The Torah column is supported by a generous donation from Eve Gordon-Ramek in memory of Kenneth Gordon.
Yitro
Exodus 18:1-20:23
This Torah portion, named for Moses’ father-in-law, reminds us of the great contribution that Yitro (or Jethro) made to the development of Israelite society. His influence continues until today.
In this portion, Moses explains to Yitro all that he has been doing — and how overwhelmed he feels. Yitro insists that Moses needs help to be a more effective leader. He instructs Moses to create a legal system in which judges will be able to adjudicate disputes between people. This ancient legal system is similar to our modern American judicial system. By creating a structure in which members of a society are responsible for ensuring that their aggrieved neighbors can be heard, we become responsible to each other for justice.
The system that Yitro and Moses established is both practical and important. And how fascinating that this is the very first thing that happens in the development of our people after we are freed from slavery. In order to create a new and autonomous society, the first thing we needed was a system of law.
Just last week, in Beshalach, the Israelites went free after 400 years of Egyptian slavery by crossing through the parted Red Sea. After 10 plagues, Pharaoh finally relented, agreeing that the Israelites could leave — but how would this happen? God instructed Moses to raise his arm, thereby parting the sea. And the Israelites would escape just before the sea closed, killing the Egyptian soldiers and horses who chased behind them.
Imagine the fear and confusion our ancestors must have felt as they headed out at night toward the Red Sea. How would they cross? The Egyptian army was coming up behind them and the sea was impassable. How would they survive? It took a miracle. God made the sea part — and our story of survival began. The story of our miraculous exodus from Egypt is the foundation myth of our people, the basic story of our identity. It’s who we are. And everything we’ve done since came from this miracle.
Once we crossed to the other side of the sea, however, the difficult work of forming a society would have to begin. After centuries of slavery, we had no laws of our own to guide us. We would need to build an autonomous society, in which we could begin the journey of becoming a free people.
In this week’s portion, Yitro immediately helps Moses to set up a legal system for our newly freed ancestors: the basis of the society we would build. But what laws were they applying? Even before the establishment of all the laws that would come later in the Torah and Talmud, human encounters and human nature required a structure, a way to help people figure out how to live together fairly.
At the end of Yitro, the Ten Commandments are given. God sends an instruction to have the people prepare themselves to receive these fundamental laws. After three days, amid thunder and lightning, the Ten Commandments are delivered. And these 10 basic moral laws will allow for the development of our entire autonomous Israelite society.
So why weren’t the Ten Commandments given at the very beginning of this Torah portion? Why did we need a legal system before having specific laws to apply? Though much has changed over the last thousands of years, some things have not. Human nature is still pretty much the same as it always was. Siblings still have a hard time getting along. Families still have jealousies and perceived blessings and curses. From the beginning of time until now, people have struggled with interpersonal relations. That’s human nature!
It’s interesting that our fundamental moral code came about after the development of our first legal system. Struggles between people are innate. The ways we deal with those struggles require intentional structures to allow us to interact. The rest of Jewish history from the Exodus until today has been about the ongoing refinement of laws which define who we really are as a people.
This Torah portion allows us to witness the earliest moments of the development of our people. Yitro was a Midianite priest who had a huge influence on the creation of Israelite society. His inspiring vision immediately took us from slavery into a new reality — one in which people could speak freely and seek justice. From there, we’ve never stopped building on the laws that define who we are — and what we believe to be true.