Torah Reflections

Editor's note: Rabbi Shnaiweiss lives with his family in Israel. Currently, at the time of writing this, Israel is undergoing a dangerous revolution in both political, judicial and religious affairs. The ultra-orthodox right are imposing their values on the people as a whole and the future of democracy in Israel is on the chopping block and could be the first of many victims.

The foundations of the legal revolution

At the beginning of parashat Yitro, the first legal revolution in Israel is described. There are different opinions, when exactly the story took place, but according to all opinions it took place during the first year of the creation of the nation of Israel. The revolution, which was initially opposed by Moses, (the sole judicial authority at the time), was eventually a great success. In light of this, it is very worthwhile to study it and understand what are the foundations of this revolution and what made it such a success.

In order to make it easier to understand, I will briefly summarize the story as it appears in this week's Parsha:

Yitro comes to visit his son-in-law, Moses, and sees that he alone judges the people from morning to evening. Yitro does not understand the meaning of the phenomenon and asks Moses why he judges alone. Moses answers him that the people want not only a judgment but also they want "to demand from God". Without going into the interpretation of the concept, it can be said that Moses perceives the sentence as a desire for a more sublime value, from the judgment itself. Jethro tells him that in the end, great ideals have to come together in a proper way in order for them to work. A system that relies on one person will harm both him and the people. Moses accepts this advice in full and does everything that Yitor tells him to do.

It would appear that there are greater things that we can learn from this episode than the mere agreement of Moses to Yitro’s advice. However, for our purposes it will suffice to look at this episode from the most basic concepts. The foundations on which the legal revolution is taking place are:

Yito makes his suggestion for the good of the people who are waiting to receive judgment from Moses. Yitro does not fight against Moses on this issue, but fights for him. The offer came out of empathy and a desire to do good to the object of the offer - In this case Moses.
When Moses explains his motives to Yitro, Yitro does not doubt that Moses acts with pure intentions. The discussion is conducted only on the principle level and not on the personal level. The opinions voiced by Yitro are not easy to hear, they are said in a sharp and made in a clear manner, but there is no doubt that the matter in question is fundamental and the intentions are pure on both sides.
There is deep mutual listening by both sides, one to the other's claims. Yitro hears Moses’ words regarding the points that are significant in his eyes, for instance; meeting with the people directly. He offers a proposal that meets the needs of Moses, yet promotes change.
The change was made by agreement and out of an understanding by Yitro that he is indeed convinced that he is right but he "suggests" as he says ("And now listen to my voice of counsel")
Modesty. Although the measurements of Moses’ modesty are not mentioned in these verses, they are there and very evident. Moses, who brought an entire people out of Egypt, who performed visible miracles and defeated the most powerful empire in the world, does not think that he is the wisest and most successful. He knows he's just a messenger of God and the messenger of the public and is ready to acknowledge his shortcomings, he is ready to accept that the practice that he has adopted is not sustainable and must be changed for his good and the good of the people.

Caring, honesty, listening, agreement and humility. These are the foundations on which a real revolution in the judicial order of the people of Israel is founded. This is not a technical change. Moses was totally convinced that the practices he was following brought forth great ideals, but despite this, he listened to his wise father-in-law, demanding his favor.

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Talking about these things I deviate from my established practice. Usually, I try in this little corner to study the scriptures and observe what they teach us about our lives as a whole, both with an internal and deep view and a general and high view. The words of the Torah that we learn in the weekly portion should be relevant and speak to us, they might even connect in many ways to the events that are happening around us on both a personal and national level. However, they should not necessarily correspond with the news headlines, with the "here and now". The Torah and its teachings are eternal and our encounter with them should be with patience and a long-term view. Adopting these words to justify them for "burning" issues of the moment can be very dangerous. The words of the Torah may, in this case, become an "ax" to convey personal messages of a writer who has a specific agenda. If I had not thought that the issue was existential and that there was no escape from talking about it, I would not have written these things, however, what I have described here is a very real danger that we should be aware of.

The things learned from this parable are simple, almost self-evident, and yet we need to repeat them again and again, repeat them to ourselves, speak of them to our relatives, to those who agree with us and to those who don't. We must not only speak, but also listen, and really listen to others, not listening in order to reply, but listening in order to understand them.

We must believe in the conviction of the one who stands before us. We must repeat and remember that we are not standing on either side of a barrier, but want the success of this joint venture. We must protect this family, our virtuous people, before all other values, however important those values may be to us. If we want to change or preserve political, legal conduct, etc., we must think and care for others no less than ourselves. Finally, we should act and speak with the recognition that we are not omniscient, and not "all-powerful". We must learn from Moses to practice a measure of humility.

Shabbat Shalom, Matan Schneeweiss