Yitro 5770 – Gilayon #637
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Parshat Yitro
Moses told his father in law [about] all that the Lord
had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians on account of
about] all the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and [that] the Lord
had saved them. (Shemot
18:8)
Moses told his father-in-law: to attract his heart, to draw him near to the Torah (Mekhilta).
(Rashi
Shemot 18:8)
For if otherwise, why did he tell him? [After all,] he had already heard
all about it, as it is written: And Yitro heard.
(Siftei Hakhamim ad
loc)
Moses told his father-in-law…
it is questionable what new thing Moses told his father-in-law, since he
already knew everything he [Moses] told him before he travelled from his land –
that was why he came to the wilderness, for it says, And Yitro heard and
also Blessed be the Lord Who saved, etc. But why didn't he bless the
Lord back in his own country when he heard everything that God had done for
Moses?…
The answer is that when in his land, Yitro only heard about what God did
for Moses and
the Lord took
That is why he said, that the Lord had taken out. The Lord did two
things when He took them out of
first, He killed their [the Egyptian] firstborn, and second, He drowned them in
the sea. Both of these seemed unfair, since it would have been sufficient to
take
by a contradiction: he saw God's great power, that He killed the firstborn, and
even more so that He transformed the sea into dry land and then drowned them. All
of this indicates great power and much strength, but someone who has great
power does not commit injustice, since people commit injustice when they lack
the power to do what they wish and yet they seek to govern. Yitro came [to
Moses] in order to understand this. Our Rabbi Moses answered both questions,
and said: Moses told his father in law [about] all
that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians on account of
With that he answered the first problem, [saying] that
blessed be He, said to Pharaoh: My firstborn son is
but if you refuse to send him out, behold, I am going
to slay your firstborn son, and since he [Pharaoh] did not send them
out, He killed their firstborn. He [Moses] further said [to Yitro]: all the hardships that had befallen them on the way,
thus answering the second issue, i.e., why He drowned them in the sea. [His
answer was] that Pharaoh set out to kill
and that was why the Holy One blessed be He drowned them [the Egyptians]. Then
Yitro rejoiced having understood that the Holy One, blessed be He, had acted
properly in both instances, since previously he had been sad. And then he said:
Blessed be the Lord who saved you; previously he offered no blessing,
for he said [to himself] that someone who commits injustice does not deserve
to be blessed, but now his doubts had been resolved.
(R. Yitzhak Karo – 1517 – Toldot
Yitzhak, Shemot 18:8).
The Torah that You
give… what is written in it?
Itay
Marienberg-Milikovski
The revelation at
Sinai is described from the Israelites' viewpoint. They sanctified
themselves, they experienced the sounds, the lightning and the smoke on the
mountain, and they watched Moses as he drew near to
the opaque darkness, where God was (Shemot 20:18). The Torah does
not widen its field of view beyond the people's encampment and it does not tell
us anything about how the other nations reacted to the dramatic event. Quite to
the contrary, in the preamble to the revelation at Mount Sinai the Torah seems to
link the Exodus from
the revelation, and observance of the commandments with the special
relationship between
and God:
You have seen what
I did to the Egyptians, and [how] I bore you on eagles' wings, and I brought
you to Me. And now, if you obey Me and
keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is
the entire earth. And you shall be to Me a
kingdom of princes and a holy nation… (Shemot 19:4-6)
Many have already
pointed out that some voices among the Sages offer a different, more universal
point of view emphasizing the idea that the Torah was originally given to all
of humanity. Obviously, the difference between these two points of view
uncovers different stances regarding the nature of desirable relations between
the nations of the world, and God. It is perhaps less obvious that this
difference also reveals different images of the Torah and of its significance
for the generations. It is in this spirit that I will now try to place a
well-known Talmudic aggadah in a new light. The aggadah in question does not
appear to say anything relevant to our discussion; it describes the angels'
opposition to God's giving the Torah to Moses (b. Shabbat 88b-89a).
…R. Yehoshu ben Levi
also said: When Moses ascended on high, the ministering angels spoke before the
Holy One, blessed be He, "Sovereign of the Universe! What business has one
born of woman amongst us?" "He has come to receive the Torah,"
answered He to them. Said they to Him, "That secret treasure, which has
been hidden by You for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the
world was created, You desire to give to flesh and blood! What is man, that
you are mindful of him, And the son of man, that you visit him? (Psalms 8:5) O Lord
our God, How excellent is your name in all the earth! Who has set your glory
[the Torah] upon the Heavens! (Psalms 8:2). "Return them ananswer," bade the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses. "Sovereign of
the Universe" replied he, "I fear lest they consume me with the [fiery]
breath of their mouths." "Hold on to the Throne of Glory," said
He to him, "and return them an answer"… . He [then] spoke before
Him: "Sovereign of the Universe! The Torah which You give me, what is
written therein? I am the Lord thy God, who brought you out of the
of
Said he to them [the angels], "Did you go down to
Pharaoh? Why then should the Torah be yours? Again, what is written therein? You
shall have none other gods (ibid). Do you dwell among peoples that engage
in idol worship? Again what is written therein? Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy
(20:7).Do you then perform work that you need to rest? Again what is written therein? You
shall not take [tissa] [the name … in vain]
(20:6). Are there anybusiness [
dealings among you? Again what is written therein, Honor your father and
your mother
(20:11);have you fathers and mothers? Again what is written therein? You shall not
murder. Thou shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal
(20:12). Is therejealousy among you; is the evil inclination among you?" Straightway they
conceded to the Holy One, blessed be He, for it is said, O Lord our God, How
excellent is your name in all the earth! whereas Who has set your glory
upon the heavens is not written. Immediately each one was moved to love him
[Moses] and transmitted something to him, for it is said, You have ascendedon high, you hast taken spoils [the Torah]; you have received gifts on account
of man
(Psalms68:19)
; as a recompense for their calling you man [adam] youreceived gifts.
