Parashat Yitro
February 11, 2020
Amy Holtzer, Middle School Principal
This week, we read Parashat Yitro, interrupting the narrative of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to put into place a judicial system and then give us ten statements from God. The statements prohibit behaviors that are morally wrong, that disrupt society and violate a universal value of treating each other with dignity and respect. God is concerned with how we treat each other.
What is the application to our lives today? Each of us has a task or tasks that are too heavy for us to bear alone. Literally, sometimes a door is too heavy for us to open, or our arms are too full to move the door ourselves. Figuratively, we might be mourning the loss of a pet, or struggling to understand some learning at school, or trying to fit in at a new job, neighborhood, or school.
In my past readings of this parashah, I saw the suggestion by Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law, to set up a system of judges as protective of Moses. Referring to Moses’ practice of hearing every case involving a dispute, Yitro said to him, “The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people (the Israelites standing around waiting for their cases to be heard) as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.” I heard the emphasis on relieving Moses of a burden. It made sense for me to read the words this way, with a role here that frequently requires delegation, or distributed responsibility. Trying to do everything myself would result in wearing myself out.
Then last weekend, I had the good fortune to learn with Rabbi Sharon Brouse, the scholar-in-residence at my synagogue, and suddenly I read the emphasis in that last part differently. Rabbi Brouse, the founder of the synagogue Ikar in Los Angeles, spoke to us of social justice and our obligation to see others, to really see them, and to make sure they know they are seen. Yitro saw Moses and the task of judging that was too heavy for him. Yitro was also thinking of the need for each Israelite to be seen and heard, and he recognized that Moses alone could not do that. This was the task that was too heavy for Moses, both for his own sake and for the sake of the others.
What is the application to our lives today? Each of us has a task or tasks that are too heavy for us to bear alone. Literally, sometimes a door is too heavy for us to open, or our arms are too full to move the door ourselves. Figuratively, we might be mourning the loss of a pet, or struggling to understand some learning at school, or trying to fit in at a new job, neighborhood, or school.
Seeing others, and taking the time to find out what task is too heavy for them at the moment, gives us the opportunity to hear them and perhaps help to share or lighten their burden. This is an obligation that can be shared but cannot be avoided. As Jews and as humans, we have a responsibility to see and help others with dignity and respect, moving them, and perhaps the world, from a place of darkness to a place of light.
Shabbat Shalom.