Yitro has got to be one of my favorite portions.
It proves Moses and I have something in common - exceptional fathers in law.
The portion opens by telling us that Yitro was hardly a simple man; he was a leader (כהן) of Midian. (Some insist "cohan" means only "priest" or "religious leader" while others, this scrivener included, contend it's simply a title of honor, of leadership.)
Yitro heard about what G-d did in Egypt so he packs up Moses' wife, Zipporah and her two sons and starts off to meet his son-in-law. The Torah suggests, at least to me, that HaShem was none to happy that Moses "sent her (Zipporah) away" even though life would be difficult for the woman and her two presumably young children as Moses tried to convince Pharaoh to let us go. The Hertz humash includes a footnote that he (Moses) sent her (Zipporah) back to Midian after the incident in Chap. 4 v 24-26 (where Zipporah was forced to circumcise her son, a task Moses would not or could not perform).
Yitro finally nears the Israelite camp and Moses, properly honoring his father-in-law, goes out to greet Yitro where he "bows down and kissed him." The two brought each other up to date and proceeded to the tent. The original is better than the translation: ויצא משה לקראת חתנו וישתחו וישק-לו וישאלו איש-לרעהו לשלום - we see that the relationship between Yitro and his son-in-law was more than as in-laws; there was a friendship and respect as well.
Moses relates to Yitro all that happened in Egypt and Yitro accepts it and accepts that HaShem is "greater than all gods.".
Unlike the Israelites who had "been there and done that," Yitro accepts what his son-in-law tells him.
During Yitro's sojourn with Moses he watches his son-in-law sit at his tent entrance from morning until night hearing all manner of complaints. Neighbor against neighbor, tribe against tribe. He also has to settle arguments on how to interact with G-d; determine the proper ritual.
To this point, G-d talked to Moses and Moses told the people what to do on an instance-by-instance basis. Perhaps because the Israelites were frequently on the move - frequently, but certainly not constantly - Moses didn't hold classes on what HaShem expects of us.
Yitro, being older and wiser, tells his son-in-law that sitting outside his tent all day everyday was not leadership.
Rather, Yitro tells his son-on-law, delegate authority. .
First, Yitro says, teach the people the statutes and laws and show them the way they must walk and the work that they must do.
Afterwards, identify able men who fear G-d, men of truth, hating unjust gain, and appoint them as officers (שרי) over thousands, over hundreds, over 50s, and over 10s. Moses would remain a one-man "supreme court" who would inquire of HaShem for questions without precedence.
To his credit, Moses listened to his father-in-law and instituted our (Judaism's) first court system.
A word (or several) on Egypt
A young lad was walking home after kabalat Shabat. He was walking, and talking, with a rabbi. The lad turned the subject to punishment, specifically, why were we punished by being slaves in Egypt?
Because, the rabbi said, we became like the Egyptians; we forgot who we are.
We know, from midrashim, that one of the reasons we were redeemed from Egypt was because we kept our Hebrew names so on a midrash-to-midrash basis, we were not "completely" like our Egyptian masters.
It occurred to me - although for a change I remained silent - that we remained in Egypt because when we should have returned to Canaan two years after the famine's end - allowing time for seeds to become available and some natural growth to return to Canaan.
We didn't. We stayed on the Egypt.
We were like we are today.
My wife and I came to America for "just two years."
That was in 1979.
We're still here. (We both are citizens and our children are citizens.)
What apparently happened in Egypt is that the Pharaoh that promoted Yosef to a vizorship was deposed, either by natives rising against him or by being overthrown by an outside invader. (I think the former, but I'm no authority on Egypt and the pharaohs.)
The new pharaoh was concerned that in time of war we would side with Egypt's enemies (something we did to help the Moslems invade Spain and later to help the Catholics reconquer Spain).
Had we left when we could have left, before a new pharaoh was seated on the throne, things would have been different. Imagine the Passover story sans plagues!
My bottom line is that the "flesh pots" of Egypt (America) hold us captive as surely as slavery.
ON THE OTHER HAND
Maybe HaShem is a "risk manager," my profession.
One of the things I tell my clients is, if they can, to have facilities in multiple locations; at least have the option of working elsewhere for "the duration" in case of an event that disrupts business as usual occurs.
Perhaps having Jews scattered across the globe is G-d's way of assuring that even with crazies like the ayatollahs we will survive. I pray that the ayatollahs and similar crazies will die before they can attack us anywhere in the world - my family is in Israel so my concerns are very real - but in the awful event someone manages the unthinkable and initiates another holocaust or inquisition, our dispersion will assure our survival.
הריני מקבל עלי מצוה עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך, והריני אוהב כל אחד מבני ישראל כנפשי ומאודי
