"Be the thermostat"
וַיֹּאמֶר חֹתֵן משֶׁה אֵלָיו לֹא טוֹב הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה:
17. Moses' father in law said to him, "The thing you are doing is not good.
In this parsha, Yitro seems to have a rather small part, so why do we name the Parsha after him? Naming the Parsha after the Luchot would seem to be more appropriate! Rashi even adds that this Parsha was written out of order--that the Luchot story happened before Yitro's scene, so why does the Torah go out of its way to name the Parsha after Yitro?
Rabbit Lipschitz brings a Mashal of a Jew asking a man for help. The Jew brings the man into his house and explains that his thermometer is broken. The man is puzzled, and explains that the Jew means to say that his thermostat is broken. The Jew then says that they are basically the same thing, and then the man explains that the Jew is wrong. A thermometer only measures the temperature; whereas the thermostat measures the temperatureand then does something about it.
So, Yitro is like the Thermostat because he was able to see the problem facing Moshe, and fix it.
What could be another reason as to why this Parsha is called Parshat Yitro? Are there other reasons why we view Yitro in such a positive light? What other Parshas are possibly written out of order?
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe says that Yitro was a searcher for truth. He resigned his prestigious position as Pharaoh's advisor when his advice to spare the Jews was not listened to. Yitro investigated every form of idol worship and tried out every cult, even fattening up animals to sacrifice them to the gods.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, Yitro rejected all idolatry, and when he heard about the miracles of Yitziat Mitzraim, he ran to the wilderness to join the Jewish people.
This Parsha is named Yitro to teach us that the way to acquire Torah is to follow the ways of Yitro. Search for truth and be critical. Reject falsehood. And when you discover truth, be ready to sacrifice everything for it.
Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair says that the reason the Parsha is named after Yitro, is because when Yitro was told about yitziat mitzrayim and the miracles Hashem had performed for Bnei Yisroel, he was so happy he literally felt physically elated. It even says in the passuk he had "gooseflesh". Yitro's reaction is so extreme (in a good way), and Bnei Yisroel has never been described as having a reaction like that. Sure, they're the servants of G-d, but they've literally run away from G-d (har sinai) doubted his abilities (the man) etz, and have not once been described as being so happy from G-d's miracles that they feel it physically.
ReplyDeleteThere are two possible ways of attaining faith in Hashem. One is found in the generation of people that left mitzrayim, who saw such great miracles so clearly by the hand of Hashem that it would be impossible to say that Hashem doesn't exist. We see this when it says that Hashem held the mountain over them- the Jews had no choice not to accept it because they themselves had seen Hashem's existence so clearly.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is another way to become a believer in Hashem, and Yitro demonstrates that. Rashi says that before coming to join the Jews, Yitro had experienced every type of avoda zara. After he heard about all the miracles Hashem did, he decided to come join the Jews, but even then he was not completely sure, because he had only heard about the miracles and not experienced them for himself, so he had doubts. This is why the Torah talks about Yitro before it talks about Matan Torah- Hashem wants us to know that Yitro's faith is completely legitimate. Matan Torah was the only time that Hashem spoke to the entire Jewish people, and for the later generations like us who only heard about it and didn't experience it, it's harder to have faith. The torah places so much emphasis on Yitro to tell us that his way of getting faith is great- believing even though he never saw any outright display of Hashem. This shows us that having a lot of doubts and questions is perfectly fine- worthy even of having an entire parsha named after him.
An interesting article on jpost presents an explanation of why this parsha is called Yitro. Yitro comes to Bnei Yisrael because he heard all that Hashem had done for them. Was he the only one that heard about the great miracles of Yetziat Mitzrayim and Makot? No, in last week's parsha it says that all the nations heard. Yitro was the only person who heard the story and took it to heart, which is why this week's Parsha is named after him.
ReplyDeleteWhy is such a significant parsha named after Yitro?
ReplyDeleteRabbi Abraham Twersky brings an idea from the Gemara regarding this question. It says that Yitro comes from the word yeter, which means extra or additional. Yitro is honored because he added an additional portion to the Torah. Yitro saw that Moshe was occupied dealing with all the peoples’ complaints and problems so he proposed an idea. He said to appoint a hierarchy of judges/a system of courts to manage everyones problems. Yitro added a portion to this parsha when he proposed this idea to Moshe. So, because Yitro added a significant part to the parsha, he is honored by having the parsha named after him.
