Shemen Rosh says, Yitro was unsure as to whether he’d be accepted into Bnei Yisrael. Throughout the time Moshe Rabbeinu lived in his house, Yitro remained on the outside, just as he did when Hakadosh Baruch Hu punished the Egyptians and took Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. It was only prior to, or just after, Ma’amad Har Sinai that Yitro made the move to convert, as reflected by the seudah held for the occasion.
Yitro suspected that the miraculous event of Kriyat Yam Suf would trigger many seeking to join Bnei Yisrael and he feared the admission criteria would be tightened to the point an idol worshiper like him would be rejected. It’s one thing to accept someone who worshipped an idol or two, but Yitro worshipped them all! Wood, stone, sky, water, stars – absolutely everything other than Hakadosh Baruch Hu was in his repertoire, and he was sure they’d reject him as he finally reached his last resort.
וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ – Yitro heard how Hakadosh Baruch Hu saved Bnei Yisrael despite they, too, being idol worshippers at the lowest level of impurity in Egypt. How do we know this?
וַיִּסַּע מַלְאַךְ הָאֱלֹהִים – the element of Din (אֱלֹהִים) was harsh with Bnei Yisrael as they stood at the foot of Yam Suf. The sar (minister) of Egypt lobbied a legitimate claim to Hakadosh Baruch Hu: Why should Bnei Yisrael be saved from the Egyptians when both were idol worshipers?
We’re then told וּפַרְעֹה הִקְרִיב. If referring to Pharoah drawing near, it should say וּפַרְעֹה קָרַב. The meaning here is that Pharoah drew them near. He sparked Teshuva from Bnei Yisrael, and they were forgiven for worshipping idols and drew nearer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as a result. The argument of Egypt’s sar was no longer valid, and the sea therefore split. Yitro witnessed this and determined he, too, could be accepted into Bnei Yisrael despite his past.
But Yitro then asked himself, “What if I return to idolatry in the future?” It happens to many Ba’alei Teshuva and Yitro feared such a possibility would affect his entry into Bnei Yisrael. This is why Yitro heard not only Kriyat Yam Suf but also the war with Amalek, as the latter addressed his concerns about relapsing. How so? Bnei Yisrael crossed Yam Suf after performing Teshuva, but mere days later they sat in Refidim and asked: הֲיֵשׁ ה' בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ אִם־אָיִן – Is the Lord among us, or not? After witnessing the miracles at Yam Suf with their own eyes only to question Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s presence hours later, it would be understandable, if not expected, for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to reject them this second time around and let them be defeated by Amalek. Nonetheless, they were victorious as soon as they looked up at Moshe’s raised arms, meaning, as they turned their eyes upward and subjected their hearts to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Their Teshuva was once again accepted, and Yitro was witness to this. On Yom Kippur we recite כִּי אַתָּה סָלְחָן לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וּמַחֲלָן לְשִׁבְטֵי יְשֻׁרוּן – referring to Hakadosh Baruch Hu not as the One who forgave us and pardoned us once or twice, but rather the One who continuously forgives and pardons us, time after time.
A second answer from Shemen Rosh is that וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ does not refer to Yitro hearing the original Kriyat Yam Suf. Everyone in the world heard that, so there’s no need to call out Yitro having heard it. He heard an additional Kriyat Yam Suf. A second Kriyat Yam Suf was performed for Datan and Aviram! Maharil Diskin, and the sefer Tz'enah Ur'enah – a Yiddish chumash with Midrashim that my mother a”h would learn from on Shabbat alongside her Yiddish siddur, Korban Mincha – says the two were trapped in Egypt after Bnei Yisrael left. They didn’t originally want to leave but after realizing they were the last two Jews in a not-so-friendly country, and without even a Beth Chabad to visit, they thought the better of it and scurried out. Hakadosh Baruch Hu again split the sea for them to cross through and catch up, despite all the problems they were destined to cause. Yitro saw this and determined that if Hakadosh Baruch Hu went to that extent for two scoundrels, there was certainly a good place for him in the nation.
But there’s one problem with the above explanation. Datan and Aviram were rotten to the core, but they were not idol worshipers like Yitro, the High Priest of Midian. In Shemen Rosh’s second answer, this is where Amalek comes into the picture and why Yitro also needed that event. When Amalek attacked Bnei Yisrael, they were under the cover of the Ananei Hakavod – the Clouds of Glory and nobody could enter or leave, let alone fight through it.
אָנִי חֹתֶנְךָ יִתְרוֹ בָּא אֵלֶיךָ – Rashi says, Yitro couldn’t enter on this own and had to send a messenger to inform his son-in-law of his arrival, prompting Moshe to come out and get him. The messenger was from the tribe of Dan, who were camped on the outside of the cloud due to their idolatry but had a pass to enter should important questions arise for Moshe to handle. (Another explanation brought by the Tanchuma is that Yitro wrote a letter, wrapped it around an arrow, and fired it through the clouds to the attention of Moshe. Thus, the string of the bow is referred to as the יֶתֶר or מֵיתָר.) Yitro witnessed who Amalek was physically attacking: כָּל־הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִים אַחֲרֶיךָ – the stragglers in the rear, the outcast idol worshipers. Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent Moshe and Yehoshua to battle Amalek and save even idol worshipers, and thus, Yitro knew he’d have a new home.
Rabbotai, I would like to switch gears slightly. Our Parsha, featuring Ma'amad Har Sinai, begins by highlighting Yitro's act of listening to teach us the path to growth in Torah, becoming a person of Torah, and meriting Torah, is through the pursuit of Emet (Truth).
