Parashat Yitro – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro

By Rabbi Susan Elkosdi (AJR ’15)

In the book of Shemot, Exodus, we see Moses develop from a young boy to a shepherd, to a reluctant prophet and messenger, and now, to the leader of the Israelites who are just three months out of slavery in Egypt. They’re camped in the wilderness at God’s mountain and, I imagine, recovering and relaxing after having just defeated Amalek.

This is a place where they’ll settle for a while. This is the place where the people will receive the Revelation of God’s Instruction, Torah. And it is here that Moses is reunited with his wife, their two sons, and Yitro, his father-in-law.

We know that Moses, Aaron and the elders all joined Yitro in a celebratory feast, but we have no idea from the text where Tzipporah, Gershom and Eliezer went. Apparently, that’s a story for another time.

The morning after the feast, Yitro observes Moses at work, sitting among the people who are standing over him, waiting to be judged (Ex. 18:14). When Yitro questions him, he replies, “When the people come to me to inquire of God, when it has some legal-matter, it comes to me. I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known God’s laws and instructions.”

Because this happens right before the Giving of the Torah, I have to wonder, what could Moses possibly be judging, and how does he know what et hukei Elohim v’et torotav, “the laws of God and [God’s] instructions” even are? (Ex. 18:15-16)

And then I remember, the Torah isn’t a timeline; events that are recorded didn’t necessarily occur in the order presented in the text. As our Sages of Blessed Memory said, ain mukdam u m’uhar ba torah, “There is no chronological order (literally, early or late) in the Torah. Did Yitro show up before or after the Revelation at Sinai? According to Rashi and other commentators, mi-mohorat, “the day after,” isn’t the day after the feast, but the day after Yom Kippur, when Moses came down the mountain with the second set of tablets (see Rashi on Ex. 18:13).

According to the text, Moses is busy dealing with legal matters between people from daybreak until sunset (see vv. 13 & 14), and Yitro sees what’s happening. He also sees what Moses can’t, that the arrangement is a setup for failure–for him personally, and for the newly created society. He suggests to Moses that he essentially set up a court system, appointing appropriate individuals to serve as judges over increasingly smaller groups of people, bringing only the most difficult matters to Moses himself.

It’s good advice, and Moses does as Yitro suggests (Ex. 18:24-26), and we can presume that the system worked well.

It’s interesting to note that while God appointed Moses to be the person to speak to Pharaoh, and to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, we’re not privy to the rest of the job description. Did the Holy One appoint Moses as judge while he was receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, or is this something Moses took on himself, assuming it was his job? How difficult could it be?

I know I’m not alone in taking on too much, in biting off more than I can chew, in trying to be all things to all people. Sometimes, we assume–and we may be correct–that we’re the only ones who are capable of doing whatever it is we’re doing. We might be worried about what others will say if we don’t do everything, and on the flip side, we might relish the idea that others marvel at how we get everything done.

Sometimes, we just don’t realize what we’re doing–or the toll it’s taking–until someone else points it out, as may well be the case with Moses. Yitro can see what Moses can’t, or doesn’t, and not only does he express concern for Moses’ wellbeing; he proposes a workable solution.

Life may never have been easy, and it seems as though modern technology has not only allowed us to do more with less and in less time, but to require it. Yitro’s concern for Moses’ wellbeing can remind us that we don’t have to do everything ourselves, and caring for ourselves allows us to better care for others.

Shabbat Shalom

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Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15) is the spiritual leader of the Malverne Jewish Center in NY and is immediate past president of the Long Island Board of Rabbis. Her writing has appeared on JewishSacredAging.com, and she has presented workshops for Limmud, NY, for AJR and in the community, and her book, Midrash HaZaK: Torah Wisdom by 70 Over 70 (but who’s counting), an anthology of divrei torah for older adults, will soon IY”H be published. Susan is passionate about helping Baby Boomers and older adults to find meaning and purpose in their lives within the context of Jewish tradition and teachings, and as part of a Jewish community. You can find her work on her website, www.babyboomerrabbi.com. In addition, she loves to knit, spin and weave, and she and her husband David recently added kittens Tiggr and Midnight to their family.