Family Parshah
Yitro Q & A

"And Jethro heard." (18:1)

Question: The famed commentator Rashi writes, "Jethro had seven names; one was 'Yeter' because he 'added' a Torah portion in the Torah: "And you shall seek out" (18:21).

When Jethro saw how hard Moses was working, the first thing he said was, "What you are doing is not good" (18:17). The verse of "And you shall seek out" occurs four verses later. Why isn't the Torah portion that Jethro added called, "What you are doing is not good"?

Answer: Some people are quite critical and ready to say "what you are doing is not good." It is easy to criticize, so Jethro is not entitled to credit for finding fault with Moses's judicial procedure. He receives credit, rather, for his constructive suggestion.

"Jethro was happy for all the good that G-d did for the Jews for saving him from the hand of the Egyptians." (18:9)

Question: Why did Jethro use the singular expression "saving him" and not the plural "saving them"?

Answer: Pharaoh had three advisors, Job, Jethro and Balaam. Considering the Jewish people a serious threat to him and the land of Egypt, he called his advisors and consulted with them. At the conference, Balaam suggested the idea of drowning all newborn Jewish boys. Job was silent. Not wanting to be present when plans were being made against the Jewish people, Jethro ran away. In the end, Balaam was killed, Job endured his famous sufferings, and Jethro was rewarded to have Moses as his son-in-law and his descendants as members of the Jewish court.1

When Jethro heard of the rescue through the drowning of Egyptians, he was happy for the good G-d did for the Jewish people. In addition, he was happy and grateful that G-d had given him the idea to run away from Pharaoh. Thanks to this, he was prevented from suffering or perishing with the Egyptians.

"Now I know that G-d is the greatest of all deities." (18:11)

Question: Why did Jethro now come to this realization?

Answer: When G-d told Moses about the coming plague of the killing of the firstborn, He also said, "And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment" (12:12). Ultimately, all the idols were destroyed except for one, the "Ba'al Tzefon."2

Jethro was a theologian and very familiar with all the deities. Upon learning the fate of the idols, he was convinced of their worthlessness. However, he remained with some doubts in regard to G-d's supremacy due to the survival of Ba'al Tzefon.

Actually, G-d permitted Ba'al Tzefon to remain in order to mislead the Egyptians. When they chased after the Jews and found them camping at the shores of the Red Sea, they were certain that the power of the Ba'al Tzefon was aiding them. Consequently, they thought, they would conquer and retrieve the gold and silver the Jews had taken from them. Eventually, the Egyptians were drowned in the sea and Ba'al Tzefon, too, was destroyed.

The miraculous splitting of the sea encouraged Jethro to join the Jewish people. He declared, "Now that all the gods of the Egyptians, including Ba'al Tzefon, have been destroyed, I no longer have any doubts and am totally convinced that your G-d is the true and only one."

"Moses said to his father-in-law, 'When they have a matter, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his friend.'" (18:15-16)

Question: The verse begins in the plural: "When they have a matter"; why does it not continue, "they come to me"?

Answer: Often questions come before a Rabbi which seem very similar to those he has previously handled. It is improper for a judge to compare one case to another and not go again through all the details. Although, superficially the two cases appear identical, in each issue there may be slight differences which can lead to an entirely different outcome.3

Jethro asked Moses why he was so involved from morning to evening deciding questions and not quick to issue answers based on previous decisions. Moses replied, "When they have a matter of dispute, even if "it comes to me" -- a matter similar to this has already come before me and I rendered a decision -- I do not rely on that. I judge anew and go through all the details. Therefore, it takes much time to come up with fair and just decisions."

"They administered justice on a regular basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses and judging the easy cases by themselves." (18:26)

Question: Jethro advised Moses to judge "every big case" and to let the judges consider "the small cases" (18:12). Why did Moses speak of "difficult cases" and "easy cases" (in contrast to 'difficult') while Jethro spoke of big and small ones?

Answer: In many countries the importance of a litigation is decided by how much money it involves. There is a small claims court for disputes regarding small amounts of money and a civil court which handles cases involving larger amounts. Jethro advised Moses to personally handle the "big cases" — the ones involving large sums of money — and to let the newly appointed judges deal with the "small cases" — the ones involving small amounts of money.

According to Jewish law, a case involving a penny and a case concerning hundreds of dollars are both to be approached with the same seriousness.4 Therefore, Moses instructed that he would handle the difficult cases, regardless of the amount of money involved, and the easier cases would be under the jurisdiction of the judges.