{"id":48109,"date":"2019-01-24T14:17:16","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T12:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=48109"},"modified":"2022-05-11T23:48:06","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T20:48:06","slug":"jethro-you-have-been-as-eyes-for-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/jethro-you-have-been-as-eyes-for-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Jethro: You Have Been As Eyes For Us"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Everyone needs a good pair of eyes.\u00a0Even Moses, the divine seer par excellence, able to see God face to face as no other human can (Deut. 34:10).<\/p>\n

Jethro, Moses\u2019 father in law who this portion is named for, is called Moses\u2019 eyes\u00a0in the portion of Beha’alotecha.\u00a0In Numbers 10:31,\u00a0Moses pleads with Jethro not to leave the Israelites in the desert for Jethro has \u201cbeen as eyes for us.\u201d Why does God\u2019s greatest prophet (no other prophet is like him, Deut. 34:10 tells us) need a Midianite priest like his father in law for assistance?\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are not too many portions named for non-Jews (Noah, Jethro, Korach and Balak) and not all of these names are admirable characters.\u00a0So why would the portion that contains the revelation at Sinai, the thunder and lightning and an experience so powerful the midrash tells us that even a lowly maid saw more at Sinai than the greatest of prophets, be identified by the name of a non-Jew?<\/p>\n

Moses cannot accomplish his mission alone; no prophecy or vision however great or powerful can become actualized and implemented without a plan and a way to put things into action.\u00a0 When Moses begins to implement God\u2019s laws, anyone who \u201cseeks God\u201d (Exodus 18:15) needs to go through Moses as the intermediary and intercessor to God.\u00a0 Jethro tells Moses he will burn out if he continues as he is doing, by saying \u201cyou will wear out, you and the people that is with you, for the thing is too heavy for you, you cannot do it yourself alone\u201d (Exodus 18:18).<\/p>\n

Jethro advises Moses on a system of delegation.\u00a0Rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens are suggested (Exodus 18: 21) and put into place (18:25).\u00a0It is only once there is a system for seeking God that the revelation can begin in chapters 19 and 20. The vision and wisdom of Jethro is indispensable to implementing the prophecy that Moses receives.<\/p>\n

The example of Moses, seeing his Midianite priest father in law as a source of wisdom and advice, is one contemporary Jews can learn from.\u00a0The image of Jethro as the eyes of Moses guiding the Israelites through the desert came to me when I and members of my New Light Congregation met with Pastor Eric Manning, his family and members of his Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, SC over the January weekend which honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\u00a0Pastor Manning told us that he wanted to give us assistance to the extent that he could and a roadmap for us and the passages we may experience based on his understandings and those of his congregation.\u00a0I, and those who had an opportunity to learn from him, are deeply grateful.<\/p>\n

Rashi says of Jethro that he was willing to \u201ccome forth into the wilderness, a place of desolation, to hear words of Torah\u201d (Rashi on Exodus 18:5).\u00a0Revelation occurs in the desert, the place of emptiness, to bring the guidance on how to seek God\u2019s law that makes implementation of it possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We must always know who can serve as our eyes, prophet or Midianite, and apply their wisdom if a revelatory moment is to become realized.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

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