{"id":41847,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-68\/"},"modified":"2023-05-30T12:44:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T09:44:11","slug":"wall-68","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-68\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Exodus-18"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"68","date":"20251202","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"41966","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Exodus 18 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Exodus 18 - Judy Hammond","slug":"exodus-18-judy-hammond","old_id":"41966","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Exodus 18","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/exodus-chapter-18-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"42049","color":"#fafafa","size":"1","name":"Who Was Jethro? ","post_title":"Who Was Jethro?","slug":"who-was-jethro","old_id":"42049","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Read the many posts for today's chapter that explore the question:","tile_main_caption":"Jethro: Who was he? What did he want? How do we view his legacy?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Is the entire system of Israel's jurisprudence due to external advice?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40278,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_507761002","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","width":2674,"height":2858,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-281x300.jpg","medium-width":281,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-768x821.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":821,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-958x1024.jpg","large-width":958,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","1536x1536-width":1437,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","2048x2048-width":1916,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-1123x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1123,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-393x420.jpg","home_baner-width":393,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"104661","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Making Work-Life Balance A Priority ","post_title":"Making Work-Life Balance A Priority","slug":"making-work-life-balance-a-priority","old_id":"104661","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. 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When Moses\u2019 father-in-law Jethro saw that Moses was working from morning to night, single-handedly receiving all who come for advice, guidance, and wisdom. Jethro offered Moses some advice of his own. \u201cWhat you are doing is not good\u201d, said Jethro; \u201cYou cannot do it alone\u201d (18:17-18). Jethro advised Moses to appoint a hierarchy of middle-management. For every thousand Israelites there were to be 131 leaders: <\/span>one head of a thousand, ten heads of a hundred, twenty heads of fifty and a hundred heads of ten (according to the commentary of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks). Given that those roles, at that time, were given exclusively to males, it meant that one in every eight adult males was appointed to a leadership position, transforming a nation of slaves into a nation of leaders.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Certainly, Jethro was offering very sound advice to Moses. The current model was untenable. As Jethro pointed out, Moses would wear himself out, and wasn\u2019t doing the people any favors either. While Jethro\u2019s concern for Moses\u2019 welfare was genuine, the leadership strategy he proposed turned out to be beneficial in many ways and had everlasting benefits for the Jewish nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The words Jethro used when remonstrating Moses were \u201cit is not good \u2013 <\/span>lo tov<\/span><\/i>.\u201d These are precisely the words spoken by God when determining that Adam needed a helpmate: \u201cIt is not good \u2013 <\/span>lo tov<\/span><\/i> \u2013 for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him (Genesis 2:18).\u201d\u00a0 Is there more than just a linguistic connection between Adam\u2019s need for Eve, and Moses\u2019 need to share the workload?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The opening of this chapter indicates that Jethro\u2019s purpose in traveling to the Jewish encampment for the first time since the exodus from Egypt was to reunite Moses with his wife Zipporah and his sons, Gershom and Eliezer. When Moses first emerged as a leader, Zipporah accompanied him from Midian, where they were living, to Egypt, to confront Pharaoh. But as the situation intensified, and Moses\u2019 role necessitated that he be on call and ready to hear from God and carry out His direction at all times, he separated from his family, and his wife and sons returned to Midian. Now Jethro is bringing the family back together. \u201cIt is not good\u201d now takes on two meanings: it is not good for Moses to lead entirely by himself \u2013 he needs help; and it is not good for man to be alone \u2013 he needs his family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jethro\u2019s model of leadership enabled the development of a nation of leaders. It also addressed the importance of mental health by cautioning leaders to seek out support before they burn out, and it advocated for work\/life balance by ensuring that the welfare of the family was considered within the construct of leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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18:1-6 When we heard that Moses delivered his people safely from the hands of Pharaoh, Zipporah, the boys and I left to meet them. As we approached, I almost didn't recognize Moses. He has gone from a shepherd of sheep to a reluctant messenger of God to the leader of a new nation - a shepherd of the people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Without thinking about it, I introduced myself and Zipporah as though he did not know who we were. I introduced the boys as <\/span>Zipporah's<\/em> <\/span>children. Gershom remembers his father only vaguely and the baby, a boy now, does not know him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses waited until he and the people were safely out of Egypt before he named Eliezer, God's help. His family was in suspended animation while Moses was in Egypt. Now Moses must earn the title of father in the children's eyes, no matter how well Zipporah and I have spoken of him to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

