“ויעמוד העם על משה מן הבוקר עד הערב ויהי ממחרת וישב משה לשפט את העם,” – “And it was on the next day that Moshe sat to judge the people, and the people stood by Moshe from the morning until the evening.” In Meseches Shabbos 10a, it says that you should not think that Moshe Rabbeinu actually stood in judgment from the morning until the evening, for then when would he have learned Torah? Rather, the Torah is coming to teach us that any judge who renders completely true judgment, even for a short time, is considered by the Torah as if he engaged in Torah study the entire day, and it is as if he became a partner of Hakodosh Boruch Hu in the act of Creation, as the Posuk says, “ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר ”. If this is so, then why does it say in Posuk 14 “וכל העם נצב עליך מן בקר עד ערב” – why were all the people standing waiting for Moshe Rabbeinu from morning to evening, if he was only there for a short while? In truth, Moshe only sat in judgment for an hour, and he learned Torah the rest of the day. However, the people waited for him all day, for they were waiting until he would stop learning for a little bit, so that he could judge their cases. “מדוע אתה יושב לבדך” - Yisro was asking Moshe why he was sitting alone learning Torah, while the people were waiting for him.
