Parsha Yitro

Jethro

Moses’s father in law, Jethro, comes to visit and notices that he is sitting throughout the day dealing with issues and problems that the people are bringing to him. And they in turn are having to stand and wait for hours to have the opportunity to speak with him. He tells Moses that this is a disaster waiting to happen…

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Parsha Yitro

Father in Law

Jethro appears several times in the Torah and in fact has several different names. But he is known primarily as the Father in Law of Moses and this title is given to him seven times in this single chapter. It emphasizes the incredible respect that Moses had for him and equally the fact that if in Midian he was a…

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Parsha Yitro

Ten Principles

It is really misleading to call them the “Ten Commandments”, because they are more like principles than specific commandments, and within the “ten” there are, according to different commentators, anything from 12 to 16 specific commands. That is why in Hebrew they called the Aseret HaDibrot or Devarim, the “Ten Statements”. They are the foundations on which Torah has been,…

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Parsha Yitro

Family

The chapters we read this week include the Ten Commandments, the basic principles of Jewish life and one of its core principles is family. ‘Honor your father and your mother.” And I should point out that later on in Leviticus it says, ‘Respect your mother and your father.’ Notice the juxtaposition. The Torah is anxious to achieve balance. But also…

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Parsha Yitro

Being good

How often do you hear people say “Well it’s important to be a good human being and the rest is unnecessary”? And it’s true it is more important than anything else on earth to be a good human being. After all the Mishna (Avot 3) says “If someone gets on well with human beings, this is a sign that God…

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