Sh'mot (Exodus) 18:1-20:23 This is a really exciting one! G-d Himself speaks to an entire nation! When else in history has such a thing ever occurred? But I'm getting ahead of myself... Our Parsha opens with Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law. He has heard about all the L-rd has done for Moshe, and for Isra'el, bringing them out of the land of Egypt, which is elsewhere called the "land of slavery." He sets out, with Moshe's wife Zipporah, and their sons Gershon, and Eli'ezer. We can see back in Exodus 4 how they had gotten back to her father's house. Moshe was going to bring them to Egypt, but Aaron admonished him not to - "We are grieving over the ones already in Egypt, and you propose to add to their number!" So now Moshe will be reunited with his family. They met at the mountain of G-d, and Moshe related to his father-in-law all that had happened, and all that HaShem had done for them. Upon hearing this (v10) - [b][i]"And Jethro said, Blessed be the L-RD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; Who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the L-RD is greater than all gods! For in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them."[/i][/b] I think this may the first part of the Parsha which can be interpreted various ways. Some take it as a relatievly simple statement of faith. But to others, the statement goes deeper. The Rashi says that this is an indication that Yitro has known all the other gods, and may have worshipped every false god. The Zohar goes further still, saying that Torah could NOT be given until Yitro, highest priest of the pagan world, had seen and confessed before all that the G-d of Isra'el was indeed greater than all the pagaon gods and idols which the other cultures of the world were worshipping. Interesting food for thought, yes? Next we have another very interesting passage, and a message I wish everybody would get. In verse 12, Yitro makes a burnt offering and sacrifice to G-d, and Aaron and all the elders come and eat bread with him before G-d. It doesn't seem like big a deal at first glance. But there are a lot of people with a lot of miconceptions about Judaism. One of the major misconceptions is that some people think of Judaism as an elitist religion, a blood cult. There are a great many Bible passages which dispute this, in fact I would go so far as to say that Judaism is the very FIRST recorded case of a nation having laws regarding the equality of all men. This is reflected every time the Bible gives instructions to the Israelites for "both you and the stranger with you." Just as Zionism is not about a piece of land, but the dwelling of His Majesty, so is Judaism not about a bloodline, but about a covenant, and a people with willing hearts to keep it. We see this same sense of equality here, where Yitro, not himself an Israelite is participating in a Hebrew sacrifice and burnt offering ritual, after confessing that the G-d of Isra'el IS "greater than all gods." We'll see a little more on this later in the Parsha. I think at this time, an old Jewish folktale may further the point I'm trying to make. The following I am presenting not as the gospel truth, but simply as an illustration: In Jewish folklore, the Israelites were actually NOT the first ones approached by G-d to be the keepers of His Word. It is said that He approached one nation, and offered for them to be His people, if they would keep His Word. They asked "What is your Word?" and He answered "You are not to steal." At which they protested "This is how we make our living! We cannot do this, for will surely die if we do!" He approached another tribe, making the same offer. They also asked "What do you tell us to do?" G-d answered "You are not to kill" They also scoffed, "This is how we settle disputes! If we can not kill each other, there will be choas in the land!" At which point G-d approached the Israelites. They also asked "What is your Word?" and the L-rd answered "There are 613 mitzvot, 248 things you are to do, and 365 things you are not to do." To which the Israelites replied as one [i][b]"All that our L-rd asks, we shall do."[/b][/i] (Exodus 19:8) Okay, back to the Parsha- Starting in 18:13, we see that Moshe is judging cases of dispute for the people. Yitro warns him not to do things this way, as it will weary both him and the people. Moshe then sets up leaders over thousands, hundreds, and tens, to judge the smaller matters, while still judging the more difficult cases himself. Some say this section is unique. Torah was given us through Moshe. The prophet Malachi even refers to it as the [i][b]"law of Moshe"[/b] [/i](Malachi 3:22/4:4). But there are sections which were inspired by or revealed because of the actions of others. The laws of inheritence, for example, (Numbers 27) prompted by the daughters of Tzelefchad, the penalty for desecrating the Sabbath prompted by the wood-gatherer (Numbers 15). But Yitro's very name means "his addition." Back in Exodus 4, he is called "Yeteir" - "He added" Some say this means that this section is not properly a part of the "law of Moses," that it was complete without it, an addition TO Torah. What say you, dear reader? Now we come back to what it means when we say that Israel is G-d's chosen people. In chapter 19, starting with verse 5, it is made clear- [b] [i]"If you will obey my voice, and keep my covenent, then you will be a special treasure to me, above all people; For all the Earth is mine. And you will be unto me a Kingdom of Priests, and a holy nation."[/i][/b] I'll come back in a bit, because I want to decide how deep I want to go with the next section(Unless brother Leo or someone else would like to pick it up from here?). Shabbat Shalom, y'all! :)

Post edited by: MattBob_SquarePants, at: 2007/02/10 10:57

Thank you Leo, for the insightful analysis. I've not been on much, due to the worst flu I've had in years. :P Sorry for neglecting the thread I started. I would like to take this opportunity to point out the unique nature of the fourth of these mitzvot- Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. This is the ONLY instruction from the Tanakh(Older Testament) I can think of which begins with 'Remember.' Years ago, as I realized the significance of this, the more I thought on it, the more the Spirit convicted me on it. Despite a complete lack of scriptural support, the overwhelming majority of churches today do not remember the Sabbath. I have talked with Pastors and laypeople alike on this, and there are different ways the practice of meeting for worship on the first day is defended. Some will say that the Sabbath 'changed' when Jesus was ressurected. I find no scriptural support for this. Others say that the Sabbath did not change, but the day of meeting and worship did. These will point to examples where the disciples met on the first day. Now this is not a salvational issue, IMO. There is no wrong day to worship the L-rd. Likewise, there is no wrong day to have fellowship with our brethren. But there is only one Sabbath of the L-rd, and if the L-rd and His Word are eternal, isn't His Sabbath, as well? I had a thought about matching up #5 and 10. I personally think this that #5 has to assume that we have parents who do keep the Word of the L-rd. I've had to counsel people with issues such as this, and if our parents are not the kind of people a believer would want to emulate and please, then by "honor" we must apply a more abstract way of thinking... to bring honor to their name, by living better than they have, for example... But assuming a G-dly family, what DOES drive the youth to fail to respect or honor their parents? It seems to me that only covetousness can do this. For example, we may covet our independence, and thus would rather do our own thing than do as our parents ask.