There are six Parshiot in the Torah named for an individual: Noach, Chayei Sarah, Yitro, Korach, Balak, and Pinchas. Chazal, in reflecting on the magnitude of Ma’amad Har Sinai and the Aseret HaDibrot in our Parsha, ask why Yitro of all people has the honor of seeing his name on the top of the page. The Zohar asks this question, emphasizing the Parsha’s nearly exclusive focus on Ma’amad Har Sinai and suggesting that Moshe Rabbeinu would be a far more appropriate individual to honor or commemorate. We’ll dive into this topic and get to know Yitro just a little bit better.
ִשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְ יָן חֹתֵן מֹשׁ ֶה אֵת כׇּל־אֲשׁ ֶר עָשָׂה אֱ וַי-לֹהִים לְמֹשׁ ֶה וּלְיִשְׂ רָ אֵל עַמּ וֹ כִּי־הוֹצִיא ה' אֶ ת ־ יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל מִ מּ ִ צְ רָ יִ ם ׃
Yitro, priest of Midian and Moshe’s father-in-law, heard about all that G-d had done for Moshe and for His people Yisrael, that Hashem brought Yisrael out of Egypt.
Rashi asks what particular report Yitro heard that caused him to join up with Bnei Yisrael. He answers, according to the Midrash (Mechilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:1:1), Yitro saw Kriyat Yam Suf and the victorious war against Amalek. An obvious question is why the witnessing of two events was needed to draw Yitro in, and why either one on its own was insufficient.
The Zohar provides a wonderful idea with regards to Yitro’s entry into Bnei Yisrael. As we know, he went through a lengthy process to reach this point in his life and spiritual journey. As learned from the verse הָ אֱ ל ֹהִ ים מִ כּ ׇ ל 'גָדוֹל ה עַ תּ ָ ה יָ דַ עְ תִּ י כִּ י – Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods, Yitro tried out, and was intimately familiar with, every type of idol worship out there before finally turning to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. But, while he had reached the point of abandoning each of the false gods and kicking their paraphernalia to the curb, he had not yet officially accepted Hakadosh Baruch Hu and converted.
Rabbeinu Ovadiah Seforno says that moment came only later, when Yitro sat down to eat with Moshe and the leaders of Bnei Yisrael – a meal that followed Yitro’s offering of a Korban and represented the rejoicing over his Brit Milah and conversion. The Zohar says, the splitting of Yam Suf was heard, and seen, around the world. There was not a single location where the local waters did not split, including glasses of water, and the moment instilled fear around the globe. Yitro suspected that such a moment would lead to many accepting Hakadosh Baruch Hu and wanting to join Bnei Yisrael, but the opposite occurred – nobody came running. Only Amalek showed up, but for very different reasons. Amalek saw Kriyat Yam Suf, and it signaled the first opportunity to attack Bnei Yisrael after they left Egypt. This was the directive of Timna, Amalek’s mother, who counseled that attacking before they went through Egypt would result in Amalek being enslaved in their place! Rashi explains via parable, that Bnei Yisrael were like a steaming hot bath nobody wanted to go near out of fear they’d be severely burned. This was the direct result of Kriyat Yam Suf and the fear of G-d suddenly felt around the world. Amalek decided he needed to go cool that bath down. He had no illusions of defeating Bnei Yisrael and knew it was an impossible feat given what was just done for them in Egypt and at Yam Suf, but he could do enough damage to cool down the waters and show the world Bnei Yisrael were touchable.
