Rising from Lowliness to Loftiness:
Rav Tzvi Hirsch of Liska zy”a (Sefer Ach Pri Tevuah) writes that the Torah is teaching us that a person can completely transform himself from one extreme to the other. Yisro was originally a priest in Midyan. He served idols. But he then became the father-in-law of Moshe Rabenu!
The Need for a Leader:
Rashi states: “What did Yisro hear that caused him to come? He heard about the splitting of the Yam Suf and the war with Amalek.”
Rav Bunim of Peshischa zy”a (quoted in Kol Mevaser, Chelek 1) asks that Yisro was a great and wise man who had tried every idol in the world and come to the conclusion that Hashem is the true G-d. Why was he particularly impressed by these two miracles, as opposed to the other wondrous miracles Hashem performed, such as orchestrating the exodus from Egypt, etc.? According to the opinion that Yisro came after Matan Torah (Avodah Zara 24A and Zevachim 116A), why was he more impressed by these two miracles that from the giving of the Torah on Har Sinai?
He answers that Yisro saw that the Jewish nation reached a great and lofty level at the Yam Suf, as is stated that a maidservant at the sea experienced a higher level of prophecy than Yechezkel ben Buzi. However, almost immediately afterwards, Amalek attacked the nation. He saw that the powers of evil were still able to influence Amalek even after witnessing such great miracles, which the entire world knew about.
This led him to the revelation that even after one witnesses great miracles, he needs a “Rebbe” - spiritual leader to guide him in the proper path. Therefore, he concluded that he can no longer remain on his own and he must go to Moshe Rabenu and accept him as his Rebbe.
Torah is the Antidote to the Yeitzer Hara:
The Divrei Shmuel of Slonim zy”a explains Rashi’s words by saying that Yisro saw that even after the great revelation at the Yam Suf, Amalek’s attack still had an effect on the nation and caused their level of emunah to decrease. He understood that this was a manifestation of Chazal’s words (Sukkah 52A) that when one is greater than his friend, his yeitzer hara is also greater.
Therefore, he concluded that his only possible course of action to combat the yeitzer hara was to accept the Torah, as Torah is the only force that is powerful enough to serve as an antidote to the yeitzer hara. This is as Chazal say (Kiddushin 30B) that Torah is the remedy for the yeitzer hara.
Yisro’s Two Identities:
Why does the pasuk mention that Yisro was the “priest of Midian”? The previous verse (2:17) already told us that he held this position, so why is it necessary to repeat it? Furthermore, if the Torah wants to identify who he was, why isn’t it sufficient to say that he was Moshe’s father-in-law.
Rav Menachem Mendel of Amshinov zy”a (quoted in Kol Mevaser, Chelek 1) answers that Yisro had two aspects to his life, which are hinted to in this verse. These two things helped him avoid both haughtiness and depression. On the one hand, he had been “the priest of Midyan” and had serve every avodah zara in the world. By remembering this, he would not become haughty. On the other hand, if he ever felt sad about his past, he could remember that he was the father-in-law of Moshe, which would bring him gladness.
This is as Rav Bunim of Peshischa zy”a says that every Jew must have “two bags”. In one “bag”, he should carry around the knowledge that “the world was created just for me”, and if he feels depressed, he should look in this bag. In the other, he should carry around the realization that he is nothing but dust and ashes. If he begins to feel haughty, he should look in this bag.
Yeshua Through Explaining a Pasuk:
Sefer Chakal Yitzchok explains this pasuk by relating a story about Rav Meir of Premishlan zy”a:
One day, when Rav Meir was sitting by his table, he explained a certain pasuk as a means of bringing down yeshuos and brachos to Klal Yisroel. The explanation he said seemed very farfetched and one of those present, a man who was a great talmid chochom, could not understand why he would explain the pasuk in such an unusual way, rather than explaining it according to its simple meaning and then blessing Klal Yisroel with yeshuos and brachos.
Rav Meir understood what he was thinking and said, “The Shulchan Aruch rules (Yoreh Deah 240:11) that if someone sees his father acting in an inappropriate manner, he should not tell him that he is transgressing the words of the Torah. Rather, he should say: ‘Father, this is what it says in the Torah.’ And his father will understand. Hashem is our Father. Therefore, it would be wrong for me to tell Him what to do. Instead, I explain pesukim of the Torah in specific ways and then tell Him that this is stated in the Torah.”
