Yitro - We welcome flawed people
Exodus 18:1 - 20:23 | Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6, 9:5 - 6
Summary: Yitro, Moshe’s father in law, joins the Jewish people. He is, unsurprisingly, flawed, like all of us. And that’s fine. Flawed people are welcome into this incredible story of the unfolding of the Jewish nation.
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Moses’ staff is one of a few magical objects in the Torah. There are several others - a talking donkey, a worm that can cut rocks, a traveling well. Legend has it that Moses’ staff - the one that turned into a snake, the one with which the river was struck, turning the water into blood - was made by God and given to Adam. Adam gave it to his great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson Hanoch, who gave it to his son Noach. Noach took it with him on the Ark and then gave it to his son, Shem. Shem gave it to his great-great-great-great-great-great grandson Avraham, who gave it to Yitzhak, who gave it to Ya’akov. Ya’akov took it down with him to Egypt, and he gave it to Joseph before he died. When Yoseph died, Pharaoh’s people ransacked Joseph’s house and brought the staff into Pharaoh’s palace.
Stopping the story for a moment, you could imagine that Pharaoh’s magicians viewed this staff with some amount of fascination. Though they might never have seen it used, it was, according to that same legend, made entirely of sapphire and featured etchings of Hebrew words. Back to the story, one of those magicians was none other than Yitro (Moses’ future father-in-law). Ytiro saw the staff and, because this is an important detail I will quote directly, “he desired in his heart to have it, and he took it and brought it to his home, and planted it in the midst of the garden of his house. No one was able to approach it any more” - that is, until Moses came along some time later and was the only person who could uproot the staff from the ground.
If you were to do a character sketch of Yitro based only upon the information we have until now, you would know that he was a magician for Pharaoh, that he was drawn to objects of power, that he had desires in his heart to have such things, and was willing to steal things he desired. You also have this strange detail that he seems not to have used it, only planted it in his garden.
Fast-forward some years. Moshe is running away from Pharaoh (because he killed an Egyptian and Pharaoh found out) and he goes to Midyan where, perhaps unbeknownst to him, perhaps beknownst - Yitro lives. Does Moshe go there because he heard about the staff? Who knows. All we know is that Moshe arrives in Midyan and goes to the well. There, seven women (who are actually Yitro’s daughters) are attempting to draw water but are tormented by some of the local shepherds. Moshe chases the men off and draws water for the women, earning an invite from their father (who knew there would be trouble at the well) to join them for a meal. According to the legend brought in Pirkei D’Rebbe Eliezer, upon arriving at Yitro’s house, Moshe saw the staff and pulled it out of the ground. When Yitro saw this, he knew that Moshe would be the savior of the Jewish people.
Adding this information to the character sketch of Yitro, he sends his daughters into a dangerous situation to draw water at the well. He also knows greatness when he sees it.
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The Zohar celebrates the day that Yitro came to join the Jewish people at the mountain of Sinai. “When Yitro, came and said ‘Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods,’ then the Holy One was extolled and honored, above and below, and then the Torah could be given in its entirety.”
Meaning, when Yitro, who started off very far away from God - and was in fact a high priest of idolatry - connected himself to the Jewish people, this was a great honoring of God. Said another way, when someone whom we expect to honor God honors God, it’s not very surprising - though of course this is also worth celebrating, especially if that person finds a new way, or brings a new part of themselves, into that relationship, it’s not the same kind of big deal as what happens when someone whom we weren’t expecting to honors God.
So, Yitro comes to join the people at the mountain of Sinai. Moshe goes out to greet him. They talk. Moshe tells Yitro about the downfall of Egypt and the raising-up of the Jewish people. And Yitro was happy about it! Or, at least that’s the simple reading of the word vayichad. Rashi tells us it means something else as well - his flesh crept with horror because he was upset at the downfall of Egypt!
Add that to the character sketch, and you end up with something fascinating: Yitro was taken with the power of the staff, so much so that he was willing to steal it. Yitro is also, it seems, taken with the power of Egypt - so much so that he is genuinely upset that Egypt has fallen. And he’s also happy about it. And, he’s come all this way to join the Jewish people.
Let’s suppose that Yitro is genuinely drawn to power, and one reason he wants to join the Jewish people is because they defeated the most powerful nation, so now they are the most powerful nation, and they are guided by the Most Powerful God. For a person like this Moshe and his people roll out the red carpet, welcome him with open arms, and invite him to join their people?!
Sure! We’ve got room for people who are drawn to power. And we also have space for people who are selfish, distracted, tend to get angry sometimes, forget to call people back, have trouble expressing compassion, eat too many potato chips, don’t tip well, under-prepare for important meetings, are sometimes messy, over-commit, under-commit, resent, backtrack, double-talk, see the world narrowly, forget important birthdays, have double standards, sometimes ogle other people’s cars, and all the other things that humans do - as long as they are moving forward.
We welcome Yitro, in full cognizance of his flaws, because we also see that he has come, he is looking for more, he is trying to grow.
So, yes. Please, come in, warts and all. No one is perfect here. Everyone’s bringing their schtick, their secrets, their skeletons stored in closets. We are all accepted under the wings of the Divine Presence. In fact, that’s what you do under the wings of the Divine Presence - you bring your all-too-human, fully flawed self to the place where you can be accepted and loved enough to stop doubting yourself and start something new. All those flaws and missteps and misdemeanors aren’t ignored or celebrated. They’re just seen as the starting point of the next chapter of the story.
And in a beautiful denouement, Yitro will turn his interest in power into a passion for empowerment, guiding Moshe toward appointing more than seventy-eight thousand Israelites into positions of responsibility within their community.