18: 7-12 What Moses has done, with God's help, is unheard of!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses received me with great honor and I was proud to add my sacrifice of thanks.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I met Aaron, and the leaders of this community. They are wise, though inexperienced.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

18: 13-16 Moses is wearing himself out. He spends all his time judging the people and teaching them God's laws. Why has God not shown Moses how to govern the people as He showed him how to leave Egypt. Well, I have some experience in this area.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Israelites have been slaves for many generations. Now, in their freedom, they are vulnerable - easy prey to the desert warrior nations. They were settled in Egypt, now they are nomads. To survive the desert, they need a chain of command to be able to mobilize quickly. To succeed as a nation, they must learn to be free and to live by God's laws. If the judges and leaders are set up in a chain of leaders of tens, hundreds and thousands, the people can strengthen themselves militarily and learn to govern themselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

18: 17-27 Moses was receptive to my system. He chose strong, able leaders from each tribe to govern and lead the people fairly and firmly. The leaders know me because of my work. It is time, once again, for them to turn to Moses, time for me to go.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses sent me off with great honor. I miss him, the family and this new nation. It was a privilege to witness, and make some small contribution to, the birth of a new nation and to reunite Moses with his family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What will be the fate of the new nation? No one can predict that, but God gives them freedom and the tools to use it. What will be the fate of Moses' family? No one can predict that either. I have done what I can. Now it is up to Moses and Zipporah and the people of Israel to carry on.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104104,"alt":"","title":"-625c2b64e7060--625c2b64e7061ex2-jethros 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Journal: Entry 3","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It was a privilege to make some contribution to the birth of a new nation and to reunite Moses with his family","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104104,"alt":"","title":"-625c2b64e7060--625c2b64e7061ex2-jethros 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Jethro Heard ","post_title":"What Jethro Heard","slug":"what-jethro-heard","old_id":"104659","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It is only after hearing the details that Jethro has his emotional reaction to God\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cJethro priest of Midian, Moses\u2019s father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, God\u2019s people, how God had brought Israel out from Egypt\u201d (verse 1). Jethro then brings Moses\u2019s wife and children to meet the Israelites in the wilderness. The two meet and then the text seems to repeat itself:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses then recounted to his father-in-law everything that God had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel\u2019s sake, all the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and how God had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the kindness that God had shown Israel when delivering them from the Egyptians. \u2019Blessed be God,\u2019 Jethro said, \u2018who delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians\u2019(verses 8-10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first verse says that Jethro came because he heard everything that God did to the Israelites to take them out of Egypt. Why does Moses then repeat the same thing and Jethro seems surprised? Was he just being polite to his son-in-law listening to the same story again?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jethro last appeared in chapter 4. Moses finally agreed to God\u2019s mission to save the Israelites. He returned to his father-in-law \u201cand said to him, \u2018Let me go back to my kinsfolk in Egypt and see how they are faring.\u2019 And Jethro said to Moses, \u2018Go in peace.\u2019\u201d (4:19). Moses then proceeds to bring his wife and children back to Egypt, and then there is the bizarre story with the blood and circumcision. At some point, Moses tells his wife and children to return to his father-in-law, either as a result of what happened in the inn, or for fear of what may happen to them in Egypt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Moses left, he must have told Jethro that he should listen for news of what is happening in Egypt and then bring Zipporah when he hears that the Israelites are free. That is the first verse. Jethro hears about the exodus, where his son-in-law\u2019s prediction came true, and so he comes to meet him. He is simply watching for the signal and acting on the signal that Moses gave him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Moses sees him, he gives him more color to the story. Note that initially Jethro just heard what God had done for the people and that God brought them out of Egypt. Later, Moses tells Jethro all that God did to the Egyptians and Pharaoh (presumably the plagues and the splitting of the sea) and then everything that\u2019s happened since that time (presumably the water, the manna, the war with Amalek). It is only after hearing the details that Jethro has his emotional reaction to God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":52848,"alt":"","title":"jo1-listen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen.png","width":1920,"height":1271,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-300x199.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-768x508.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-1024x678.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1017,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1271,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-1200x794.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":794,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-634x420.png","home_baner-width":634,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Jethro Heard","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It is only after hearing the details that Jethro has his emotional reaction to God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":52848,"alt":"","title":"jo1-listen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen.png","width":1920,"height":1271,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-300x199.