The Chakal Yitzchok adds that this is what Moshe said to Yisro. People come to him to complain about the middas hadin. They come when they have a “davar”, which is reference to Hashem’s strict judgment, and ask Moshe to intercede on their behalf. He then judges “between a man” - this is reference to Hashem, who is called “a Man” (Shemos 15:3) – “and his friend”, which is reference to Klal Yisroel. Moshe judges and rules that Hashem must help them and save them from their suffering. Since it would be wrong to directly tell Hashem what to do, Moshe said that he “makes known what is in the Torah” – he simply quotes the words of the Torah and says that according to those words, Hashem should help Klal Yisroel.
Rebbes Must Fear Heaven, Dayanim Must Hate Money:
The Damesek Eliezer of Vizhnitz zy”a relates (quoted in Sefer Kadosh Yisroel, page 248) that a distinguished Rov once came to his father, the Ahavas Yisroel of Vizhnitz zy”a, and saw that he had a box full of money from “pidyonos” on his table. The Rov jokingly said, “Nu. Soneh betzah... (Isn’t a Rebbe supposed to hate money?)”
The Ahavas Yisroel replied, “The pasuk says to choose ‘men’ of substance who fear G-d, ‘men’... who hate money. Why does it say the word ‘men’ twice? This is a hint that there are two types of men – Rebbes and Rabbanim. ‘Men of substance who fear G-d’ refers to Rebbes, who need to lead the nation and, therefore, must fear Heaven. ‘Men of truth who hate money’ refers to Rabbanim and Dayanim, who need to preside over monetary disputes, and, therefore, must hate money.”
A Dayan Can Promise Wealth:
Rashi states: “Men of truth: These are people who keep their promises, upon whose words one may rely, and thereby, their commands will be obeyed.”
Sefer Yalkut Me’orei Ohr (page 57) relates that a chasid once came for a din Torah before Rav Mordechai Dov of Hornesteipel zy”a, and the ruling was against him. When he heard the ruling, he was so upset that he fainted, as he didn’t have nearly enough money to pay the amount that he now owed.
The Rebbe told him, “Don’t be afraid. Hashem will make you rich and you will be able to fulfill the ruling. Rashi says that Dayanim are men of truth who can keep their promises... I am a Dayan, so I can promise you wealth so that you will be able to pay what you owe according to my ruling.”
Even One Who Fears G-d May Not be Honest:
Sefer Shulchan Hatahor (page 21) relates that Rav Pinchos of Koretz zy”a was once sitting by his tish, when he said, “Rabosai, I was in Gan Eden and I saw a tzadik who has been there for 10 years already but he still has yet to reach the level of understanding the truth!”
The chasidim asked him how this could be. Gan Eden is the World of Truth. If he merited going to Gan Eden, shouldn’t he be able to see the truth?
Rav Pinchos answered, “The pasuk says to choose men of substance who fear Hashem and who are men of truth who hate money. If they are ‘men of substance who fear Hashem’, they clearly are on a lofty level. But it still says that they also need to be ‘men of truth’. This proves that one can reach the level of fearing Hashem without being on the level of knowing the truth.”
Bitachon-Not Lacking Anything:
Rav Henoch of Alexander zy”a (Sefer Chashboh Tova) explains the words “on that day they came to Midbar Sinai” to mean that they reached the level of the desert of Sinai, meaning that they made themselves “hefker” (ownerless) like a desert. Until then, they asked questions on Hashem, such as when they asked “what will we eat?”, and they complained. When they came to receive the Torah, however, they made themselves hefker and accepted everything He said without question.
They trusted fully in Hashem and accepted the fact that they lacked nothing. Rav Henoch adds that this is the true meaning of the word “bitachon”. It does not mean that a person trusts that Hashem will give him what he wants. Rather, it means that one accepts that whatever Hashem gives him is exactly what he needs and he does not lack anything.
