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Who was Jethro?
This Shabbat, we read in the Torah of the most important
event in Jewish history---the event that birthed us as a nation,
the event that defines our Jewishness to this very day: G-d's
revelation to us at Mount Sinai, where He declared us His
chosen people and gave us the Torah.
Each Shabbat on the Jewish calendar has a name. Usually,
it is called by the name of the Torah reading (parsha) that
is studied that week and publicly read that Shabbat morning
in the synagogue: the Shabbat after Simchat Torah, on which
the first section of the annual Torah reading cycle, Bereishit
(Genesis 1-6), is read, is called Shabbat Bereishit, the next
Shabbat is Shabbat Noah, followed by Shabbat Lech-Lecha, and
so on. However, there are several Shabbatot that are also
graced by an additional name, a name that describes their
special place on the Jewish calendar or a most special aspect
of that week's Torah section not expressed by the section's
name. Thus, the Shabbat before Passover is called Shabbat
HaGadol, “The Great Shabbat”;[1] the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah, “The Shabbat of Repentance”;[2]
the Shabbat after Tish'ah B'Av[3]
is called Shabbat Nachamu, “The Shabbat of Consolation.”[4] Last week's Shabbat, whose Torah reading included
the song sung by Moses and the Jewish people after experiencing
the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea; so in addition
to the Shabbat's “regular” name, Shabbat B'shalach, it is
also known as Shabbat Shirah, “The Shabbat of Song.”
By what name do we call the Shabbat in which we read of the
event at Mount Sinai? “The Shabbat of Revelation”? “The Shabbat
of Torah”? “The Shabbat of the Ten Commandments”? No, this
Shabbat carries only the name given it by its Torah reading:
Shabbat Yitro, or “The Shabbat of Jethro.”
Who was Jethro?
An Enigmatic Rashi
Jethro was Moses' father-in-law, a Midianite priest who,
our sages tell us, had sampled every form of idol-worship
on the face of the earth.[5]
This week's Torah reading begins with the account of how Jethro,
having heard of Israel's Exodus from Egypt and the great miracles
that G-d had performed for them, comes to the desert to join
his destiny with theirs. Following this chapter, which includes
Jethro's advice to Moses on how to organize Israel's judiciary
system and takes up about one third of the week's reading,
the Torah goes on to describe the revelation at Sinai: G-d's
message to Israel, Israel's preparation for the event, the
Ten Commandments spoken by G-d, etc. Nevertheless, the entire
reading is titled “Jethro” and imparts this seemingly inadequate
name to our most special Shabbat.
Obviously, there is something about the story of Jethro that
is integral to the revelation at Sinai. Indeed, the Zohar
goes so far as to say that the Torah could be given to Israel
only after Jethro had joined the Jewish people in the desert.[6]
But first, let us examine a mystifying passage in Rashi's
commentary on the opening verse of Jethro.
This week's Torah reading begins: “And Jethro, the prince
and priest[7]
of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that G-d
did for Moses and His people Israel; that G-d had taken Israel
out of Egypt.”[8] Rashi, in his commentary on the verse, asks:
“Of what did he hear that he came? Of the splitting of the
Red Sea and the war against Amalek.”
Both Rashi's question and his answer are puzzling. The Torah
itself tell us what Jethro heard---“all that G-d did for Moses
and His people Israel; that G-d had taken Israel out of Egypt.”
What leads Rashi to question which specific miracles of the
Exodus had Jethro heard of? And what compels him to specify
that Jethro was particularly moved by the splitting of the
sea and Israel's triumph over Amalek?
“The Torah speaks of our physical world, but alludes to the
spiritual realms,” writes Nachmanides. The historical events
recounted by the Torah echo spiritual “events” unfolding on
a higher plane of reality: the story of the Exodus is also
the story of a spiritual liberation from a spiritual “Egypt,”
a spiritual splitting of a spiritual “sea,” a spiritual battle
with a spiritual “Amalek,” etc. It is in the spiritual dimensions
of the latter two events that the key to understanding Jethro--the
man and the parsha--lies.
Splitting Spirit
“Land” and “sea” represent parallel worlds---mirror realities,
if you will. “Every creature that exists on land,” says the
Talmud, “has its equivalent in the sea.”[9] Two different environments populated by the same creatures, land
and sea are virtually identical yet vastly different: the
one dry and exposed, the other sodden and submerged.