The Zohar says, Yitro came to do the exact opposite. He came to warm the waters! Yitro carried tremendous stature during those days, as the High Priest of Midian and the authority on all matters idolatry. He was like the Pope of the time, and just imagine the Pope delivering his sermon in the Vatican to millions of people one Sunday morning, and the next week suddenly addressing them from Yerushalayim. Imagine the reaction when the masses learn he arrived in Israel a few days earlier, underwent a conversion process under the auspices of the Badatz Eida Chareidit, dipped in Geula’s Zupnik mikveh, underwent Brit Milah, changed his name from Yochanan Paulus the Third to Avraham ben Avraham, and emerged wearing a gorgeous shtreimel to declare he was now a Pinsk-Karlin chassid. And then imagine their reaction when he delivers a sermon vehemently refuting the religion he preached until the very previous Sunday. This is what Yitro did. Rav Yitzchak Hutner says, Amalek’s fall led to Bnei Yisrael’s first convert. Yitro said, “If Amalek travelled a great distance to cool the waters down, I will go warm them back up!” How? By requesting that a large welcome party from Bnei Yisrael greet him, so the entire nation can see, and be strengthened by, his rejection of idolatry and praise of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
With that, we can perhaps understand the naming of the section containing Ma’amad Har Sinai in Yitro’s name, but what about the section that precedes it? Furthermore, some maintain that Yitro didn’t even arrive until after Bnei Yisrael received the Torah (Zevachim 116a), so why inject him into the start of the Parsha and name it all for him? We could have read Parshat Moshe or Parshat Matan Torah – beginning with Bnei Yisrael’s arrival at Har Sinai and concluding with the final of the Aseret HaDibrot – and then continued to Parshat Yitro where we’d read how the Midian’s High Priest showed up afterwards to publicly reject idolatry. What is with the whole hullabaloo over Yitro? What is the message being delivered to us by naming the entire Parsha in his name?
There are numerous answers to this question, but I would like to focus on one important yesod that can be applied to our Avodat Hashem. When someone witnesses a miracle or an exceptional phenomenon their job is to wake up as a result of what their eyes just saw. Just as the Gemara says (Berachot 59a): ֵב ָא לִפְשׁ וֹט עַקְמוּמִית שׁ ֶבַּל לֹא נִבְרְ אוּ רְ עָמִים אֶלָּא לִפְשׁוֹט עַקְמוּמִית שֶׁבַּלֵב – Thunder was created only to impose fear and straighten the crookedness of the heart. When something grand takes place, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is speaking to us! However, there are people, Oznaim Latorah tells us, who see or hear and then move on unaffected. The entire world heard Kriyat Yam Suf but went right back to work moments later and did nothing with it. The only one to hear and act was Yitro.
The world heard not only Kriyat Yam Suf but also Ma'amad Har Sinai. The Midrash explains (Shemot Rabbah 29:9): כ ּ ְ שׁ ֶ נ ּ ָ ת ַ ן הקב"ה ָעָה, אֶת הַתּ וֹרָ ה, צִפּוֹר לֹא צָוַח, עוֹף לֹא פָּרַ ח, שׁ וֹר לֹא ג וֹת ם לֹא נִזְדַּעֲזָע, הַבְּרִ י אוֹפַנִּים לֹא עָפוּ, שְׂ רָ פִים לֹא אָמְ רוּ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ , הַי וֹל: אָנֹכִי ה' אֱ לֹהֶ יך . When Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave the Torah, no bird tweeted, no fowl flew, no bull lowed, no wheels flew, angels did not say: “Holy, holy”, the sea did not tremble, people did not speak, but rather, the entire world was quiet and silent. The voice emerged: “I am the Lord your G-d.”
There was absolute silence everywhere until the voice of Hakadosh Baruch Hu was heard from one end of the world to the other. And what did the nations of the world respond by doing? Nothing. They did nothing. The Gemara tells us, their kings sought out Bilaam’s counsel, asking what the strange noises in the sky were, thinking perhaps another flood was on its way. Bilaam answered that G-d took an oath to never bring a flood to the world again, so the kings suggested perhaps a flood of fire would be brought, to which Bilaam responded that an oath was also taken not to destroy mankind in such a manner. The kings then flat out asked, “If so, what is the tumultuous sound that we just heard?” Bilaam said to them: חמדה טובה יש לו בבית גנזיו שהיתה גנוזה אצלו תתקע"ד דורות קודם שנברא העולם וביקש ליתנה לבניו שנאמר: ה' עוז לעמו יתן. מיד פתחו כולם ואמרו: ה' יברך את עמו בשלום. G-d has a good and precious item in His treasury, that was hidden away with Him for 974 generations before the world was created, and He seeks to give it to his children, as it is stated: “The Lord will give strength to His people”. Immediately, they all responded: “The Lord will bless His people with peace”.