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-768x508.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-1024x678.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1017,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1271,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-1200x794.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":794,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo1-listen-634x420.png","home_baner-width":634,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"603","name":"Jethro","old_id":"1003"}]},{"order":6,"id":"41884","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Game of Telephone ","post_title":"A Game of Telephone","slug":"a-game-of-telephone","old_id":"41884","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36149,"post_title":"Shai Secunda","slug":"shai-secunda","old_id":"36149","first_name":"Shai ","last_name":"Secunda","description":"Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud\u2019s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.","short_description":"Shai Secunda is a professor of Jewish studies at Bard College, and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36150,"alt":"","title":"Shai Secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","width":1202,"height":1287,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-956x1024.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","1536x1536-width":1202,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","2048x2048-width":1202,"2048x2048-height":1287,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-1121x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-392x420.jpg","home_baner-width":392,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"You had to be there - wait, you were! ","post_main_content_content":"

One of the most cherished myths about the revelation on Sinai is that all Jews were present for that foundational event. The Talmud claims that even converts, who by definition do not descend from Jews, were present in spirit at the giving of the Torah (b. Shabbat 146a). According to some readings, however, three Israelites missed the Revelation entirely: Moses\u2019 wife and two sons, whom Yitro brought to the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 18:2-5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses\u2019 children are scarcely mentioned in the Bible. An ancient tradition assumes that Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh, who ministered Micah\u2019s notorious idol (Judges 18) was the grandson of Moses\u2019 first-born, Manasseh. Tellingly, the Talmud relates that Jonathan\u2019s sin arose from a break-down in communication:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

[Jonathan said:] \u201cI received this [tradition] from the house of my father\u2019s father (<\/span>i.e.<\/span><\/i>, Moses): A person should be willing to hire himself out for strange-worship (<\/span>i.e. <\/span><\/i>idol worship) if it means not taking charity from people.\u201d He thought that this referred to actual strange worship, but it is not so; rather [Moses meant] \u201cservice that is strange for him.\u201d As Rav said to Rav Kahana: Skin a carcass in the market and take a fee, but do not say: I am a great man and this is beneath me. (b. Bava Bathra 110a)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tragically, for the lawgiver\u2019s own family who missed the Revelation, the Torah could only be accessed secondarily, as if in a game of telephone. For everyone else, even in future generations, Torah is known innately, from our metaphysical presence at Sinai. As Moses relays to the Israelites: I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, both with those who are standing here with us this day before the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here this day\u201d (Deuteronomy 29:13-14).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104665,"alt":"","title":"-62789a44a724d--62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png.png","width":1280,"height":830,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png-768x498.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png-1024x664.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":830,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":830,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png-1200x778.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789a44a724d-62789a44a724eex18-telephone.png-648x420.png","home_baner-width":648,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Game of Telephone","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"You had to be there - wait, you were! 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He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U., and his writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine, The New York Observer, and a range of other publications. He holds a doctorate in English Literature from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.\r\n","short_description":"Ari Hoffman is a columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36424,"alt":"","title":"Ari Hoffman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","width":1044,"height":1438,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-218x300.jpg","medium-width":218,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-743x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":743,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-743x1024.jpg","large-width":743,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","1536x1536-width":1044,"1536x1536-height":1438,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","2048x2048-width":1044,"2048x2048-height":1438,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-871x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":871,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-305x420.jpg","home_baner-width":305,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The virtues of process matter just as much as rightness of outcome","post_main_content_content":"