The defining difference between land and sea creatures is
their relationship with their respective environments. The
land animal is utterly dependent on the terrain he inhabits:
the land either nourishes him directly, or nourishes the creatures
that nourish him, or nourishes the creatures that nourish
the creatures that nourish him. The same is true, of course,
of the sea creature's dependence on the sea. Nevertheless,
there is a marked difference between the manifest nature of
this dependence. There is nothing to prevent the land animal
from severing all direct contact with the land for extended
periods of time (20th century man has all but done so). Conceivably,
a land creature can live an entire lifetime without acknowledging,
or in any way demonstrating, from where his sustenance is
derived. Sea creatures, on the other hand, live submerged
within their source of nourishment. For most of them, this
submersion is a matter of life and death: a fish out of water
is not only a creature out of its element but a creature who
cannot survive more then a short while.
Thus, “land” and “sea” represent two modes of being. A “land
creature” is one who lives his life on the material surface
of reality, with little mind to the underlying forces that
sustain it. Life, for him, is foraging for food (or the more
“sophisticated” forms of material gratification), consuming
it, and using the energy to forage for more food. A spiritual
essence, source and purpose to life, of which the material
is but an embodiment and expression, seems to him a fantasy
or, at best, irrelevant.
In contrast, the “sea creature” is a being wholly submerged,
and demonstratively dependent upon, his source of sustenance.
To him, life is inseparable from its root and aim, and he
lives and breathes this truth his every living moment. He
is one who has drowned his ego in the sea of supernal truth,
who has merged his self with the spiritual essence of reality.
But seven days after their liberation from Egypt, the Jewish
people experienced a splitting of the sea.
The Exodus had set them free from the paganism of Egypt.
It had removed the shackles of “landism” from their souls,
exposing them to the all-consuming spiritual truth of the
sea. It had liberated them from the prison of self, allowing
them to merge with the infinite essence of all. But until
the sea was to split before them and they were to “walk on
dry land within the sea”[10]--until
they were to learn to transcend their sea-identity as well--their
redemption was not complete.
For just as the material is but an iceberg-tip of the spiritual
reality that underlies it, so, too, the spiritual world of
the “sea creature” is but a face, an expression, of a more
quintessential reality. G-d created both matter and spirit,
each to express a facet of His truth; He created both the
human ego and man's capacity for self-effacement, each to
its distinct end. The purpose of life is not to divorce the
self from its supernal source, but neither is to drown it
in the identity-obliterating waters of unfettered spirit.
After freeing them from the constraints of self, G-d freed
the Jewish people from the constraints of selflessness as
well. He split the sea before them, showing it to be but another
tool and medium to access His truth, a truth transcending
matter and spirit alike.[11] He showed them that man can walk on dry land
within the sea---that he can live a life that is aware of,
and servant to, its divine source and, at the same time, retain
and constructively apply his identity and individuality. He
then brought them to Sinai to await detailed instructions.
Reason, Irrationality and Beyond
On the road from split sea to flaming mountain, Amalek attacked
the Jewish people.
Who is “Amalek”? What force or phenomenon can challenge the
soul that has been liberated from the material confines of
Egypt and has transcended the spiritual depths of the sea?
The Torah describes Amalek is one “who happened upon you
on the road.”[12]
The Hebrew word korcho (“happened upon you”) employed
by the Torah also translates as “cooled you off”; this, explains
the Midrash, expresses the deeper significance of Amalek's
deed. “What is the incident [of Amalek] comparable to? To
a boiling tub of water, which no creature was able to enter.
Along came one evil-doer and jumped into it. Although he was
burned, he cooled it for the others. So, too, when Israel
came out of Egypt, and G-d rent the sea before them and drowned
the Egyptians within it, the fear of them fell upon all the
nations. But when Amalek came and challenged them--although
he received his due from them--he cooled the awe that the
nations of the world had of them.”[13]
The essence of Amalek can be summed up it two words. Two
simple, shallow, meaningless, deadly words: “So what?”
So what if the truth is staring me in the face. So what if
my course is so obviously futile and self-destructive. To
all rational arguments, to all emotional pleas, to sanity
itself, Amalek has nothing to counter with but his senseless
“So what?” And with these two words he cools the most inspired
feelings and undermines the most ironclad truths.