Imagine there was absolute silence in the world and a loud voice was then heard from one end to the other. Would you not ask whose voice that was? Would you not wonder what was being asked of you? That is exactly what took place, and nobody responded. Their leaders asked Bilaam to explain, were told Bnei Yisrael were receiving the Torah, and the response was a nonchalant, “G-d bless them,” before everybody went back to their desks. Imrei Shamayim says that is the way it is – some people hear and see and yet still do not wake up. Rav Elya Lopian says, man has a special ability to see truth right in front of his eyes but not to learn a single thing from it! This is not a difficult concept to grasp, as it’s evident everywhere we look these days. Another example can be found in the Gemara (Berachot 17b): שִׁמְעוּ אֵלַי אַבִּירֵ י לֵב הָרְ חוֹקִ ים מִצְדָקָה״ ...אָמַר רַ ב אָשׁ ֵי: בְּנֵי מָתָא מַחְ סֵיָא ״אַבִּירֵ י לֵב״ נִינְהוּ, דְּ קָא חָזוּ יְקָרָ א דְ אוֹרָ יְיתָא תְּרֵ י זִמְנֵי בְּשׁ ַתָּא, וְלָא קָמִגַּי ר גַּי וֹרָא מִינַּיְיהוּ.
“Hear Me, stubborn-hearted who are far from charity”... Rav Ashi said: The heathen residents of Mata Meḥasya are the stubborn-hearted, as they witness the glory of Torah twice a year yet no convert has ever converted from their ranks.
Tosfot explains, twice a year – in Adar and Elul – thousands would gather and study Torah en masse in this location. In Adar they’d learn all the Halachot of Nisan, and in Elul they’d learn all the Halachot of Tishrei. When they’d be engaged in study, a pillar of fire would descend from the heavens and encircle their Beit Midrash – just like at Har Sinai. Imrei Shamayim says, despite this special twice-a-year ring of fire and a Beit Midrash filled with chachamim at its center, the people of the town would do nothing more than take out their cameras and shoot selfies. Did the event wake them up or inspire them in any way? No. They snapped their photos and moved on. That is a special character trait of man – to look truth in the eye and be unaffected.
The Midrash (Tanchuma Shmini 11) tells the story of a drunkard whose son was a righteous scholar, embarrassed how his father would often end up passing out in the market. People would walk by and throw rocks and dirt at him, calling him a drunk and berating him. The son, feeling ashamed and utterly tired of having to pick up his father and clean up the mess on the sidewalk, begged his father to stop going to bars. He eventually promised to hand-deliver to his father’s house all the wine and spirits desired, just so his father would stay home and not be a public disgrace. The father obliged. One stormy morning, the son was walking to shul when he noticed a drunkard lying in the street. The rain was beating down on him, garbage was being blown all over him, and children were hitting him with sticks and throwing dirt on his face and into his mouth. Thinking this could be a wake-up call for his father, he brought him down to see the spectacle. “Look at this drunk man. Isn’t it disgraceful? He looks like you!” But instead of getting the message, the father turned to the drunkard and asked, “Tell me, my dear friend, what did you drink? And which bar do you hang around to attain such a blissful state of drunkenness?”
This Midrash further demonstrates how a man can stare truth in the eye and completely overlook it. Sefer Otzrot Peninei HaTorah brings the story of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, who learned in the Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim, situated in Yerushalayim next to the police station and shuk Machane Yehuda. At the entrance to the police station were two tall pillars, and atop these pillars sat statues of two large lions. One of the teachers at the Talmud Torah told his students, “If you sing and dance at the entrance to the police station, and the lions hear you, they too will begin to dance!” The young students believed every word of their beloved teacher and one winter morning gathered at the lions, who were just sitting there frozen in the cold, and attempted to bring them some warmth. They generated a matzav – a lively scene. The geula was on its way and they were singing and dancing for half an hour, drums and other instruments in hand. But nothing happened. The lions remained motionless, staring at them unfazed. They went back to their classroom distraught, “Rebbe, why did you mislead us? You said if we sang and danced the lions would hear us and follow suit. We gave it everything for half an hour, but they didn’t flinch!” The teacher responded, “What I said was 100% correct and I stand by it. I said, ‘if the lions hear you,’ so clearly the problem here is they didn’t hear you!” Rav Auerbach ztz”l interprets this story in the context of Yitro. Yitro heard whereas everyone else did not. There was a momentous event but only he took notice and acted upon it. That is our job – to hear and act. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu takes action, we are required to recognize His acts, internalize the lessons, and act upon them. David HaMelech says (Tehillim 106): אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרַ יִם לֹא־הִשְׂכִּילוּ נִ פְ לְ אוֹתֶ יך לֹא זָכְ רוּ אֶ ת־רֹב חֲסָ דֶ יך וַ יַמְ רוּ עַל־יָם בְּיַם־סוּף׃ Our fathers in Egypt paid no heed to Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your deeds of loving kindness; and they rebelled against You at Yam Suf.
