"Now Yitro, the priest of Midyan, Moshe’s father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moshe and for Israel his people, that YHWH had brought Israel out of Egypt." (Exodus 18:1 The Schocken Bible, Everett Fox, ©1995)
How surprising that this dramatic parsha, with the 10 commandments at its center, the heart of Judaism, is named after Yitro, who was no less than a Priest of Midian, planted deep in idol worship.
The parsha has two central themes. One is the organizational advice that Yitro gives Moshe when he sees him struggling under the yoke of leadership: "So now, hearken to my voice: I will advise you, so that God may be with you: Be, yourself, for the people in relation to God. You yourself should have the matters come to God" (Ibid., 18:19)
And the second – receiving the Torah and the Ten Commandments: "God spoke all these words, saying" (Ibid., 20:1)
Two Topics:
The one is about form, the other is about content.
The first offers mechanism and medium, the second meaning and purpose.
The first deals with discipline and procedures, the second with meaning and values.
The first explains "how" to do things, the second "what" is the right thing to do.
Can we really differentiate and divide between the two? Between form and content, between frame and meaning, between organization and values?
It seems to me that in the reality of our lives there isn't such a possibility, nor is it right to separate the two things. Although there's a common conception that sometimes the ends justifies the means, for the most part our world of values and our beliefs as individuals and as a society are also, and perhaps mainly, reflected in "how" we do things, not only in "what" we do.
It's possible to do the ethically right and reasonable thing, but in a damaging and weakening way, and it's possible to say and do complex and even difficult things in proper and respectful ways.
It's important to do the right thing, but no less, to do things right.
In our parsha, only after the people of Israel are well organized with a clear organizational, managerial, and leadership system, acceptable to Moshe and to the people, that it is possible to deal with the spiritual content, with values and meaning. Only then are all available both emotionally and spiritually to receive the Torah and the Ten Commandments.
And what of the Ten Commandments?
The Ten Commandments are a kind of ancient Declaration of Human Rights. John Locke based himself upon them when he penned his concept of the "Natural Rights" of humans and citizens. It is so moving that the initial draft of the International Declaration of Human Rights, that was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, was written by Rene Cassin, a Jewish Jurist who served in Charles de Gaulle's government in exile. Cassin was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968 for his work.
The Jewish tradition, however, doesn't have a concept of human rights, rather, it has a concept of human obligations:
There is no "right to life", rather "you are not to murder" and "the human was created in God's image". There is no right to property, rather "you are not to steal". There is no right to privacy, rather, "you are not to covet". There is no right to a fair trial, rather, "you are not to lift-up-in-favor the face of the poor" (Leviticus19:15) and "You are not to testify against your neighbor as a false witness" etc.
The Jewish tradition assumes that it is preferable for a person to focus on his or her obligations, that will protect the rights of others, than to focus on his or her own rights.
More than that, the concept of rights in Judaism appears in relation to obligations: we say "tizku lemitzvot" (lit. may you have the merit or right to fulfill many obligations).
May we all have the right to many mitzvot, may the light increase, may all the hostages and our soldiers return home in peace, and may peace and quiet return to our land.
I would like to conclude with the reminder engraved in the first commandment given to the people of Israel, that God is personal: "I am YHWH your God" (Exodus 20:2), and God's power and uniqueness are expressed as "who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from a house of serfs" (Ibid., ibid.).
This is God's charge in the world, to help people, all people, to leave servitude to freedom.
That is the charge of all culture, all civilization, and that's the charge of education, of all education, certainly Jewish education.
Of the ten commandments, it is said: "And the tablets were God’s making, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved upon the tablets" (Exodus 32:16) and the midrash in Pirkei Avot says "Read not haruth [‘graven’] but heruth [‘freedom’]" (Mishnah, Avot 6:2).
And all the rest is commentary.
Shabbat Shalom
Translation: Rabbi Simcha Daniel Burstyn
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Rabbi Ofek Meir is the Headmaster and Managing Director of the Leo Baeck Education Center. He was the founder and headmaster of the Leo Baeck Elementary School and also served as the Middle School headmaster, established the Lorri Lokey International Center for Jewish Studies on the Leo Baeck campus and served as The Israeli Rabbinical Seminary's manager at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.
Ofek has a B.A and a Teaching Certificate in Jewish Thought and History from the Oranim College, as well as a Rabbinical Ordination from the Hebrew Union College. He also has a Classical Guitar Performance Degree (A.R.C.M) from the Royal College of Music (London).
