Yitro Archives | Academy for Jewish Religion

2 02, 2026

Parashat Yitro 5786

Marisa Amith2026-02-02T13:59:31-05:00

K’Ish Ehad: Organizational Infrastructure as a Path to Unity

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro

By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein

Parashat Yitro stands as the essential fulcrum of the Book of Exodus, marking the transition from a newly liberated population to a covenanted nation at the foot of Sinai. This portion offers a profound exploration of the nature of communal leadership, the ethics of delegation, and the radical openness required to receive the Divine law. By examining the structural wisdom of an outsider and the communal unity required for the Aseret HaDibrot, we find a timeless blueprint for the rabbinate, particularly for those serving in the pluralistic environments of the military or the intimate settings of small-town pulpits.

The Parashah begins with a singular focus on an outsider through the words “וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ”—”And Yitro heard” (Exodus 18:1). While the entire world heard of the Exodus, the Midrash in Zevahim 116a asks what specifically Yitro Read More >

Parashat Yitro 5786Marisa Amith2026-02-02T13:59:31-05:00

10 02, 2025

Parashat Yitro – 5785

Marisa Amith2025-02-10T13:05:49-05:00

In this week's Torah portion, Rabbi Susan Elkodsi sees Yitro's advice to Moses as a reminder that strong and effective leaders also need to care for their own wellbeing.

Parashat Yitro – 5785Marisa Amith2025-02-10T13:05:49-05:00

31 01, 2024

Parashat Yitro 5784

Linda Ripps2024-01-31T17:11:16-05:00

Moses was famously close with his father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro), the Priest of Midian. This week’s Torah portion is named after Yitro, celebrating the reunion between Moses and Yitro shortly after the Exodus from Egypt.

Parashat Yitro 5784Linda Ripps2024-01-31T17:11:16-05:00

6 02, 2023

Parashat Yitro 5783

Linda Ripps2023-05-03T12:09:44-04:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Greg Schindler (’09)

“She generally gave herself very good advice (although she very seldom followed it)”

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

How good are you at taking advice?

I know that I could use a lot of work in this department, especially when it comes to unsolicited advice. If someone starts a sentence with, “I think you should”, I often nod my head appreciatively… and tune out.

This seems to be a part of human nature. According to research, people generally start out with a personal bias towards their own opinions, and discount the advice of others.

Most of us feel like the Duchess in Alice: “If everybody minded their own business ..the world would go round a deal faster than it does.”

Perhaps to counteract this bias, our tradition is replete with advice about Read More >

Parashat Yitro 5783Linda Ripps2023-05-03T12:09:44-04:00

21 01, 2022

Parashat Yitro 5782

Linda Ripps2022-11-09T14:57:56-05:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

This week the American Jewish community finds itself processing the events of last Shabbat, during which a rabbi and three congregants were taken hostage in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. As a minority in the United States, many are reflecting on the dangers of being Jewish in this moment. Our parasha this week mentions the names of Moshe’s sons, the meanings of which echo sentiments some of us may be feeling: Gershom, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land,” and Eliezer, “The God of my father was my help, and God delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exod. 18:3-4). In some ways, despite having been a presence in North America for hundreds of years, we are still strangers, those who are misunderstood Read More >

Parashat Yitro 5782Linda Ripps2022-11-09T14:57:56-05:00

4 02, 2021

Parashat Yitro 5781

Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction
A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

Three months after leaving Egypt, our ancestors arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai. God called Moses to the mountain and gave him the words by which he would prepare the people for a remarkable event. Moses would tell the people that God desires us to be God’s treasure, God’s nation of priests, God’s holy people. In three days, God would descend to the top of the mountain while the people stood at its foot. God would be revealed to the people, and in God’s own voice, the people would begin to receive the Torah.

Three days later, the moment arrived. With thunder and lightning, a heavy cloud and an ever louder sound of the shofar, God “appeared.” The people shuddered and trembled as Moses brought them to the foot of Read More >

Parashat Yitro 5781Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00

12 02, 2020

Parashat Yitro 5780

Rabbi Heidi Hoover2022-07-29T11:24:29-04:00

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Heidi Hoover (’11)

This week’s Torah portion includes the single most intense episode in the whole Torah—the revelation of Torah at Mount Sinai. The Israelites, having left Egypt, stand together at the foot of the mountain. There’s thunder and lightning, and the blaring of a horn. The mountain is shaking and smoking, because God has come down on it in fire. This is when the Israelites really become a people, God’s people—when God gives them the Torah.

We don’t call this Torah portion “revelation,” though. And we don’t call it “the 10 Commandments.” The name we use for this Torah portion is Yitro, because the portion begins with something else, something that is also very important, though more mundane.

At the beginning of parashat Yitro, Moses and the Israelites are encamped at Mount Sinai. Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro—Yitro in Hebrew—comes to visit. Jethro and Moses have a nice visit and catch up on Read More >

Parashat Yitro 5780Rabbi Heidi Hoover2022-07-29T11:24:29-04:00

24 01, 2019

Parashat Yitro 5779

Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD2019-01-24T12:47:38-05:00

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

At the beginning of this week’s parasha Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro, hears of “all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites” (Exod. 18:1) and he brings Moses’ wife and children to join the Israelites in the desert. Moses goes out to greet Yitro and warmly welcomes him into his tent. Moses then recounts to his father-in-law all of the miraculous deeds that God performed to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and Yitro rejoices (Exod. 18:8-9). But wait. If Yitro already heard about “all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites,” then why does he only rejoice after hearing all of this again from Moses? By this point the exodus is old news! Perhaps the answer lies not in the message but in the messenger. Hearing secondhand, even about miracles such as the splitting of the sea, is simply Read More >

Parashat Yitro 5779Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD2019-01-24T12:47:38-05:00

2 02, 2018

Parashat Yitro, 5778

Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD2018-02-02T12:29:49-05:00

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
by Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD

As I write this, I am thinking of a particular moment in my life, when I was about to lead a large ceremony. A few years prior at the same ceremony, I’d been dehydrated and nearly passed out while giving a D’var Torah. So I was nervous. Things were running late, which made me even more nervous. As preparations concluded and the moment to begin arrived, I must have looked very anxious indeed. An elder—a wise rabbi who had led many rituals—came over to me and looked me up and down. “You’re going to be fine,” she said. And I was.

I am wondering if Yitro came to Moshe in the wilderness, just before Moshe’s big moment, for that very same reason: to tell him he was going Read More >

Parashat Yitro, 5778Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD2018-02-02T12:29:49-05:00

16 02, 2017

Parashat Yitro

ahsilver2017-02-16T07:10:34-05:00

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

The highlight of this week’s parashah is the reading of the Ten Commandments. While there are midrashic compilations on individual books of the Bible, the Ten Commandments merited having their own individual midrash, Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot, the Midrash of the Ten Commandments. This midrash was edited during the Middle Ages and draws upon many sources, both Jewish and non-Jewish. It is not structured like a classical midrash, and Joel Rosenberg wrote that “[it] represents the transition in Jewish literature from interpretation of Scripture to pure fiction, in a more modern sense of the term.”

Below is an edited version of a story included in this midrash about the commandment against adultery, a story that describes the trials and tribulations of a certain Rabbi Meir.

A tale is told of Rabbi Meir, that he used to go up to Jerusalem on each and every festival. And he would stay at the home Read More >

Parashat Yitroahsilver2017-02-16T07:10:34-05:00

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

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