http://www.aish.com/tp/b/lp/48942676.html-
ReplyDelete"This Parsha is named Yitro to teach us that the way to acquire Torah is to follow the ways of Yitro. Search for truth and be critical. Reject falsehood. And when you discover truth, be ready to sacrifice everything for it! (Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe)"
The Rabbis in the Gemara discuss Yitro and his quest for truth. (Mesechet Zevachim 116a) They say that he heard the various miracles, such as the splitting of the seas, the giving of the Torah, and the war with Amalek. (The gemara concludes that he heard about the splitting of the seas.) What he heard about caused him to convert to Judiasm. Rabbi Bernie Fox, Principal at Northwest Yeshiva HS in Washington suggests that this is why the parsha is named after him. Bnai Yisrael have been through a lot of struggles in the desert and they are about to receive the Ten Commandments. Their faith has wavered, a constant ebb and flow of doubt and belief in God. Seeing that Yitro, as an outsider to the community, could come to believe in God helped bolster Bnei Yisrael's faith during this transformative time, hence his deserving to have a parsha titled in his name.
ReplyDelete"When Yitro heard of the Exodus and the miracles that were performed for the Jewish People his happiness was so great that he felt physically elated, like someone who weeps or faints through being overwhelmed with the emotion of unexpected joy. Literally, his flesh started to prickle. He had gooseflesh. (18:9) No such extreme reaction characterizes the response of the Jewish People. They believed in G-d and Moshe, His servant, sure, but there is no mention of a similar visceral reaction like that of Yitro.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it takes a foreign eye to see exactly what you have. The following is a true story:
I come from a totally secular Israeli home. By secular I mean atheist. We held no religious beliefs at all, and no Jewish traditions and practices were kept. Yom Kippur was ignored, and I didn't even celebrate my bar mitzvah.
When I was 16 I began to search for some kind of meaning to life, although at the time I didn't call it that since I didn't realize what I was doing. I liked rebels and I started hanging out with all kinds of different people. I dressed and acted like a kind of hippie, and caused no end of embarrassment to my parents. I didn't believe in anything. I roamed around the country with all the strange characters who were my friends. I could fill a book with my adventures from then.
At the age of 21, I packed my bags and set off for India to look for truth. In my quest for meaning, there was no commune or ashram that I did not visit. I got to know many gurus personally. Only someone who has spent time in India can really understand the magnetic force of these communes.
My roaming and searching continued and eventually I went to visit the Dalai Lama himself. I was captivated by the Dalai Lama's personality, by his wisdom and intelligence. I would rise early each morning and attend his daily sermon at 4:30am. As far as I was concerned, he was a human being without any blemishes.
(Continued...)
ReplyDeleteBack home in Israel, my parents were worried about me. My father sent me a letter saying he had heard that I had "freaked out," afraid that I'd really gone crazy. I sent a polite letter back assuring him that I wasn't crazy but that I was now at a major crossroads in my life. As I mailed the letter I realized that the very wording of my letter would convince my father that I had indeed gone crazy!
The same evening I approached one of the Dalai Lama's assistants and asked for a private audience with the Dalai Lama the next morning after his sermon. The following morning I entered his chambers. He was a gentleman who greeted everyone who came to see him. He bowed to me and offered me a seat. My words poured forth as I told him that I saw truth and meaning in his religion and that I decided to adopt it if he would accept me.
"Where are you from," he asked me.
"Israel."
He looked at me. "Are you Jewish?"
"Yes," I replied.
His reaction surprised me. His expression turned from friendly to puzzled, with even a tinge of anger. He told me that he did not understand my decision, and that he would not permit me to carry it out.
I was stunned. What did he mean?
"All religions are an imitation of Judaism," he stated. "I am sure that when you lived in Israel, your eyes were closed. Please take the first plane back to Israel and open your eyes. Why settle for an imitation when you can have the real thing?"
His words spun around in my head the whole day. I thought to myself: I am a Jew and an Israeli, but I know nothing about my own religion. Did I have to search and wander the whole world only to be told that I was blind and that the answers I was seeking were to be found on my own doorstep?
I did what the Dalai Lama told me to do. I immediately flew back to Israel and entered a yeshiva. And, as he told me to do, I opened my eyes. I began to see the Dalai Lama had indeed been correct. I discovered Judaism and its vitality, and that it encompassed everything in life. I embraced its laws and found many reasons to live at least 613 reasons! And I found joy.
Two years later someone suggested a shidduch (arranged meeting). Anat was a young woman of my age who was also a ba'alat teshuvah, a returnee to traditional Judaism. She too had been to Goa and other places in India to search for answers, and she too had found them back in Israel, in the religion of Israel. We clicked immediately. We had gone through the same search for meaning, and the same return to our roots. Eventually, Anat and I got engaged.