Thus the Jews, after beholding the might of G-d in Egypt,
after experiencing the tremendous revelation of the split
sea, after witnessing the daily miracles (i.e. water from
a rock and manna from heaven) that sustained them, suddenly
doubted: “Is G-d amongst us or is He not?”[14] For the cynical, irrational
doubt of Amalek knows no bounds, and is immune to all rational
and empirical evidence.
How, then, can Amalek be repelled? Only by resorting to supra-rational
means, as Amalek is himself a supra-rational phenomenon. Only
by accessing the soul's intrinsic reserves of supra-rational
faith, its inherent sense of right and truth.[15]
The only effective response to Amalek's “So what?” is the
soul's “Because it is so. This what I desire because in my
heart of hearts I know it to be true. This is what I desire
because this is what I am.”
Why Did He Come?
“Why did Jethro come?” asks Rashi. Why did this seasoned
spiritualist, this veteran seeker of “meaning in life,” feel
the need to leave his land, home and community and join the
people of Israel in the desert? Why did he not explore his
1,001st religion as he did his first thousand, from the comfort
of his Midian sheikdom? Of what did he hear that he came?
He heard of the splitting of the sea.
The truth to tell, this quest for spiritual purpose had come
to resemble an old, comfortable hobby---interesting and delightful,
but no real surprises. Ultimately, the religions and creeds
all came down to the same thing: surrender your self to a
higher, more universal, more transcendent reality. This made
for some fairly gratifying experiences, but ultimately, the
high would fade. Then Jethro would hear of a new, interesting
flavor of spirituality to taste and relish for as long as
it lasted. In the end, his good old, tried and true self always
reasserted itself. What other self does one have, after all?
Then, one day, the news arrived in Midian: “Did you hear,
Jethro, the Jews split the sea.” “Split the sea, you say?”
exclaimed the old religion collector. “Get my camel ready!
I'll be making a trip out to the desert.”
Of what else did he hear that he came? He heard of the war
against Amalek.
Okay, Jethro, so you finally discovered the truth. The real
truth. Something about beyond self and selflessness, about
the self itself being selfless---or is it the other way around?
Whatever. So what? Who cares? Oh, I guess it's as good a hobby
as any, searching for the truth, but only a fool would allow
a hobby to consume his life. You say you found the real real
truth this time? So What?
Of what did he hear that he came? He heard of the splitting
of the sea and of the war against Amalek. And when Jethro
arrived at the Israelite camp, the Torah could be given. To
him and his six hundred thousand fellow Jethros.
Based on the Rebbe's talks on Shabbat Yitro 5724 (February
1, 1964) and on other occasions [16]
Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber
[1] Because of the “great miracle” that occurred
on this Shabbat---see Tosafot on the Talmud, Shabbat 87b.
[2] The Torah reading of this Shabbat is either
Vayelech or Haazinu, depending on the calendar, but the
haftorah (reading from the Prophets that follows the Torah
reading) is always the section that begins “Shuvah Yisroel...”
(“Return O Israel...”'---Hosea 14:2).
[3] The fastday that commemorates the destruction
of the Holy Temple.
[4] The Torah reading of this week is Va'etchanan,
but the Shabbat is more often referred to by the opening
word of its haftorah, “Nachamu, nachamu ami...” (“Console,
console My people...”---Isaiah 40:1).
[5] Mechilta, quoted by Rashi in his commentary
on Exodus 18:11.
[6] Zohar, part I, 67b and 68a.
[7] The Hebrew word kohen in the verse
is rendered by sages as both “prince” or “ruler” and “priest”
(Mechilta on verse. See Midrash Rabbah, Shmot 1:32; Rashi
on Genesis 47:24 and Exodus 2:16)
[11] Cf. Rashi, Exodus 15:2: “A handmaiden saw
at the [Red] Sea what was not revealed to the prophets.”
[13] Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 9.
[14] Exodus 17:7. It was this infiltration of
Amalekite doubt into the souls of the Jewish people that
enabled Amalek the nation to attack them (see Rashi on verse
8, ibid.) Indeed, the numerical value (gematria) of the
Hebrew letters that spell Amalek is equivalent to that of
the letters that spell safek, “doubt.”
[15] See Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 29a on Exodus
17:11.
[16] Likkutei Sichot vol. XVI pp. 192 and 200-202.
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