bowed to whom? Who asked of whose well-being?)
What was the basis of this deep identity? The value of delivering the powerless from oppression. As soon as his daughters say the magic word of "deliverance", Yitro eagerly perks up, anxious to meet such a man and to bring him into his tent. Mosheh delivered you from oppression? I want to be this guy's friend! What Yitro valued in people he valued in God. He understands God's greatness of God much more powerfully by hearing about God's deliverance of Israel from bondage than he ever could by hearing about revelation. No meeting between God and humans, regardless of how awesome, fiery or covenantal, could hold a candle to the power of redeeming an entire nation from suffering under the oppression of the regional superpower. That which the Ramban could not comprehend is simply the case with Yitro: he was an ethicist more than a theologian.
Comprehending this facet of Yitro's character can help us understand why Yitro does not fully join the Israelite people. The other literary motif in the section of Yitro's meeting with Mosheh is the sensation of hearing. The first reference to Yitro's values and recognition of God comes in the first verse of the parashah: "Yitro...heard of all that God had done for Mosheh and Israel his people...." The second begins in verse 8: "And Mosheh told his father-in-law all that Hashem had done....and Yitro rejoiced over all the kindness that Hashem had shown Israel..." These two words might not pique our interest if not for the stark contrast they make with the story of the revelation in chapter 19 and beyond. There, the motif is seeing.
Even though God explicitly admonishes them to hear as a fulfillment of the covenant (19:5), the story tells of a spectacular visual extravaganza: "on the third day, Hashem will descend in the sight of the whole nation ("כִּי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִשִׁי יֵרֵד יְהֹוָה לְעֵינֵי כָל הָעָם עַל הַר סִינָי"-19:11); "and Mt. Sinai was entirely smoked, for Hashem descended upon it in fire" ("וְהַר סִינַי עָשַׁן כֻּלּוֹ מִפְּנֵי אֲשֶׁר יָרַד עָלָיו יְקֹוָק בָּאֵשׁ"-19:18), leading God to caution Mosheh, "go, down, warn the people lest they break through to Hashem to see, and many fall from them" ("רֵד הָעֵד בָּעָם פֶּן יֶהֶרְסוּ אֶל יְקֹוָק לִרְאוֹת וְנָפַל מִמֶּנּוּ רָב"-19:21). Even when we would expect hearing to be their sensory experience, the Torah emphasizes sight: "And God said...‘you have seen that I spoke with you from the heavens'" ("וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה...אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם כִּי מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם דִּבַּרְתִּי עִמָּכֶם"- 20:19); and most notably, "and all the nation saw the thunderings" ("וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת"-20:15).
Throughout the Tanakh, hearing connotes understanding and acceptance. For just two examples among many, revisit the story of Avraham's negotiations with the people of Ephron in Bereishit 23 and consider the meaning of "שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהֹוָה אֶחָד"-"Hear, O Israel, Hashem our God, Hashem is one." Rav Hutner explains that we fulfill the mitzvah of accepting the yoke of God's majesty through hearing (saying Shema Yisrael...) because hearing is the only of our five senses that is totally receptive, without reflecting anything of our own back out (Pahad Yitzhak, Pesach, 43:2).
The connotations of seeing, on the other hand, are experience and encounter. As Rav Hutner describes it, the eye absorbs what it sees and sends back out a reflection of what happens to us inside as a result of what we see. Think about what it means for two people to look each other in the eyes for a long time.
The encounter of revelation for Benei Yisrael was overwhelming and awe-inspiring. As soon as the experience itself ended, though-as every ecstatic experience must-they were left spiritually empty and resorted to the building of the golden calf to fill the intense need for the physical presence of God that had been emblazoned on them by the Sinai experience.
Yitro's commitment to service of Hashem, according to this reading, lacks any personal experience/encounter of God's greatness and is based entirely on an understanding of Hashem's ways. A midrash in the Sifrei (49) on Devarim 11:22 explains how we can fulfill the mitzvah "to walk in [God's] ways": "נקרא המקום רחום, אף אתה היה רחום; הקדוש ברוך הוא נקרא חנון, אף אתה היה חנון"-"God is called merciful, so should you be merciful; God is called compassionate, so should you be compassionate." A gemara in Sotah 14a develops the idea:
| Just as God clothes the naked (e.g., Adam and Havah), so should you clothe the naked; just as God visits the sick (e.g., Avraham after he circumcised himself), so should you visit the sick; just as God comforts mourners (e.g. Yitzhaq after Avraham's death), so should you comfort mourners; just as God buries the dead (e.g. Mosheh), so should you bury the dead. | מה הוא מלביש ערומים (דכתיב, "ויעש ה' אלהים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם"--בראשית ג:כא), אף אתה הלבש ערומים; הקב"ה ביקר חולים, (דכתיב, "וירא אליו ה' באלוני ממרא"-- בראשית יח:א), אף אתה בקר חולים; הקב"ה ניחם אבלים, (דכתיב, "ויהי אחרי מות אברהם ויברך אלהים את יצחק בנו"-- בראשית כה:יא), אף אתה נחם אבלים; הקב"ה קבר מתים, (דכתיב, "ויקבר אותו בגיא"-- דברים לד:ו), אף אתה קבור מתים. |
Covenantal life is complicated. We are commanded to walk in God's ways of compassion and mercy and we are charged to see, experience, and encounter God. We sometimes submit to the urge to hide in one side or the other. Sometimes we may leap into a frenzy of "spirituality" to the point of deafening ourselves to the challenges invoked by our intense experience. Sometimes we hungrily pursue understanding, learning with such focus that it becomes an enterprise of mere intellectual curiosity or a humanitarian commitment that can be self-serving without the presence of the Divine. Sacred, redemptive relationships develop when we balance the ethics of seeing and hearing and encounter the Other through both energies.