Moved
By
Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
In Parshas Yisro, we learn of Kabbolas HaTorah. Following the makkos
in Mitzrayim, the splitting of the sea at the Yam Suf, and the many miracles the Jewish people experienced there,
Klal Yisroel appears ready to
complete the transformation from a group of slaves to becoming the chosen Am Hashem.
It is most interesting that the parsha that deals with Matan
Torah is titled with the name of Yisro and not something more descriptive
of the world-changing event that takes place in the parsha. It is also intriguing that the Torah interrupts its account
of the Jews’ journey in the desert and their reaching the apex of their journey
at Midbar Sinai to tell the seemingly
tangential story of Yisro’s arrival.
In Parshas Beshalach,
we learned how the people miraculously crossed the Yam Suf and were sustained by monn.
After defeating Amaleik, they continued on their journey, which led them to
Midbar Sinai to receive the Torah.
Instead of directly portraying their arrival at Har Sinai and Kabbolas
HaTorah, the narrative is interrupted by the story of Yisro’s arrival.
What lessons are implicit in the narrative of Yisro that
justifies its insertion here in middle of the most significant journey our
people ever undertook?
The parsha this
week begins with the words “Vayishma
Yisro - And Yisro Heard.” Rashi
quotes the Gemara (Zevochim 115a), which asks what it was
that Yisro heard that prompted him to come. The Gemara answers that he heard about Krias Yam Suf and milchemes
Amaleik. Upon hearing of those events, he left his home in Midyan to join
Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people in the desert.
Obviously, Yisro was not the only one who heard about Krias Yam Suf and milchemes Amaleik. The posuk (Shemos 15:14) states “Shomu
amim yirguzun,” so we would imagine that there were very few people who did
not hear about these earth-shattering events.
Additionally, at the time of Krias Yam Suf, all the water in the world split. This miraculous
suspension of nature was surely witnessed by millions of stunned people. Surely
it did not take long for word to get around that Hashem had split the Yam Suf to enable the Jews to escape
from the Egyptians.
Yet, there was only one person who was prompted to go and see
what was going on. The Torah does not tell us that anyone other than Yisro went
to join the Jewish people.
Everyone knew about it. Everyone must have been impressed.
Some people might have even been inspired. Everyone had to have been talking
about it. It was the hock of the century.
But it was like most other hock. People hear about it, are impressed by it, discuss it, and
then move on. For too many people, life is superficial. They don’t view much of
anything with depth or seriousness. Apparently, it has always been this way, even
before digital devices and social media burst on the scene.
The world might have been nispo’el,
but their inspiration did not last long enough for the miracle to have any
lasting impact. The world’s population quickly reverted back to being the way they
were before they were awed by Hashem’s power. They once again became apathetic,
callous, indifferent and unmoved.
Only one person heard about Krias Yam Suf and milchemes
Amaleik and was affected by the events enough to do something about it.
That was Yisro. He was the only person who was so overcome that he was going to
transform his life.
The pesukim
recount: “Vayichad Yisro… And Yisro
rejoiced over all the goodness that Hakadosh
Boruch Hu did for the Jews and rescued them from Mitzrayim… And he said,
‘Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods… And he brought korbanos to Hashem…”
No one else went to the Bnei
Yisroel in the midbar saying, “Atah yodati ki gadol Hashem.” Everyone
else remained tied to their pagan beliefs.
This is why the Torah interrupts the chapter of the Bnei Yisroel’s trip to Sinai to tell the
tale of Yisro’s arrival. A prerequisite for Kabbolas
HaTorah is to let the experience of Hashem’s majesty so envelop the mind
and the senses that it forces a person to draw closer to Torah and G-dliness.
Torah demands that hisorerus
have a lasting impact. Torah demands that we always seek to learn and grow.
Torah demands that when we see unnatural occurrences, we become spiritually
aroused in a lasting way. Divine acts are intended to teach us the power of
Hashem.
That was the lesson of Yisro, and that is why his parsha was placed before Kabbolas HaTorah. It is not enough to
stand up and take notice. We have to care enough to become involved in doing
things to improve our world.
