Torah.org Rabbi Wein - A Welcome Introduction
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Rabbi Wein
By Rabbi Berel Wein
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Parshas Yisro
A Welcome
Introduction
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It is well known
that there is a difference of opinion as to whether Yitro’s arrival in
the camp of Israel in the desert occurred before or after the revelation
and granting of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Even if we say that Yitro
arrived before the momentous event of Mount Sinai and that the Torah is
recording events in a chronological manner, it still is difficult for us
to understand.
Why is this most
important event in Jewish history as outlined for us in the Torah, be
preceded by a rather mundane description of Yitro’s arrival and reception
in the camp of Israel? Would it not be more effective to highlight the
revelation at Sinai immediately at the beginning of the parsha? And this
appears to be especially true since the parsha goes into great detail and
some length in describing the circumstances and experience of the
revelation at Sinai.
Why is there such
an apparent emphasis on Yitro and his arrival? And this question
certainly is even more difficult if we adopt the opinion that the
revelation at Sinai occurred before the arrival of Yitro. It almost seems
that by recording for us the entire story of the arrival of Yitro the
Torah somehow diminishes, in emphasis and focus, the narrative regarding
the revelation at Sinai itself.
If there ever was a
stand-alone event in Jewish and in world history it certainly would be
the moment of the revelation and granting of the Torah at Mount Sinai. So
what is the story of Yitro doing being involved in the immortal narrative
of the most seminal event in human history?
We are all aware of
the great dictum of the Talmud that proper worldly behavior precedes the
Torah itself. The order of the subjects in this week’s parsha reinforces
this idea clearly and cogently. The Torah records for us the politeness,
courtesy, respect and sensitivity extended to Yitro by Moshe and Aaron
and the Elders of Israel and all of the Jewish people when he arrived in
their midst.
The Torah indulges
in great detail in describing the reception that Yitro received. Simple
courtesy extended to a stranger is the basis of the Jewish value system.
It is what separated Abraham from Sodom. The Ten Commandments and in fact
the entire Torah itself cannot be understood or appreciated without a
grounding in this basic idea of the worth of the human being and of the
necessity to honor, welcome and help of one another.
That is why we are
not to be murderers, robbers, adulterers, lying witnesses or people of
greed and avarice. The Talmud places great emphasis on the small things
in life that make for a wholesome society. It records for us in great
solemnity that one of the great virtues of the leading scholars of Torah
of its day was that they greeted everyone, no matter who that person was,
in pleasantness.
This value is
emphasized over and over again in the writings of the great men of
Israel, throughout the generations. Therefore the welcome to Yitro must
perforce precede the law of the Torah itself for it is the value upon
which the Torah itself is based.
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Rabbi Wein © 2022 by
Torah.org.
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