Chazal say, Bnei Yisrael conjectured that in the same way they entered the sea on one side and exited on the other, so, too, the Egyptians will reappear in the near future. Ten miraculous plagues were inflicted upon the Egyptians; hundreds of years of slavery were brought to a sudden end; and the sea was split to facilitate their departure. Yet, Bnei Yisrael did not get it. They didn’t compute the magnitude of what they were witnessing and the infinite loving kindness on display from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Instead, they remained preoccupied with potential tactics of their former nemesis however farfetched. “Who said the miracles will continue,” they posited. The same was true in the desert and also reflected upon by David HaMelech in Tehillim 78:
נֶגֶד אֲבוֹתָם עָשָׂה פֶלֶא בְּאֶרֶ ץ מִצְרַ יִם שְׂדֵה־צֹעַן׃ ַעֲבִירֵ ם בָּקַע יָם וַי ַצֵּב־מַ יִם כְּמוֹ־נֵד׃ וַי ַנְחֵם בֶּעָנָן יוֹמָם וְכׇל־הַלַּיְלָה בְּאוֹר אֵשׁ ׃ וַי ַבְקַע צֻרִ ים בַּמִּ דְ בָּר וַי וֹצִא נוֹזְלִים מִסָּלַע וַי וֹרֶ ד כַּנְּהָרוֹת מָיִם׃ וַי וֹסִיפוּ עוֹד לַחֲטֹא־לוֹ לַמְרוֹת עֶלְיוֹן בַּצִּי וַיְנַסּ וּ אֵ -ל בִּ לְבָבָם לִשׁ ְ אׇ ל אֹכֶל לְנַפְ שׁ ָ ם׃ וַיְדַ בְּ רוּ בֵּא-לֹהִ ים אָמְ רוּ הֲיוּכַל אֵ -ל לַעֲרֹך שׁ ֻ לְחָ ן בַּמִּ דְ בָּר׃ הֵן הִכָּה־צוּר ָזוּבוּ וַי מַ יִ ם וּנְ חָ לִ ים י ִ שׁ ְ ט ֹ פ ו ּ הֲגַם־לֶחֶם יוּכַל תּ ֵ ת אִם־יָכִין שׁ ְ א ֵ ר לְ עַ מּ וֹ ׃
Marvelous things he did in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Żoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers. And they sinned yet more against him, rebelling against the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking food for their craving. And they spoke against G-d; they said, Can G-d furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, He smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? Can he provide meat for his people?
Despite all the wonders of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, performed on both living creatures and inanimate objects, it did not sink in. Bnei Yisrael didn’t truly see it and didn’t internalize it, continuing to question and challenge Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s abilities. “OK, so you know how to bring forth water out of nowhere, but how about bread and meat?” Hakadosh Baruch Hu responded in anger to their computational failure:
לָכֵן שׁ ָ מ ַ ע ה' ִ תְ עַ בּ ָ ר וַ י וְ א ֵ שׁ נִ שּׂ ְ קָ ה בְ יַעֲקֹב וְ גַם־אַ ף עָלָה בְ יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל ׃ כִּ י לֹא הֶאֱמִינוּ בֵּא-לֹהִים וְלֹא בָטְחוּ בִּישׁ וּעָתוֹ׃
Therefore, the Lord heard this, and was angry. So a fire was kindled against Yaacov, and anger came up against Yisrael; because they believed not in G-d, and trusted not in His salvation.
It was all in front of their very eyes, yet doubt remained. This was not a problem, or shortcoming, exclusive to the nations of the world, who went about their day as if all around them didn’t come to a screeching halt with a powerful voice being heard in all four corners. Bnei Yisrael suffered from this ailment as well! They were the direct, and sole, beneficiaries of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s wonders, yet they, too, did not internalize the experience. “Can you also do bread?” The Alter of Kelm refers to this as חוֹבַת הַ פְ שׁ ָ טַ ת הַ צּוּרָ ה – the obligation to simplify the form. Don’t remain overly superficial and simplistic. Use your thoughts and analysis to break things down and discern core principles. Get to the essence of matters rather than settling for superficial explanations.