Three Rabbanim on the Attribute of Truth
שְׁלוֹשָׁה מַלְאָכִים בְּסִגְנוֹן אֶחָד – three rabbanim deliver this same idea to us: Rav Elya Lopian (Lev Eliyahu), Rabbi Shraga Grossbard (Da'at Shraga), and Rabbi Shlomo Assouline (Maayan Ganim). The first time we’re introduced to Yitro is back in Parshat Shemot, when Moshe escaped to Midian and rescued his daughters. But there was an earlier instance, according to the Gemara (Sotah 11a). Yitro was one of Pharoah’s three advisors in Egypt, together with Bilaam and Iyov (although one opinion has Iyov and Amalek switching seats). When the decree to throw all newborn males into the Nile was set, a total of four voices were in the room – three advisors and Pharoah. It was Bilaam who proposed the decree and Pharoah immediately voted in favor. Iyov then abstained, leaving Yitro in a lame-duck position – his vote could not possibly affect the outcome. What did he do? He stormed out of the meeting. He would not take part in such a debate or be part of such a decision.
Chazal say the fate of these advisors was determined right then and there. Bilaam was killed by Pinchas as punishment for proposing the decree, and Iyov experienced a range of inflictions for remaining indifferent and abstaining. The Brisker Rav asks what harm was done by abstaining and answers that screaming was necessary. When in pain, we scream despite it not helping matters or eliminating the root cause, and so it was required here too, as pain should have been felt when picturing Jewish babies being drowned. And what was Yitro’s fate? The Gemara says, because he refused to take part, his sons merited sitting amongst the Sanhedrin. What is the connection between his response and the Sanhedrin? We’ll come back to this in a moment.
Several years later, after Moshe Rabbeinu was rescued from the Nile, another cabinet meeting was held, this time with all the sorcerers and magicians invited. At this meeting, little Moshe sat on Pharoah’s lap, listening to the all the arguments. Clearly bored, he turned around and took the crown off of Pharoah’s head to place it on his own, in front of a shocked audience. How did they respond? Half jumped up and made a motion for Pharoah to kill Moshe, while the other half took it a step further and proposed Moshe be burned so that no trace remains. Yitro raised his hand and asked why that was necessary. It was a small child who moved the crown, what was the big deal? The room stated that Moshe was clearly indicating a desire to rule over Egypt, to which Yitro replied, “He’s three years old! He has no clue what he’s doing! If you bring him a plate of silver coins and hot coals, he’ll probably reach for the coals!” They took Yitro up on his idea and placed a plate of coins and coal in front of the child. Moshe, with the assistance of an angel’s slight nudge, reached out to grab ahold of some hot coal. If we ever did that, or when our Chanukah shamash is down to its last centimeter, we immediately drop it, wave our fingers around in the air, and run for water. What did Moshe do? He placed the hot coals in his mouth and swished them around! Shach al HaTorah says he did so to purify his mouth after having had the milk of Egyptian mothers forced into it prior to Miriam arranging for Yocheved, his mother, to feed him. His mouth needed hagalah (ritual immersion in boiling water) before it could speak with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
What drove Yitro's actions? Amidst the chaos, with voices clamoring for the boy's death by either execution or burning, he should have remained silent and gone with the flow. What motivated Yitro to put himself at risk by being the sole dissenter in a hostile environment? מִדַּת הָאֱמֶת – the attribute of truth. It was Yitro’s character that did not allow him to accept that the children be killed, neither then nor now.
Look back at our introduction to Yitro in Midian. Due to his righteousness and abandonment of idolatry, the townsmen put him in cherem – nobody was allowed to talk to him, work with him, or help him. He lost his job, and his daughters were forced to do the family’s shepherding, tormented by all the locals! Despite the struggle and costs associated with his stance, he stayed true to it because Emet was his attribute. He didn’t fake it by pretending to be one of them in public before quietly entering his house and secretly putting on a large kippah and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. He didn’t wait to marry off his daughters before revealing his newfound direction. Everything was done with Emet, no matter the cost. Everything was done with truth.
What happens to one who walks that path of Emet and doesn’t stray? Yitro merited Pinchas as a grandchild, grandchildren who sat on the Sanhedrin, and מֹשֶׁה אֱמֶת וְתוֹרָתוֹ אֱמֶת as his son-in-law! Moshe himself was born from that same attribute of Emet. Amram – who was one of only four to die without sin – accepted the suggestion of his young daughter, Miriam, that divorcing his wife due to Pharaoh's decree was harsher than the decree itself. Amram remarried, setting an example for the people to follow, and showing the value of Emet through his readiness to selflessly accept truthful counsel. And the guidance given by such a person of Emet is accepted right away, just as it was at the opening of our Parsha when Yitro showed up and suggested 78,600 judges be appointed in one day. Truth is truth. The Torah begins with the three letters of Emet – א'בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים ת'בְּרֵאשִׁית – and the Parsha of Matan Torah begins with Yitro, whose attribute of Emet was on full display.
Just as at Ma’amad Har Sinai all the cholim of Bnei Yisrael were healed, let us daven that Hakadosh Baruch Hu heals the wounded of our people – all the soldiers who lost limbs and sight and hearing should all be given a full refuah, and Bnei Yisrael should enter the month of Adar seeing a world of Emet around us with the arrival of Mashiach Tzidkeinu.