(Basedon Soncino translation)
The action of this
beautiful aggadah takes place in the implicit exegetical space between the two
verses which frame chapter eight of Psalms. If the psalm begins by describing
how God is praised on both heaven and earth, O Lord our God, How excellent
is your name in all the earth! Who has set your glory upon the Heavens! (8:2) – it is difficult
to understand why the heavens disappear when that proclamation is repeated at
the end of the chapter: O Lord our God, How excellent is your name in all
the earth! (8:10).
The darshan places these verses in the mouths of the angels and lends the
strain between the two verses a graphic representation. R. Yehoshua ben Levi
tells us that when Moses ascended on high, the angels complained about the idea
that the Torah of God, whose glory is upon heaven, would descend with
Moses back to earth, as the first verse implies. Only after Moses sets out his
arguments in favor of the Torah's descent do the angels agree to its being
necessary – as is witnessed by the final verse.
R. Yehoshua's
story was not created ex nihilo. By paying attention to his language, to
his use of biblical quotations, and, of course, to the ideas he appears to be
expressing, we can uncover his possible sources and locate the echoes – both manifest
and muffled – of his story in other stories. Take, for example, the angels'
opposition to the Torah being given to "one born of woman," which
seems to be a "rerun" of their opposition to the very creation of man
as this is described in several places (Bereishit Rabbah 88; b. Sanhedrin 38b; etc. But
compare them with Tosefta Sotah 6:5). As usual, the angels are wary of
God having too close a relationship with humans; they prefer to set up a clear
boundary between heaven and earth, but time after time they come out of these
stories at a disadvantage.
It would seem more
interesting, however, to consider the links between the Amoraic story of Moses'
argument with the angels to the well known Tannaitic aggadah which relates
God's trek among the nations on the eve of the giving of the Torah. It was only
after the nations refused to accept the Torah that God turned to
and gave it to them (see
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Massekhta DeBaHodesh 5; Sifrei Devarim
343).
Both aggadot
describe what happened just before the biblical story begins; they both express
deep misgivings regarding the giving of the Torah, and they both treat the same
question: who is worthy of receiving it? It is instructive to note that they
share a common structure: in each story God is asked what is written in His
Torah – "What is written therein?" – and His answer (or, in the case
of the Amoraic aggadah, the answer given by Moses "in His name") is
always taken from the same Ten Commandments, which themselves become a
"proof" favoring one of the parties to the dispute. A quick
glance, however, is sufficient to reveal how great the difference is between
the two stories:
…He revealed
Himself to the Children of Esau and said to them: "Will you accept My
Torah?" They said to Him: "What is written therein?" He told
them: Do not murder (Shemot 20:12). They said to Him: But that is
the heritage we inherited for it is said, and by your sword you shall live
(Bereishit 27:40).
He revealed Himself to the Ammonites and said to them: "Will you accept My
Torah?" They said to Him: "What is written therein?" He told
them: Do not commit adultery [or, more generally, do not engage in
forbidden sex] (Shemot
20:12). They said to Him: "But we all are the product of forbidden
sex, for it is written: and
daughters became pregnant from their father (Bereishit 19:36) – how can we accept it? He
revealed Himself to the Ishmaelites and said to them: "Will you accept My
Torah?" They said to Him: "What is written therein?" He told
them: Do not steal (Shemot 20:12). They said to Him: "But
that is the blessing with which our father was blessed, for it is written, He
will be a wild-ass of a man (Bereishit 16:12), and it is written, for I
was stolen (Bereishit
40:15). And when He came by
mouths and said: All that the Lord spoke we will do and we will hear (Shemot 24:7)… (Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael
ad loc)
According to this
aggadah, the nations could not accept the Torah because the Torah undermines
the very foundations of their existence: the Torah can have nothing to do with
someone who lives a life of theft, adultery, and murder. The Torah is given to
merely because they jumped up and said, All that the Lord spoke we will do
and we will hear. Rather, it was also simply because they were not awash in
all the evils against which the Torah warns us. In contrast to this, in the
dialogue between Moses and the angels quoted above, we read: "Again what
is written therein? You shall not murder. Thou shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal (20:12). Is there jealousy among you; is the evil inclination
among you?" It ends up that the Torah will also have nothing to do with
those who are absolutely pure and free of theft, adultery, and murder. It
cannot help them. Furthermore: The peculiar nature of Moses' arguments
teaches us that while he was specifically Israel's emissary ("Did you go
down to
you dwell among peoples that engage in idol worship?") his speech is
principally concerned with the essence and nature of humanity in general;
jealousy, the evil inclination, work, and engagement in business are the most
basic raw materials of human existence.