When I went to offer a gift to the matchmaker, she refused to accept anything, saying that she didn't deserve it.
"But it's customary to give the matchmaker a gift -- and I want to do it."
"You are quite right, but in this case I am not the matchmaker," she replied simply.
"What do you mean?"
(continued again...)
ReplyDelete"I'll tell you. Anat came to me and showed me a piece of paper with a name in it. She asked me to introduce her to the person whose name was written there. She knew nothing at all about that person, but said that she had been given his name by someone she trusts completely... It was your name."
After the engagement party, Anat and I went for a walk.
"Tell me," I said, "how did this shidduch come about? I want to know who gave you my name, so that I can pay him."
Anat said "I haven't told you yet that at the end of my wandering, I went to the Dalai Lama. I was very impressed by him and all he embodied and I decided to join his religion. When I told him he said, 'Anat, since you are Jewish you should not settle for silver if you can have gold.' He told me to return to my roots and then in a whisper, he asked one of his assistants to bring him a piece of paper. The Dalai Lama then copied the name that was there onto another piece of paper, and handed it to me. 'This is your soul mate,' he told me.
With a smile, Anat said to me, "So you will have to travel to India to pay the shadchan."
Anat and I have been married for three years now and we have been blessed with two wonderful children. I am immersed in Torah study, and Anat is a wonderful wife and mother. And our parents, you may be wondering, how did they accept all this? Our parents are educated, well-to-do people whose way of life is very different from ours, but they are impressed by our lifestyle and the close relationship between us. And they know the role the Dalai Lama had in all of this."
Sometimes it takes a "priest of Midian" to remind us that we have the gold."
Vitro served as a reminder that we are the lucky ones, we are the ones who have chosen Hashem.
Ariella Rand
ReplyDeleteRabbi shlomo wolbe: Yitro tried out every religion and way of worshiping and in the end he heard about Israel's miracles and chose to go with them. So it is named after him to tell us to act like him, to search for the truth every if there is rejection and when you finally find the truth to sacrifice anything for it
Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair says that sometimes you need someone else's view to realize all that you have been blessed with. He brings an example: someone who has an amazing view from their window gets used to it after a while, but every time someone new visits the house and comment on the view, the person who sees the view every day is reminded of how beautiful the view is that he takes for granted. But why do we name the parsha after a non-Jewish "Kohen" who worshipped every idol imaginable? When Yitro heard about the miracles that Hashem performed for B"Y he was elated and it says that he had goosebumps. Yitro, a non-Jewish priest had a better reaction than B"Y, the nation who followed the G-d who had the power to perform such miracles. Sometimes it takes an outsiders view to show you what you really have. We name the parsha after Yitro to use as a constant reminder of what we have been blessed with.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteYitro was known as a searcher for truth. He studied all kinds of idolatry. When Yitro heard about yetziat mitzraim and all of the miracles, he was overwhelmed with emotion and joy, the most extreme reaction over any jew had. He saw that this was the truth. Sometimes it takes an outsider to see how good you have it. Yitro does not need to follow these rules, but he considers them the truth. Hashem is not his God, but he believes in him because of all the miracles he's preformed although he hadn't experienced them first hand. He shows more faith than some people of bnei yisroel who have.
It seems peculiar that this parsha would be named after Yitro, a convert. However, there are a few significant reasons as to why we give Yitro such an honor. One reason offered on aish.com is that Yitro always sought after the truth. For example, before converting, Yitro tried out many different nations but never felt quite right about any of them until he came to Bnei Yisroel. This week's parsha is named Yitro to teach us that by following the ways of Yitro, we are following the ways of the Torah. We must always seek the truth and be critical until we find it. Additionally, Yitro teaches us that when we find the truth, we must be willing to sacrifice everything to attain it. Yitro left his whole life behind after finding the Jewish people. Rashi says that when Yitro heard the story of Exodus, he had goose bumps from being inspired. Overall, in this week's parsha Yitro serves as a role model for the Jewish people due to the sacrifices he was willing to make in order to attain the truth.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Chaim Walder says that Yitro is significant because he reminded and showed the Jews how important Judaism is. The Jews were taking it for granted, and Yitro's joining of them reminded them and showed them through his eyes how special their religion was.
ReplyDeleteChana Ingber
ReplyDeleteYitro was always looking for the truth, and to do the right thing. He had been an adviser for paroh, but stepped down when Paroh wouldn't free the jews. He tried all different types of Avodah Zara. In the end, he got no where with these Gods, and decided to go to the desert. The parsha is named Yitro because we should learn from him to be able to distinguish right from wrong, and true from false, and be willing to sacrifice everything for torah.