The law is a funny thing. Not quite an art, and certainly not a science, it can glimmer with the sheen of high spectacle or be stupefying in its banality. It is the thumb of the powerful and the last recourse of the powerless. Both esoteric and the protector and prosecutor of every last person, it manages to be both too much and not enough. Law emerges from the fabric of life, while also remaining deaf to the texture of experience. It seems somehow a vital escort in the \u201cpursuit of happiness,\u201d but can\u2019t get us very far on the path; the least it can do is try and stay out of the way. We seek to invoke ancient totems of fairness even as we urge the overthrow of lines of precedent that seem to stain and streak the face of our jurisprudence. We are stuck with the law, and it is committed to never loosen its hold on us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter offers a remarkable look at the foundation of a legal system, but it is actually a second founding, a course correction; \u201cthe thing that you are doing is not good,\u201d Jethro tells his holy and wholly overwhelmed son-in-law. Just as the Declaration of Independence entailed the failed experiment of the Articles of Confederation and finally found its soaring rhetoric embedded in the relentlessly, miraculously compromised text of the Constitution, so too did the federal-courts revolution instigated by Jethro find its footing only after Moses lost his. Jethro\u2019s core insight was that the virtues of process matter just as much as rightness of outcome. People go to court to see what the law is, but they also want the law to see them. Prophecy yields to process, and awe to administration. Justice, justice shall you pursue. And who knows, maybe we pick up some happiness along the way. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42042,"alt":"","title":"ex18-AHoffman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman.jpg","width":1920,"height":989,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-300x155.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":155,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-768x396.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":396,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-1024x527.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":527,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":791,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":989,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-1200x618.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-815x420.jpg","home_baner-width":815,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Prophecy Yields To Process, And Awe To Administration","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The virtues of process matter just as much as rightness of outcome","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42042,"alt":"","title":"ex18-AHoffman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman.jpg","width":1920,"height":989,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-300x155.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":155,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-768x396.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":396,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-1024x527.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":527,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":791,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":989,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-1200x618.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex18-AHoffman-815x420.jpg","home_baner-width":815,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"414","name":"Law","old_id":"814"},{"term_id":"646","name":"Court","old_id":"1046"}]},{"order":8,"id":"41887","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Lessons in Leadership ","post_title":"Lessons In Leadership","slug":"lessons-in-leadership","old_id":"41887","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41797,"post_title":"Joel Swedlove","slug":"joel-swedlove","old_id":"41797","first_name":"Joel ","last_name":"Swedlove ","description":"Joel Swedlove is currently a student of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at HUC-JIR in the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership program. 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Hidden between the epic stories of the crossing of the Red Sea and the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai is an incredible lesson on leadership and humility from Moses\u2019 father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro brings Moses\u2019 wife, Zipporah and his sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to the wilderness where the Israelites are encamped. While there, Jethro watches his son-in-law help the members of the community solve their disputes from morning until evening. Jethro cannot believe what he is seeing, he tells Moses that he will wear himself out and the people as well because the task is too great to be done alone. Jethro instructs Moses to find righteous men in the community to serve as judges below him so that he can focus on the major disputes and leave the minutiae to everyone else. The delegation of duties proves to be successful and Jethro returns home.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The important lesson here is found in Jethro\u2019s words to Moses in 18:18 \u201c\u2026you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well\u2026\u201d Moses is not only sacrificing himself for this role, but the entire community. The demand on Moses weighs heavy on him which means as the day goes on he is not at his best and the decisions he makes may no longer be the best for the community. His lack of support hurts everyone, but that is a hard thing to admit. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Too often when we are put in charge of a task we convince ourselves that it means only we can do it, that asking for help will be a sign of weakness or admitting failure, when in reality no one works alone. Jethro\u2019s relationship with Moses allows him to help Moses step back and recognize that he needs help. I hope that we all have someone like that in our lives when the demands placed upon us are too much. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56233,"alt":"","title":"jud16-leadership","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","width":1280,"height":963,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-300x226.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-768x578.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":578,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1024x770.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":963,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":963,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1200x903.