…First see the problem, then find a way of solving it. The Kotzker Rebbe once drew attention to a difficulty in Rashi’s writing. Rashi (Ex. 18:1) says that Yitro was given the name Yeter (meaning, “he added”) because “he added a passage to the Torah beginning [with the words], “Choose from among the people …” (Ex. 18:21).This occurred when Yitro…
In the House of Lords there is a special chamber used as, among other things, the place where new Peers are robed before their introduction into the House. When my predecessor Lord Jakobovits was introduced, the official robing him commented that he was the first Rabbi to be honoured in the Upper House. Lord Jakobovits replied, “No, I am the…
…already his leadership was being challenged. It was a taste of things to come. Realising that his intervention the previous day had already become known, Moses escapes from Egypt and finds refuge in Midian where his true identity is unknown. Yitro’s daughters, whom he rescued from rough treatment at the hands of local shepherds, tell their father that “An Egyptian…
…and had then taken refuge with Yitro and the Midianites. Relative to Aaron, Moses, his younger brother, was also an outsider. Yet God says, “He will be glad to see you.” Aaron’s ability to rejoice in his brother’s rise to greatness is particularly striking when set against the entire biblical history of the relationship between brothers thus far. It has…
The revelation at Mount Sinai – the central episode not only of the parsha of Yitro, but of Judaism as a whole – was unique in the religious history of humankind. Other faiths (Christianity and Islam) have claimed to be religions of revelation, but in both cases the revelation of which they spoke was to an individual (“the son of…
…of the argument. Given that we do not say the Ten Commandments during public prayer, should we none the less give them special honour when we read them from the Torah, whether on Shavuot or in the weeks of parshat Yitro andVaetchanan? Should we stand when they are being read? Maimonides found himself involved in a controversy over this question. Someone wrote…
…are not My daughter, but I shall call you My daughter.” Leviticus Rabbah 1:3 The fourth heroine is Moses’ wife, Tzippora, daughter of the Midianite priest Yitro. The first thing that strikes us about Tzippora is that she was willing to accompany Moses on his return to Egypt, despite the hazards of the journey, the risk of the mission, and…
…[6] See Nicholas Wolterstorff, Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008); Jeremy Waldron, God, Locke, and Equality (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002); Nick Spencer, Freedom and Order: History, Politics and the English Bible (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2011). [7] Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 24:7. [8] Mechilta, Parashat Yitro, BaChodesh 2 and Exodus Rabbah, parshat Yitro, 28:2. [9] See…
…intervenes. In Midian, when he sees shepherds abusing the daughters of Yitro, he intervenes. Moses, an Israelite brought up as an Egyptian, could have avoided each of these confrontations, yet he did not. He is the supreme case of one who says: when I see wrong, if no one else is prepared to act, I will. At the heart of…
…Sacks exploring the Universal and the Particular The Universal and the Particular, Yitro, Covenant & Conversation, Family Edition The Universal and the Particular (Mikketz, Covenant & Conversation, Family Edition The Universality of Wisdom, (Yitro, Covenant & Conversation, Main Essay Faith, Universal and Particular, Mikketz, Covenant & Conversation, Main Essay Short Quotes from Rabbi Sacks on the Topic “Judaism embodies a…