The grand event in Parshat Yitro is the revelation at Mt. Sinai, preceded by God’s promise to the Israelites that they will be God’s “treasure” (Exodus 19:5) if they “listen” to God and keep God’s Covenant. Scrubbed and trembling, the Israelites stand at the foot of the mountain, awed by a spectacular, theatrical display of smoke, thunder, lightning, fire, and the blast of a horn (“kol shofar” Exodus 19:16). God speaks directly to the people and tells them the Ten Commandments. They are so overwhelmed by this immensely powerful experience that they say to Moses, ” You speak with us so we may listen, but let God not speak with us or else we’ll die.” (Exodus 20:19)
But wait! Let’s re-wind! Parshat Yitro does not begin with the revelation. It opens with a lesson in management and effective leadership taught to Moses by his father-in-law, Yitro, a Midian priest. Yitro observed Moses, alone, dealing from morning to night with the problems and queries of the Israelites. Yitro advises Moses to choose “worthy” men and set up a system of “chiefs” who would address the people’s everyday problems and teach them God’s laws. Moses would then deal with the most difficult problems and “bring the matters to God.” (Exodus 18:19) Moses follows Yitro’s wise advice. At this point, the revelation story unfolds.
Believing the Torah to be flawless and intentional, we may ask why one of the most sacred, powerful events in Jewish History, the revelation at Sinai, follows the description of a very practical approach to guiding behavior and resolving the problems of a large population.
My husband, who has an MBA from Harvard, suggests that Yitro’s management system had to be in place to deal with the questions, disputes, and misunderstandings which would inevitably arise as the Israelites struggled to practice the laws that God commanded they follow at Sinai. While the Israelites readily agreed to do “all that God has spoken” (Exodus 19:8), they would need assistance and direction in their efforts to apply the Ten Commandments in their daily lives. This task of assistance and direction would have been beyond the capability of one leader, even one such as Moses. Yitro’s system of delegating leadership responsibility provided an orderly way to enable the Israelites (and by extension, the Jewish people) to fulfill God’s Commandments (Mitzvot).
Laws, whether of divine or human origin, must be interpreted, applied, and adjudicated in order for them to shape human behavior. The Israelites, as previously indicated, implored Moses to act as a “liaison” with God, because they felt that continued direct communication with the Eternal was more than they could humanly bear. Just as Yitro had advised, the chiefs whom Moses appointed would deal with all the smaller problems. At the request of the Israelites, themselves, Moses would “…be for the people toward God…” and for larger issues, Moses would “…bring the matters to God…” (Exodus 18:19).
Management techniques and legal systems have evolved over time from a hierarchy of chiefs in the wilderness to the complex procedures of both civil and Rabbinic courts and a proliferation of methods to manage organizations and societies. The revelation at Sinai, however, is not ancient Jewish History.
In the spiritual realm of Torah Time, God gave the Commandments to all of us – then, now, and for future generations.
“A midrash teaches that the souls of all Jewish people, not just the people who were alive at the time, were at Sinai during the revelation. God spoke to all of us from the mountain.”
(From Torah The Growing Gift by Steven E. Steinbock)
You look familiar – perhaps, we met at Sinai.
Shabbat Shalom Rest and Renew
Additional sources used for this post:
A Torah Commentary for Our Times by Harvey J. Fields
Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman
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