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":903,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-558x420.png","home_baner-width":558,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Lessons In Leadership","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It\u2019s hard to admit we can\u2019t do it all...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56233,"alt":"","title":"jud16-leadership","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","width":1280,"height":963,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-300x226.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-768x578.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":578,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1024x770.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":963,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":963,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1200x903.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":903,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-558x420.png","home_baner-width":558,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"643","name":"Humility","old_id":"1043"}]},{"order":9,"id":"41890","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What Will the Neighbors Think? ","post_title":"What Will The Neighbors Think?","slug":"what-will-the-neighbors-think","old_id":"41890","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38035,"post_title":"Josh Pernick","slug":"josh-pernick","old_id":"38035","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Pernick ","description":"Josh Pernick is a fourth-year rabbinical student at YCT and a member of the Hillel Office of Innovation Fellowship for Rabbinic Entrepreneurs. After serving from 2016-2018 as student rabbi of Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh in Portland, Maine, he currently serves as student rabbi for the Orthodox Kehillah in Durham, NC. ","short_description":"Josh Pernick is a fourth-year rabbinical student at YCT and a member of the Hillel Office of Innovation Fellowship for Rabbinic Entrepreneurs.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38036,"alt":"","title":"josh pernick","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","width":340,"height":388,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick-263x300.jpg","medium-width":263,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","medium_large-width":340,"medium_large-height":388,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","large-width":340,"large-height":388,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","1536x1536-width":340,"1536x1536-height":388,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","2048x2048-width":340,"2048x2048-height":388,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","post_full_size-width":340,"post_full_size-height":388,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/josh-pernick.jpg","home_baner-width":340,"home_baner-height":388}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Amalek and Jethro: two foreign perspectives","post_main_content_content":"

The world order as we know it has been flipped on its head. A nation of slaves has, inexplicably, become a regional superpower. An invisible God has obliterated the deified pharaoh of Egypt. This story of the exodus will transform the self-perceptions of both Israel and Egypt. But how will their neighbors respond?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We read last chapter of the nation of Amalek, Israel\u2019s eternal nemesis. Amalek attacks Israel from the rear, seeking to find their Achilles heel. This is the sole purpose of their attack; to challenge Israel, and the now apparent truth of the might of their God. The soldiers of Amalek are willing to put their lives on the line to defend the legitimacy of the mindset of Egypt. They will maintain this worldview at all costs, despite the clear proof of its fallacy. Their stubborn refusal to open their eyes leads to their ultimate demise; they have no place in the world of truth and justice which is to be constructed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our chapter, on the other hand, opens with the story of Jethro, a man held in such high esteem that the Torah later records his name as Hovav, or beloved. Jethro had made it in life, achieving the highest levels of financial, social and even religious success in his native land. It would have been entirely excusable for Jethro to view the rumors of Israel\u2019s amazing achievements skeptically; even if they were true, they threatened the way of life which had granted him such extraordinary success as a priest in Midian. Living by the religious ethos that he preached, however, he was unwilling to continue serving false gods. He happily left everything behind, giving up his gods, wealth and status to catch up with this nation whose deity was clearly the one, true God. It is for this idealistic pursuit of truth regardless of cost that Jethro is honored with the parashah of the giving of the Torah, that his name may live on as an exemplar of what it means to be a person of faith.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":52333,"alt":"","title":"dt32-truth","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth.jpg","width":1920,"height":603,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth-300x94.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":94,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth-768x241.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":241,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth-1024x322.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":322,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":482,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":603,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth-1200x377.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":377,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt32-truth-1337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1337,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Will The Neighbors Think?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Amalek and Jethro: two foreign 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on The Bench: Advice From an Unlikely Source ","post_title":"Bible On The Bench: Advice From An Unlikely 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https:\/\/youtu.be\/8q-Qo3QEGAI<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible on the Bench","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 18: Advice From An Unlikely Source","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz and guest commentator, Benny Lau (founder, 929-Israel)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8q-Qo3QEGAI","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":11,"id":"41894","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Are Democratic Values Jewish or Foreign? Yes. ","post_title":"Are Democratic Values Jewish or Foreign? Yes.","slug":"are-democratic-values-jewish-or-foreign-yes","old_id":"41894","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Liberal democratic values of diffusion and decentralization of power come from Jethro and are endorsed in the text","post_main_content_content":"