Fulfilling the Will of Those Who Fear Him:
The verse in Tehillim (33:17-18) states: “A horse is a false hope for victory, and with his power, he will not escape. Behold, the eye of Hashem is to those who fear Him, to those who hope for His kindness.” Sefer Me’ohr Einayim explains this to mean that victory in war is not dependent on the strength of the horse or the might of an army. Rather, “Hashem’s eye is to those who fear Him”, meaning that He treats a person according to his will. If one fears Him, He will provide that person with whatever he desires.
We learn from this that if a person is in need of a yeshua, his best course of action is to fear Hashem. Once one does this, Hashem will provide him whatever salvation he needs.
The Brachos Will Reach You:
The following incredible story, which was related by the Ben Ish Chai zt”l, depicts how Hashem sends His salvations to people in wondrous ways:
There once was a Jewish man who lacked a good source of livelihood. He decided to advertise himself as a fortune teller who could see into the future and to charge for his services. When people came to him, he would assure them that their future looked bright, that they would be successful, etc., so that they would like what he said and would continue to come back.
One day, thieves broke into the king’s palace and stole some precious treasures. No matter how hard the police investigated, they could not locate the thieves. They had heard about the Jewish fortune teller and informed the king about his supposed abilities. The king summoned him and ordered him to reveal the identities of the thieves. The Jew began to panic, unsure of what to say, as he knew he would be severely punished if he couldn’t come up with an answer.
He told the king, “I can’t answer you right now. I need 30 days to look into it before I can have an answer. I also need 30 apples...”
In those days, apples were a rare and expensive treat. The man thought that if he was going to be killed anyway, he might as well enjoy himself a little first. He came home and gave his mother the apples, and told her what had happened. That night, he ate the first apple and, as he finished it, he said out loud, “I finished one.”
Meanwhile, the thieves had heard that the king had hired a fortune teller to find them. One of them was sent to stand outside the door and spy on him, to determine if he really had the ability to identify them. When he heard him call out that he had finished one, he thought he meant that he had figured out the identity of one of the thieves, assuming it was himself. He ran back to his friends and reported to their leader what he had heard.
The next day, another thief was sent to spy on the Jew. That evening, he ate a second apple and said, “I finished two!” This thief also got scared that his intent was that he had discovered his identity.
On the third day, the leader of the thieves went himself to spy. When he heard the Jew say, “I finished the third one!”, he thought that he himself had been identified. In a panic, he ran into the Jew’s house and confessed that he and his friends had stolen the king’s treasures. He promised to return everything and begged him not to turn them in. Thus, on the designated day, the Jew returned all the stolen treasures to the king, and earned the king’s admiration for doing so.
The king was tremendously impressed by the man and, at a gathering of his friends, he greatly praised him and his abilities. The king’s friends were skeptical and said that they wanted to test him out themselves. They asked to meet him, and messengers were sent to bring him to the palace.
Right before he came, the king’s friends attempted to trap some birds. The first two birds escaped, but they managed to catch the third one. When the man was brought before them, they asked him, “What were we doing right before you got here?” He thought and thought but he could not come up with a good response. Finally, he blurted out, “The bird got away twice, but it was caught on the third time!” He actually was referring to himself. He meant to say that he managed to save himself once or twice, but he was now caught, with no way out. However, everyone else thought he had successfully deduced what they had done. They were amazed by him and gave him many gifts.
A short while later, the man hurried to the palace and asked to speak with the king. The guards refused to let him in and said that the king was taking a bath at that time. He ignored them and ran through the door. He found the king preparing to take a bath, ran over to him and slapped him. He then fled.
The king was shocked and he ran after him. As soon as he exited the room he was in, the roof caved in. The Jew had saved him from being crushed to death! The king asked him, “How did you know this was about to happen?”
The man replied, “I can’t reveal that secret to you.”
“But why did you slap me?” the king asked.
The Jew answered, “If I had told you that you needed to run outside, you would have asked me what was going on and by the time I answered you, the roof would have fallen already.”
The Ben Ish Chai concluded by saying, “When Hashem wants to help a person, the person doesn’t need to possess much talent, wisdom or intellect. Hashem just takes care of him in ways that could never be foreseen. This is as is stated (Devarim 25:2): ‘All the blessings will come to you and reach you.’ Even if a person runs away from the brachos of Hashem, if He wants to give them to him, they will reach him.”