The Torah relates that Yisro noticed that Moshe Rabbeinu was
teaching halachos and judging the
Jewish people from morning until night. Yisro told Moshe that he thought that
the system in which he was the only judge was improper, and he advised Moshe to
set up an arrangement where other people would adjudicate simpler cases. Only
the difficult questions would be posed to Moshe.
Yisro told Moshe that paskening
all the shailos all day was too
difficult for one person and would end up destroying him. He advised him to choose
competent judges to whom he would teach the halachos
so that they would be knowledgeable enough to teach them to others. Yisro told
Moshe that it would also be helpful for the people if they wouldn’t have to
wait all day on line for a chance to speak to him.
Yisro taught Moshe and Klal
Yisroel the concept of sarei mei’os
and sarei asaros. Yisro taught that
everyone can learn from the local posek.
He taught that it is not necessary to run to the gadol hador and overwhelm him with small questions. He taught to
respect the authority of local rabbonim
and poskim and not always bringing
every small issue to the supreme authorities.
Klal
Yisroel is a nation of servitude. The leaders serve the people and
the people serve their leaders. The people respect the leaders and the leaders
respect the people. The mutual recognition of each other’s greatness coupled
with an appreciation that the glory and greatness of Klal Yisroel lies in their acceptance of legitimate, qualified
authority is what makes us great.
The Torah commands, “Som
tosim alecha melech - You shall appoint for yourselves a king.” Concurrent
with that is the admonition directed at the king: “Levilti rum levavo.” The king is warned that he must not become
imperious and conceited. He must remain a man of his people.
It was obvious that Moshe could not physically keep up with
the demands of the people, but he respected them too much to turn them away.
Yisro’s advice was more for Klal Yisroel
than for Moshe. His advice was directed at them. Their all-encompassing
subservience to Moshe prevented them from contemplating turning elsewhere for
guidance and direction. Yisro taught that asking smaller questions of people
not as great as Moshe was not an affront to Moshe, but a credit to him.
Mesorah
is the root of Yiddishkeit. As the Mishnah states, “Moshe kibeil Torah miSinai umesarah…” The equal degree of respect
for Moshe and for those who transmitted his teachings was at the root of what
Yisro taught.
In order for the Torah to be given at Sinai, the authority of talmidei
chachomim had to be established. The Jews had to be admonished to revere
every link in the chain transmitting the Torah from Moshe and Har Sinai.
There is another lesson to be learned here as well. Yisro was
a newcomer to the Bnei Yisroel’s
camp. He wasn’t the first person to see what was happening to Moshe Rabbeinu.
Everyone saw that Moshe was consumed with dinei
Torah. Anyone could have figured out that it wasn’t a normal situation.
Anyone could have figured out a more affective system that would allow Moshe
Rabbeinu to spend his time more productively. Anyone could have realized, as
Yisro did, that Moshe would become exhausted from the grueling regimen and
unceasing pressure, and that eventually the people would become fed up waiting
for him.
And that is our point. Everyone saw it. Anyone could have
realized where it would lead, but no one did. It took Yisro to internalize what
he saw and to do something constructive about it.
Yisro was charged by the gadlus
haBorei to become a better person. His keen senses were raised when he
realized that Hashem cared enough about His people to change the laws of nature
for them. He reasoned that he could become a better person and also merit a
connection with Hashem. The inspiration that motivated him to change his life
also affected the way that he viewed things going on around him. He didn’t just
view them as hock material, but as an
opportunity to help people.
Too often, the urge is not to get involved. Too often, the yeitzer hora switches our focus and
challenges us with superficiality. Yisro showed that the Torah demands depth
and seriousness. It is for that reason that the parsha of Kabbolas HaTorah
is named for him and that he achieved immortality.
Yisro saw, Yisro cared, and Yisro spoke up. Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Moshe Rabbeinu
accepted his proposal.
