D'var Torah

By: Mark Hus

February 05, 2010

What occurs in the first three aliyot of this week’s Parsha might seem, at first glance, to be a quaint story which serves to segue between the splitting of the Red Sea and the giving of the Ten Commandments. I believe, however, that what occurs in those aliyot actually forced the Almighty to give the Children of Israel the Ten Commandments.

To better explain what I mean, I would like to recap several salient points that we must glean from the readings of the past several weeks. The Jewish people were enslaved and struggled to survive. They had no control over their lives and their only recourse was to cry out to G-d. He responded and miraculously freed them. Before they left Egypt as free people, they were able to gather riches, and when they departed from Egypt they were quite wealthy. They lacked for nothing – until they reached the Red Sea at which point they were suddenly faced with the possibility of death at the hands of the Egyptians or death by drowning. Once again G-d miraculously saved them. They traveled for several days and complained about not having water. Water was provided for them. Then they complained that they had nothing to eat and the Almighty gave them manna. Then Amalek attacked them and G-d came to their rescue; and they vanquished Amalek. Thus, it would seem that by the time Yitro arrived, the Jewish people should have been feeling quite secure that every one of their physical needs had been fully seen to by the Almighty.

When Yitro appears on the scene, he is welcomed in a manner that is reminiscent of Abraham’s hachnassat orchim, thereby tying these people to their patriarchs. (The issues of Moshe’s family relationships will, I fear, have to be addressed in a different D’var Torah.)

On the day following Yitro’s arrival, Moshe is required to return to his work as leader of the people. His father-in-law is amazed to see that he is busy talking to people from morning to night.

Initially, I was amazed that there could be so many disputes that needed adjudicating. Food and water are being provided. The people, who had been slaves less than two months ago are now wealthy. Nobody owns real property. They are militarily secure. They have been free for all of several weeks and seem to have absolutely nothing to worry about. Even an incredibly litigious group could not have found that many cases in the few weeks since they had become free people. What are they bothering Moshe about?

I think the answer is to be found in Moshe’s response to Yitro’s questions about what he is doing. Moshe explained that the people are coming to seek the teachings of G-d and G-d’s Torah. The people are struggling to define a societal code that will be different from the model that they saw in Egypt. They ask Moshe to help them work out the issues of how to best structure their society. These philosophical issues must have been gnawing at them once they realized that they were now responsible for themselves and the rest of their community. These meaningful substantive arguments had to be addressed immediately.

Yitro tells Moshe that he must create a structure that will allow the rule of law to be applied to all the people – by other people – not just him. Once that is done, G-d has no choice but to provide the laws and rules which will govern the society. In the Ten Commandments, G-d provides a framework for both religious and communal life – making clear that for the Jewish people one cannot exist without the other.

This week the LSS community commemorates the yahrzeit of Jonathan Spanbock. My family observed the yahrzeit of my late father-in-law, Elias Stark, this past week. Both men were known and respected for their integrity and their willingness to give to their communities and make sacrifices for what they knew was right. They are sorely missed by all who knew and loved them. May their souls be bound up with the living and their memories be a blessing for all.

SHABBAT SHALOM!