The Reward for Bitachon:
In regards to bitachon, Rabenu Bechaya (Kad Hakemach, Erech Bitachon) writes that even if a person tries to do something and is unsuccessful, if he trusts fully in Hashem he will be rewarded for his bitachon and he will receive something even better than what he wanted to receive from the action he undertook.
If one is successful at what he tries to do and also has bitachon, he will have double reward – as he will have both his success and the reward for his bitachon, but even if one isn’t successful he still did not lose out, as he still has the reward for his bitachon.
Bitachon Even There Seems Like No Solution:
Rabenu Yona (Mishlei 3) writes as follows: The mitzvah of bitachon is to know with one’s heart that everything is in Hashem’s hands and that He can change nature and change one’s mazal. It means to recognize that nothing stands in the way of Hashem because He is all-powerful. One should trust in Him during all times of pain and suffering and know that He can send salvation in the blink of an eye. Therefore, one should anticipate His salvation, even if a sharp sword is upon his neck, as is stated (Tehillim 62:9): “Trust in Hashem at all times.” This means that one should trust in Hashem even in times of suffering, when one does not know how he can possibly be saved. The pasuk says (Yeshaya 26:4): “Trust in Hashem very much because Hashem is the creator of the world.” He created this world and the world to come and everything is in His hands. Therefore, trust in Him because He can do anything.
From the following amazing story, we see how one can be saved by Hashem even when there is seemingly no hope. Therefore one should always have bitachon in Him:
During the Holocaust, there were two friends who were sent to a concentration camp. One of them lost his emunah completely, while the other remained strong in his faith. The man who had lost his emunah would constantly antagonize his friend and say, “Can’t you see where we are? How can you still believe?”
His friend would answer with unwavering bitachon, “I believe in Hashem with emunah sheleimah. I trust that we will be saved.”
One day, they both were taken into the gas chamber and the door was closed behind them. As they waited for the gas to turn on and kill them at any moment, the first man turned to the second and asked, “Do you still believe in G-d?”
His friend answered, “Yes. I believe that Hashem can do anything. If He wants, He can save us even now!”
Just then, a wagon full of dead bodies that the Nazis were taken to be burned flipped over and they needed several Jews to help them turn it back over. They opened the door to the gas chamber and brought out one of the men to do this job. The man they took out was the Jew who remained firm in his emunah, and he ultimately survived the war.
Hishtadlus Does Not Help:
The Gemara (Sukkah 53A) relates the story of Elicharaf and Achiyah, who were scribes for Shlomo Hamelech.
One day Shlomo saw that the Malach Hamaves was sad. He asked him why he was said, and the Agen of Death answered that he had been commanded to bring to Heaven the souls of the two scribes, as it was their time to die.
When Shlomo heard this, he sent the two scribes to the city of Luz, as the Malach Hamaves had no power of this city and the people there could not be taken by him. However, when they reached the gates to the city, before having the chance to enter, they died.
The next day, Shlomo saw that the Malach Hamaves was happy. He asked him why he was happy, and the Angel of Death answered, “You sent the two scribes to the places I was told to take them from.”
Immediately, Shlomo began to speak and said, “The feet of a person are responsible for him; to the place where he is in demand, there they lead him.”
The Maharsha zt”l explains that Shlomo Hamelech mistakenly thought that Malach Hamaves was sad that he had to kill these good people. Therefore, he quickly sent them to Luz, where they would be safe. The truth was, however, that the Malach Hamaves was sad because he had been ordered to kill those two people in a specific place, and he didn’t know how to get them there. And, in the end, Shlomo brought them to the exact place where the Angel of Death needed them to be.
We see that Shlomo did his hishtadlus to save these people, but it ended up backfiring. In the end, his hishtadlus caused them to die. This proves that even the wisest man in the world cannot do anything to stop a Divine decree. Not only did his hishtadlus to stop it not help, it actually caused harm. Therefore, one should trust in Hashem and not make think that he has the ability to do any hishtadlus of his own to change the course of events.
