Parashat Yisro
PARSHA OVERVIEW
Hearing of the miracles that Hashem performed for Bnei Yisrael, Moshe's father-in-law Yitro arrives with Tzippora, Moshe's wife, and their two sons, reuniting the family in the wilderness. Moshe details for Yitro the Exodus from Egypt, and Yitro converts to Judaism. Seeing that the only judicial authority for the entire Jewish nation is Moshe Rabbeinu himself, Yitro suggests that subsidiary judges be appointed to adjudicate smaller matters, leaving Moshe free to attend to larger issues. After consulting with Hashem, Moshe accepts this advice.
The Jewish People arrive at Mount Sinai where Hashem offers them the Torah. Once they accept, Hashem charges Moshe to instruct the people not to approach the mountain, and to prepare for three days.
On the third day, amidst thunder and lightning, Hashem's voice emanates from the smoke-enshrouded mountain; He speaks to the Jewish People, giving them the Ten Commandments:
- Believe in Hashem.
- Do not worship “gods”.
- Do not use Hashem's name in vain.
- Observe Shabbat.
- Honor your parents.
- Do not murder.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not kidnap.
- Do not testify falsely.
- Do not covet.
After receiving the first two commandments, the Jewish People, overwhelmed by this experience of the Divine, request that Moshe relay Hashem's word to them. The Parasha ends with an exhortation against making idols and the command to build an altar to Hashem.
PARSHA INSIGHTS
The Nuclear Family
“...And Yisrael encamped there opposite the mountain.” (Shemot 19:2)
When children marry, build their own homes and create new and separate lives, family dynamics change. Rather than those intimate Shabboses of the nuclear family, get-togethers become more like the in-gathering of the clan.
But sometimes Hashem gives us a “gift” that brings us back to that original closeness.
When my mother was nearing the end of her life, all my children except the youngest were able to fly to London to see her. Some were able to fulfill the mitzvah of bikur cholim, visiting the sick; some did the mitzvah of levayas hameis, accompanying the dead to their resting place; and some, both. Some stayed the whole time, and some flew back and forth twice. Such was their love for Gubba – That’s what they all called her. My married childrens’ spouses and children were not able to come, so what happened was that we found ourselves together, just like we were all those years before. And we rekindled an earlier - now lost - intimacy. It was as though my mother had brought us together for a reunion - an echo of that core family bond.
When the Jewish People stood at Sinai, Rashi says they were “K’ish echad b’lev echad - like one man with one heart”. This unity was not coincidental, but rather a key condition for accepting the Torah, whose chief principle is love toward others, “v’ahavta l’reiacha”.
When leaving this world, my mother - whose life exemplified the acceptance and love toward others - gave us a moment of unified closeness — like the nuclear family of the Jewish people standing together at Sinai.
