{"id":470,"date":"2014-04-04T00:42:05","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T00:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=470"},"modified":"2014-04-04T00:42:05","modified_gmt":"2014-04-04T00:42:05","slug":"yitro-5767-2007","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=470","title":{"rendered":"Yitro 5767 (2007)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Yitro 5767<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n

I will not be here next week, for Parshat Mispatim. Were I here, I would give the drash and remind you that it is that Parsha which inspires the Hebrew Free Loan Association. Please donate after Shabbat.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s Torah portion begins that Yitro, the father in law of Moses\u00a0\u201cheard all that God did to Moses and to Israel\u201d (Ch 18, v1)\u00a0and that he takes Zipporah and the two sons of Moses and goes to the Israelite camp.<\/p>\n

There, we are told that \u201cMoses told his father-in-law everything that HaShem had done to Paraoh and Egypt for Israel\u2019s sake\u201d (Ch 18, v 8).\u00a0 Yitro then blesses HaShem and concludes that\u00a0 \u201cHaShem is greater than all the gods\u201d and makes olah and peace offerings and, the commentators understand,\u00a0 accepts the Torah.<\/p>\n

It is remarkable, then, that we do not know exactly what Yitro heard or what Moshe told him.\u00a0 Rashi says that Yitro heard of the splitting of the Red Sea and the war with\u00a0 Amalek.\u00a0 However, the Talmud says that there is a third option \u2013 that Yitro heard of the giving of the Torah.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gaon Moshe Feinstein (Rosh Yeshiva Mesivtha Tiferet Jerusalem) emphasizes that it is exactly this lack of clearness that is important!\u00a0 He says, \u201cIt is axiomatic that different people are inspired by different things\u2026Among righteous people there are those whose main strength and greatness lie in their prowess in Torah learning [they would be moved by the giving of the Torah]. Others excel in their ability to combat those who wish to perpetuate evil ideals [they would be moved by the war with Amalek]. A third group may be known for their deeds of great kindness [they would be moved by the splitting of Yam Suf]\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The key is that although we do not know what inspired Yitro, he was moved to action. The truth is not in what he heard, but in what he did with the information. The truth is in the action.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, we also do not know if the arrival of Yitro took place before or after Mattan \u2013 the giving \u2013 of the Torah.\u00a0 To be sure, it is placed in the scroll beforehand, but we know that this does not necessarily mean that this is when it took place (but could be why Rashi only gives two of the three reasons that are in the Talmud).<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to Mattan Torah,\u00a0 there is what we might call Mekabel \u2013 the receiving — of the Torah.\u00a0 Even\u00a0 if one is FFB (Frum from Birth) he or she must choose to make this our holy book. And every week, those of us who come here are making that choice \u2013 by our actions, we are saying that this is our holy book.\u00a0 Of course, we may ask \u2018is it true?\u201d but perhaps more important\u00a0 — and the lesson of Yitro \u2013 is that we should ask \u201cwhat truth does the Torah teach for our time and how does it spur me to action\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Yitro 5767 by Marc Mangel I will not be here next week, for Parshat Mispatim. Were I here, I would give the drash and remind you that it is that Parsha which inspires the Hebrew Free Loan Association. Please donate after Shabbat. This week\u2019s Torah portion begins that Yitro, the father in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-470","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions\/471"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}