Dear Friends;
I hope you will enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell “
Hearing of the miracles G-d performed for Benei Yisrael, Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro arrives with Moshe’s wife and sons, reuniting the family in the wilderness. Yitro is so impressed by Moshe’s detailing of the Exodus from Egypt that he converts to Judaism. Seeing that the only judicial authority for the entire Jewish nation is Moshe himself, Yitro suggests that subsidiary judges be appointed to judge smaller matters, leaving Moshe free to attend to larger issues. Moshe accepts his advice.
Benei Israel arrive at Mt. Sinai where G-d offers them the Torah. After they accept, G-d charges Moshe to instruct the people not to approach the mountain, and to prepare for three days. On the third day, amidst thunder and lightning, G-d’s voice emanates from the smoky mountain and He speaks to the Jewish People, giving them the Ten Commandments:
1. Believe in G-d
2. Don’t worship other “gods”
3. Don’t use G-d’s name in vain
4. Observe Shabbat
5. Honor your parents
6. Don’t murder
7. Don’t commit adultery
8. Don’t steal (kidnap)
9. Don’t testify falsely
10. Don’t covet
After receiving the first two commandments, the Jewish People, overwhelmed by this experience of the Divine, request that Moshe relay G-d’s word to them. G-d instructs Moshe to caution the Jewish People regarding their responsibility to be faithful to the One who spoke to them.
” Dvar Torah “
In this week’s Parsha, there are two important topics which are discussed. One is the establishment of the judiciary system by Yitro, Moshe’s father in law, a Midianite priest, and the second one is when G-d reveals himself at Mount Sinai, makes a covenant with the Israelites and gives them the Ten Commandments. The Chachamim say that the topics discussed in each Parsha are always related to each other. So, what’s the connection between an advice of a Midianite in regards to judiciary system and receiving the world’s most famous code of ethics, the Ten Commandments given by the G-d Almighty himself?
Well, in the first episode, Yitro arrives to visit his son in law and finds him leading alone. He says, “What you are doing is not good”. This is one of only two instances in the whole Torah in which the words “lo tov”, not good, appear. The other is in the book of Bereshit where G-d says, “It is not good [lo tov] for man to be alone.” We cannot lead alone. We cannot live alone. To be alone is not good. Yitro then proposes the following delegation. ‘You must be the people’s representative before G-d and bring their disputes to him. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear G-d, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.’
This is a very demanding proposal. It means that among every thousand Israelites, there are 131 leaders (one head of a thousand, ten heads of a hundred, twenty heads of fifty and a hundred head of tens). One in every eight adult male Israelites was expected to undertake some form of leadership role. And we see later on that Hashem approves Yitro’s proposal.
In the next episode, prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai, G-d commands Moshe to propose a covenant with the Israelites first. In his statement, Hashem relates the following to the Jewish people:
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
A very powerful statement. What it means is that although every nation has designated priests, yet Israel is different. Israel was to become a nation that every one of whose members was to be a priest; each of whose citizens was called on to be holy, since Hashem was talking to every single Jew!
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks makes an interesting discovery. What Yitro’s advice and the revelation at Sinai have in common is namely the delegation, distribution and democratization of leadership. Only God can rule alone! In both episodes, he says that ALL the Benei Israel are asked to act as leaders or priests! Although we have designated leaders and the Kohanim who act as our Priests, but every Jew is expected to take part in leadership in one way or another. And this is what distinguishes us from the other nations! We are all holy; we are all priests; we are all leaders! And this is why Korach challenged Moshe, but did it in a wrong way!
Yes my friends, we are a nation of leaders! Jews constitute only the tiniest fragment – one fifth of one per cent – of the population of the world, but an extraordinarily high percentage of leaders in any given field of human endeavour. But with being leaders, has it’s problems too. It’s very difficult to lead a nation of leaders! Leaders don’t like to follow other leaders! Moshe had a very difficult time leading the Jews. In Israel, every government falls after a short period of time because everyone wants to be the leader. No one wants to follow! As Chaim Weitzmann, first president of Israel, famously said, “I head a nation of a million presidents.” The Lord may be our shepherd, but no Jew was ever a sheep!
We learn from Yitro that it’s good to distribute leadership among the people. Everyone should try to lead in one way or another. But this system only works if we respect our designated leaders! Whether it’s our home, our Kanissa, our community or our State, we have to respect the head of the house or the elected leaders! Leaders are not perfect and they sometimes do mistakes, but they still deserve the respect of a leader! If we can do this and we can get along with each other, then we can continue to be a strong nation of Leaders and Priests!
Shabbat Shalom &Regards;
Martin
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