How surprising that this dramatic parsha, with the 10 commandments at its center, the heart of Judaism, is named after Yitro, who was no less than a Priest of Midian, planted deep in idol worship.
The parsha has two central themes. One is the organizational advice that Yitro gives Moshe when he sees him struggling under the yoke of leadership: "So now, hearken to my voice: I will advise you, so that God may be with you: Be, yourself, for the people in relation to God. You yourself should have the matters come to God" (Ibid., 18:19)
And the second – receiving the Torah and the Ten Commandments: "God spoke all these words, saying" (Ibid., 20:1)
Two Topics:
The one is about form, the other is about content.
The first offers mechanism and medium, the second meaning and purpose.
The first deals with discipline and procedures, the second with meaning and values.
The first explains "how" to do things, the second "what" is the right thing to do.
Can we really differentiate and divide between the two? Between form and content, between frame and meaning, between organization and values?
It seems to me that in the reality of our lives there isn't such a possibility, nor is it right to separate the two things. Although there's a common conception that sometimes the ends justifies the means, for the most part our world of values and our beliefs as individuals and as a society are also, and perhaps mainly, reflected in "how" we do things, not only in "what" we do.
It's possible to do the ethically right and reasonable thing, but in a damaging and weakening way, and it's possible to say and do complex and even difficult things in proper and respectful ways.
It's important to do the right thing, but no less, to do things right.
In our parsha, only after the people of Israel are well organized with a clear organizational, managerial, and leadership system, acceptable to Moshe and to the people, that it is possible to deal with the spiritual content, with values and meaning. Only then are all available both emotionally and spiritually to receive the Torah and the Ten Commandments.
And what of the Ten Commandments?
The Ten Commandments are a kind of ancient Declaration of Human Rights. John Locke based himself upon them when he penned his concept of the "Natural Rights" of humans and citizens. It is so moving that the initial draft of the International Declaration of Human Rights, that was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, was written by Rene Cassin, a Jewish Jurist who served in Charles de Gaulle's government in exile. Cassin was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968 for his work.
The Jewish tradition, however, doesn't have a concept of human rights, rather, it has a concept of human obligations:
There is no "right to life", rather "you are not to murder" and "the human was created in God's image". There is no right to property, rather "you are not to steal". There is no right to privacy, rather, "you are not to covet". There is no right to a fair trial, rather, "you are not to lift-up-in-favor the face of the poor" (Leviticus19:15) and "You are not to testify against your neighbor as a false witness" etc.
The Jewish tradition assumes that it is preferable for a person to focus on his or her obligations, that will protect the rights of others, than to focus on his or her own rights.
More than that, the concept of rights in Judaism appears in relation to obligations: we say "tizku lemitzvot" (lit. may you have the merit or right to fulfill many obligations).
May we all have the right to many mitzvot, may the light increase, may all the hostages and our soldiers return home in peace, and may peace and quiet return to our land.
I would like to conclude with the reminder engraved in the first commandment given to the people of Israel, that God is personal: "I am YHWH your God" (Exodus 20:2), and God's power and uniqueness are expressed as "who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from a house of serfs" (Ibid., ibid.).
This is God's charge in the world, to help people, all people, to leave servitude to freedom.
That is the charge of all culture, all civilization, and that's the charge of education, of all education, certainly Jewish education.
Of the ten commandments, it is said: "And the tablets were God’s making, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved upon the tablets" (Exodus 32:16) and the midrash in Pirkei Avot says "Read not haruth [‘graven’] but heruth [‘freedom’]" (Mishnah, Avot 6:2).
And all the rest is commentary.
Shabbat Shalom
Translation: Rabbi Simcha Daniel Burstyn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Ofek Meir is the Headmaster and Managing Director of the Leo Baeck Education Center. He was the founder and headmaster of the Leo Baeck Elementary School and also served as the Middle School headmaster, established the Lorri Lokey International Center for Jewish Studies on the Leo Baeck campus and served as The Israeli Rabbinical Seminary's manager at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.
Ofek has a B.A and a Teaching Certificate in Jewish Thought and History from the Oranim College, as well as a Rabbinical Ordination from the Hebrew Union College. He also has a Classical Guitar Performance Degree (A.R.C.M) from the Royal College of Music (London).