That is another reason that the parsha of Yisro’s arrival and advice was introduced to us before
the parsha of Kabbolas HaTorah. It is because the Torah demands that when we see
something wrong, we shouldn’t turn away as if we didn’t see it. We shouldn’t
only be consumed with ourselves and minding our own business. The Torah demands
that when we see something that has the potential to embarrass, impose hardship
or weaken our rabbeim, we speak up. When
we see a Jew in trouble, we need to rise to his defense. We can’t let people be
destroyed and stand by and say that what happens is not our business.
It is not enough to learn Torah and to be proficient in it.
We have to care for others and look out for their benefit.
Yisro came, noticed and spoke up, thus saving Moshe from
becoming physically exhausted. Yisro was honored by having a parsha named for him. Yisro taught that
everyone has the potential for greatness to the point of being worthy of having
a parsha in the Torah named for him.
One must care enough to notice what is going on around him, draw the right
conclusions, and attempt to remedy the situation.
There is another lesson gleaned from Yisro. Most people are
unimpressed by facts, because they rationalize and don’t let anything get in
the way of their preconceived notions. When something contradicts their
opinions, rather than being convinced by the truth, they use their reasoning
ability to twist their understanding of the facts to conform with their
previous notions about the world.
Instead of analyzing what happened and risking the chance of
being forced to conclude that they erred, people, subconsciously or not, gloss
over the contradiction, lest they become forced to transform their lifestyle or
admit to an error.
Others simply can’t be bothered. They make up their mind that
something is that way and refuse to let anything change their thinking.
In modern day politics, for example, Democrats and liberals
bought into the notion that President Donald Trump worked with the Russians to
get elected, and no matter what happens, they remain unshaken in that belief.
People are brought up on charges and accused of terrible
crimes. Upon further examination, the allegations are unable to be proven, and
are exposed as results of prosecutorial misconduct, fictitious testimony or a
host of other errors. Yet, the public sticks with the original story and
refuses to allow themselves to be educated by the facts. They refuse to allow
reality and reason to form their beliefs.
It is very much in vogue in current Democrat circles to bash
Israel and support the “poor” Palestinians, whom they claim are crushed by
Israel’s “practices reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow
segregation in the United States.” I quote from an article by Michelle
Alexander titled “Time to Break the
Silence on Palestine,” prominently displayed on page one of this week’s New York Times’ Sunday Review.
The author writes that “until very recently, the entire
Congress has remained mostly silent on the human rights nightmare that has
unfolded in the occupied territories.” This is blamed on “Israel’s political
lobby [which] holds well-documented power.”
Of course, everything is always the fault of the powerful
Jews.
But “change is on the horizon.” The Democrat House leadership
has seen fit to place outspoken freshmen supporters of the Israel boycott on
influential committees and provide them with bullhorns for hate towards the
Jewish state.
The article, like all others from the similar spreading
genre, bemoans Israeli searches of Palestinians and the other terrible
restrictions of occupation. Clouding the truth and obfuscating the facts,
nowhere and at no time do the propagandists admit the reason for the
“repression,” namely, the need to protect innocent citizens of a sovereign
nation from a terror war.
The propagandists are gaining adherents to the Palestinian
side, because they shamelessly prattle lies and half-truths, and their audience
is too interested in following the tempting lines of attack against a poor
subjugated people that they fail to give the matter much thought or independent
research.
Yisro taught not to be lazy and gullible, and not to close
yourself off to understanding the truth and acting upon facts, but to analyze
what is happening with intelligence, honesty and forthrightness.
We must learn from Yisro to recognize that we each can
improve the world around us. We are all capable of helping others and providing
assistance in times of need. We can all help others get through the day. We can
all bring meaning to the lives of the needy. If only we cared, if only we
tried. If only we took Yisro’s example to heart.
So this Shabbos,
when we hear the kriah of Parshas Yisro, when we read the story of
Yisro’s arrival, when we read how the Bnei
Yisroel stood at Har Sinai “k’ish echod b’lev echod” and said, “Na’aseh venishma,” let us resolve to do
what we can in the spirit of the Torah to spread goodness and kindness in the
world, and to battle evil and the apathy that permits evil to fester and grow.
Yisro taught that we can all make a
difference. Let’s show that we can.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home