Hebraic Studies - Parashat Yitro
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Y-H-V-H, which we usually pronounce as “Adonai” or “HaShem”.
*“This is My Name forever,
and this is My memorial to all generations.”
Shemot - Exodus 3:15.
Although some minor alterations have been made relating to names and attributes having been corrected.
Please Note: Verse numbers may at times vary in non Jewish Bibles.
Shemot - Exodus 18 to 20
With Rabbi Reuven
Ben-Avraham.
“And it came to pass on the morrow, that
Moshe sat to judge the people; and the people stood about Moshe from the
morning unto the evening” Shemot - Exodus 18:13 (Jewish Publication Society
- JPS version of the
Torah).
With Moshe having spent as a magistrate among
the people all day long, by nightfall, Yitro counsels him:
“What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand about thee from morning unto even?” Shemot - Exodus 18:14 (JPS).
Thus, Yitro advises him to establish a system of judges who can share the burden, and Moshe does as his father-in-law suggests. Thus we see on this early part of Yitro how Moshe Rabbeinu was open to take instruction, thus no matter who we are we should be able to learn from this!
I will now turn to the point as described in
chapter 19, verse 2 they were in the Sinai and they were encamped before the
mount. In that wilderness, they had to prepare themselves for the revelation,
and then Elohim, blessed be He, gives Moshe the Ten Commandments - 
- atop
But before the Commandments, before that
mystical Sinai moment, Elohim says:
“Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My Covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” Shemot - Exodus 19:5-6 (JPS).
Thus the Torah says that we are something
special, for if we live in the Covenant with Elohim, blessed be He, then we are
Elohim’s 
- Segulah -
precious possession or treasure; for Shemot-19:6 clearly states;
“
- mamlechet kohanim v’goy kadosh -
a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” Shemot 19:6.
What can we make of this, and how does this
relate to the story of Yitro with which the Parsha began?
I read once that Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the
first Chief Rabbi of what would become the state of
He believed that the phrase “mamlechet kohanim” (nation of priests)
refers to the aspiration to uplift the entire world. Thus it
being for us to act in a way that may help the peoples of the world to fulfill their purpose and to live out their best selves.
Of course, in his paradigm, that meant: it is also our task to teach the world
about Elohim and His ways and to ensure that everyone cares for the widow and
the orphan, and shows compassion to the stranger, acts justly and righteously
just as Torah describes.
But Torah also tells us that we are meant to
be a goy kadosh,
a holy nation. Rav Kook interprets this as the flipside of the coin: on the one
hand we are meant to teach others how to be righteous, and on the other hand
we're meant to focus inwardly, to live out holiness in our own lives. Being a
holy people also means tending to our own spiritual growth.
Yitro a Midianite priest was an outsider to
the Israelite community. But when he shares his wisdom and his management
insights with Moshe, Moshe takes them to heart. Given the Torah’s
generally negative stance toward the other nations of the Ancient Near East, I
found it remarkable that Yitro is so obviously respected and trusted despite
being a foreign priest. But, I see a connection between the Yitro story and
this verse which asserts that we are Elohim's treasure, a nation of priests,
and holy.
The Torah reminds us that all the earth is
Elohim’s, but asserts that our community has a special role. In Rav Kook's interpretation, our community’s task is both
outward-facing and inward-facing. It is our job to help everyone in the world
live up to their best and most righteous self, and it is also our job to care
for our own souls.
As a “nation of priests,” we are
obligated to tend to the entire world. As a “holy nation,” we're
obligated to tend to our own selves. The Torah balances these two callings
within the same verse. But, if we only tend to our own selves, we are falling
down on the job of caring for all creation; and if we do not tend to our own
selves, we certainly cannot heal the world.
This is, I think, part of what Yitro taught
Moshe when he urged him to find righteous men who could serve as magistrates.
If Moshe tried to adjudicate every single disagreement and dispute in the
entire community, he would burn out! But once he did appoint judges, he was
able to tend to his own spiritual needs, which in turn allowed him to continue
tending to the community.
Yitro may well have been an outsider, not part
of our covenant with Elohim, and yet he still clearly had spiritual wisdom. Not
only that: it was spiritual wisdom that Moshe really needed at that time, for
obviously Elohim placed that man at his side at the right time! Our task is to
integrate that wisdom from the outside that comes from what is good, and fits
in with our spiritual tradition and our spiritual faith, and then we can truly
be - a mamlechet kohanim and
a goy kadosh.
What does it mean to you to imagine us as
being a nation of priests? If a priest’s job, in those days, was to
connect the people with Elohim, how can we live out that responsibility now?
What does it mean to you to imagine us as a holy nation? Not “the” holy nation, but a community which is collectively holy. This means that we are a nation which tends to its own spiritual sustenance, then how might we live that out in our own day?
Remember, nothing else but the Torah matters when it comes to the Law, anything that is not in the 613 Mitzvot, is purely man made and did not come from our Creator, Elohim who created all things and gave us our breadth and the Torah.
Elohim’s beloved Torah and His precious Tanakh is powerful and it is full of truth as it shows His everlasting love for us and we must never lose sight of Him and His Word. The most important word above is “TRUTH”. Because there has been a habit in the ancient days of priests and rabbis of somewhat altering truth a little here or there or what might be called twisting things somewhat!
But what does our beloved Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name,
have to say about all that? He gave us a very powerful instruction, which is
one that we as Jews MUST listen to and we must uphold, for His Word cannot be
changed, and He said this;
“Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you, neither
shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the Commandments of your Elohim which I Command you” Devarim
- Deuteronomy 4:2 (JPS).
“Ye shall observe to do therefore as your Elohim hath
commanded you; ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye
shall walk in all the way which your Elohim hath
Commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you,”
Devarim - Deuteronomy 5:28-29 (JPS)
Let us be true and good “”
- a “mamlechet kohanim and
a goy kadosh”.
Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, is the
one who gave us our Life!”
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