This week is Shabbat Mevarchim for the month of Adar. In Megillat Esther, we read that Haman returned home and told his household not to ask what just occurred – i.e., that he was commanded to place Mordechai on the royal horse and parade him through the streets. Zeresh, his wife, responded: אִם מִזֶּרַע הַיְּהוּדִים מָרְ דֳּכַי אֲשׁ ֶר הַחִלּוֹתָ לִנְפֹּל לְפָנָיו לֹא־תוּכַל לוֹ כִּי־נָפוֹל תִּפּוֹל לְפָנָיו׃ If Mordechai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish stock, you will not overcome him; you will fall before him to your ruin.
What an encouraging wife, telling him on his way down that he’s got even more collapse coming. But she had a great suggestion for him: עֵ ץ ג יַעֲשׂוּ ָ בֹהּ ַ חֲ מִ שׁ ּ ִ ים אַ מּ ָ ה – let a really tall gallows be constructed and suggest to the king in the morning that Mordechai be hanged from it! The Midrash says, this idea came out of an emergency cabinet meeting Haman held with his advisors. At that meeting, Zeresh said, “If you’re up against the Jews, forget it. It’s over.” Haman asked why that was, and his wife explained, “There is not a single predicament from which their G-d did not save them!” She went on to itemize the futile ways in which Mordechai’s could be dealt with. Throw him into a lion’s den? Daniel was saved from 1400 lions who stood there paralyzed. Throw him into a fire? Avraham Avinu, as well as Chanania, Mishael, and Azaria were all saved from an oven of fire. Throw him into jail? Achashverosh will wake up in a cold sweat one night and summon Mordechai to interpret his dream, just as Yosef did for Pharoah. Exile him to the desert? Bnei Yisrael were well fed for forty years in the desert and lacked nothing to survive and thrive. Rip his eyes out? Shimshon took down the Plishtim and their infrastructure without being able to see. Zeresh then concluded, “There’s only one scenario not covered: Their G-d doesn’t know how to lower people down from a tree. Hang him fifty amot high, and you’ll surely be successful!” Done and done. The brilliant Zeresh figured it out. Hakadosh Baruch Hu can save someone from lions, fire, jail, and the barren desert, but a tall tree will stump Him. Sure thing Zeresh, instead of eliminating the tree, He’ll just replace Mordechai with your husband! A trade-in! Zeresh was the perfect example of rosh katan – a person who only grasps things at their surface level, lacking the curiosity or effort to delve deeper into meaning or essence.
The case of Zeresh is similar to that of Bnei Yisrael saying, “We see You can make water, but can You make bread?” What they saw, they saw, and what they didn’t see, they didn’t see. But if that is how Bnei Yisrael behaved, as described by David HaMelech, how can we expect any better from the nations of the world? They saw Kriyat Yam Suf, but it didn’t pertain to them directly, so they let it go. Why would we expect different? Why was Yitro any different?
I heard the story of a rosh yeshiva of Kol Torah who was travelling in a taxi – I think the person I heard it from was a taxi driver himself! – and the driver began to tell him stories, just as the profession demands. He was clearly a rav, so the stories he received were classic ones of emunah and bitachon. The driver recounted an army episode when nighttime arrived, and his commander instructed everyone to get some sleep except for two soldiers who’d stand guard for a few hours. Shortly thereafter, a soldier let out a scream that had the entire base jump from their beds. They ran to the soldier and found him with a snake wrapped around his neck. Nobody knew what to do. They couldn’t open fire on the snake as they’d surely kill their friend too. The soldier, feeling he was on the verge of dying, cried out “Shema Yisrael!” at the top of his lungs and something miraculous happened at Echad – the snake loosened its grip and fell to the ground. The soldiers proceeded to riddle it with bullets. In the backseat of the car, the rav wanted to know more, “And what happened to him next?” The taxi driver responded, “I actually saw him at a wedding last week. He performed Teshuva and is now a true hidden tzaddik and great talmid chacham.” The rav pushed for more, “And what about you? You witnessed it all! Did you change your life too?” The cabbie responded, “No, no. I’m perfectly fine. The snake attacked him, not me.” A rosh katan – no computing, no calculating, no internalizing. Yitro, however, heard Hakadosh Baruch Hu speaking and he acted. ִשׁ ְ מַע יִתְ רוֹ וַי – Rashi says Yitro heard about Kriyat Yam Suf and the war with Amalek, and we asked why both events were necessary to spur him into action. Shemen Rosh