Each of the aggadot
uses the same exact language to set up confrontations between two different
groups who compete for the reception of the Torah. While the earlier Tannaitic
aggadah pits
the nations, the later Amoraic aggadah describes a competition between human
beings – not just
but all human beings – and the angels. According to the first aggadah, there
are people – not from
God forbid – who are naturally sinful and thus incapable of complying with the
Torah's strict requirements. According to the second aggadah, and in contrast
to the first, the Torah is meant for all human beings and for exactly the same
reason: because, as human beings, they are naturally sinful, whether they
belong to the covenant or not. The angels themselves already concede this
point to Moses by saying: O Lord our God, How excellent is your name in all
the earth! (Psalms
8:10)
Itay Marienberg-Milikovski is married and father to a son. He studied and taught at Yeshivat HaKibbutz HaDati Ein
Tzurim. Today he teaches at Kehillat Yedidya's evening beit midrash in
its activities. He also teaches at the beit midrash at Beit Shalom Aleichem in
Tel Aviv. He is pursuing an MA and serves as an assistant instructor at the
Department of Hebrew Literature at the
of the
board of the Hazmana LePiyut website.
A judge has only what he sees with his own
eyes
It came about on the next day that Moses
sat down to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the
morning until the evening. When
Moses' father in law saw what he was doing to the people, he said, "What
is this thing that you are doing to the people? Why do you sit by yourself,
while all the people stand before you from morning till evening?"
(Shemot
18:13-14)
The passage implies that Moses did not originally intend to
appoint a system of national administration. Rather, he intended the people to
be administered by divine inspiration as transmitted through him – the man who
knew God face to face. He also attempted to execute this plan. We read that he
sat from morning until evening, judging the people through the Holy Spirit within him.
Later he was to learn from his gentile father-in-law – who
had drawn near to
– that even divinely instructed leadership required human instruments, drawn
from the skills and abilities present within human beings themselves. And so
human beings are appointed to administer and judge the people. They must possess
very high moral qualities – men of valor, God-fearing, men of truth, who
hate [ill-gotten] gain (Shemot
18:21). These are rare human qualities, but they are human
qualities. It is not demanded of them to be infused with divine inspiration.
Thus, the Torah leaves administration and jurisprudence in
the hands of human beings to the extent of their knowledge and understanding of
God's Torah and their desire to preserve that Torah.
(Y.
Leibowitz He'arot
leParshiyot HaShavua pg. 50)
In Those days and in This Season
When the State of Israel was established, its first minister of
religion, R. Yehudah Lev Maimon, z"l, wanted to reestablish the Sanhedrin.
They say that when he addressed David Ben Gurion regarding this matter, the
prime minister answered: "But it says that the judges of the Sanhedrin
must have lofty qualities. Suppose we can find 70 people who are men of
valor, and even if they are Lord-fearing and men of truth, but
what about who hate monetary gain?"
To this R. Maimon replied: "These
days you can get anything for money… "
A Treasured People – A
of
Nation
You shall be treasured to Me of all the Nations – Even
though the entire human race is more precious to Me than all the lowly
entities, since it is the only one amongst them that possesses intention, as
they said: "The human is beloved, for he was created in the [Divine] image"
(Avot), in any event you will be the most treasured of all.
For all the earth is Mine – And the differences between
you are a matter of gradations, since all the earth is Mine, and the
righteous of the nations of the world are certainly precious to Me.
(Seforno Shemot 19:5)
The People Israel's uniqueness is not a matter of established fact,
but rather a mission.
is not an entity, rather it is a function… The People Israel is not the
Chosen People; rather they are commanded to be the Chosen People. What
does their being chosen consist of? "Who chose us from all the nations and
gave us His Torah." The People Israel has no essential uniqueness; it
is unique in the demand made of it.
True, there have been those who disagree with this view because they
were incapable of achieving such a lofty belief. The first to dissent from it
was Korah, who proclaimed that all of the congregation is holy, that the
uniqueness of the People Israel is an existing fact, that it is a holy nation
in its very essence. However, just three verses before Korah's proclamation
there is written, In order that you remember and perform all of My
commandments and you shall be holy – you are not holy, but rather you
are called upon to become holy.
(From Y. Leibowitz , Emuna, Historia,
ve'Arakhim)
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