When \"Jewish\" values clash with \"democratic\" values and a choice needs to be made, what takes precedence?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For those who believe that Israel's identity as the world's one and only Jewish state has primacy over its democratic nature, the answer would seem simple. But the first axiom of being a Jewish state is that nothing is ever simple. Even assuming the supremacy of \"Jewish\" values, you need to define your terms. What if the \"democratic\" value is also a \"Jewish\" value? This line of thinking often leads to a discussion of \"internal\" and \"external\" values. To the extent that democratic values are authentically found within Judaism itself, they might be acceptable. If their source, however, is external (\"Western\") systems of values, then they do not belong. Chapter 18 greatly problematizes this dichotomy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A superficial reading of the text suggests that Jethro is primarily concerned with his son-in-law's health, and that he suggests the establishment of a legal system in order to make Moses' life easier. But subtle textual hints support an alternate reading suggested by the Midrash and quoted by Rashi. Picking up on the contrast between Moses sitting and the people standing, the Midrash has Jethro criticizing Moses for 'sitting like a king', and lacking sufficient respect and concern for the honor of the people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does the appointment of a network of ministers solve this? In this reading, the purpose is to diminish the ego of even a divinely appointed leader by that mainstay of liberal democracy- the diffusion and decentralization of power.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is this, then, a Jewish value? It's accepted by Moses as an appropriate, effective system of governance, and endorsed by the Torah. But the idea came from Yitro, the Midianite priest. So- internal or external? The answer is: yes, or, in other words, maybe we need to start asking a different question.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61641,"alt":"","title":"1kings4-government","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","width":703,"height":368,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government-300x157.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","medium_large-width":703,"medium_large-height":368,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","large-width":703,"large-height":368,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","1536x1536-width":703,"1536x1536-height":368,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","2048x2048-width":703,"2048x2048-height":368,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","post_full_size-width":703,"post_full_size-height":368,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","home_baner-width":703,"home_baner-height":368}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Are Democratic Values Jewish Or Foreign? Yes.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Liberal democratic values of diffusion and decentralization of power come from Jethro and are endorsed in the text","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61641,"alt":"","title":"1kings4-government","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","width":703,"height":368,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government-300x157.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","medium_large-width":703,"medium_large-height":368,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","large-width":703,"large-height":368,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","1536x1536-width":703,"1536x1536-height":368,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","2048x2048-width":703,"2048x2048-height":368,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","post_full_size-width":703,"post_full_size-height":368,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings4-government.png","home_baner-width":703,"home_baner-height":368}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"},{"term_id":"628","name":"Democracy","old_id":"1028"}]},{"order":12,"id":"41896","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Moses Unburdens Himself ","post_title":"Moses Unburdens Himself","slug":"moses-unburdens-himself","old_id":"41896","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37859,"post_title":"Yael Unterman","slug":"yael-unterman","old_id":"37859","first_name":"Yael ","last_name":"Unterman ","description":"Yael Unterman grew up in England and now lives in Jerusalem. Her books are Nehama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar (NJBA finalist) and The Hidden of Things: Twelve Stories of Love & Longing (USA Best Book Awards finalist). She teaches and facilitates Bibliodrama worldwide, and is also a life coach.","short_description":"Yael Unterman is a writer, teacher and life coach living in Jerusalem","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37860,"alt":"","title":"yael unterman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman.jpg","width":734,"height":696,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman-300x284.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":284,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman.jpg","medium_large-width":734,"medium_large-height":696,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman.jpg","large-width":734,"large-height":696,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman.jpg","1536x1536-width":734,"1536x1536-height":696,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman.jpg","2048x2048-width":734,"2048x2048-height":696,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman.jpg","post_full_size-width":734,"post_full_size-height":696,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/yael-unterman-443x420.jpg","home_baner-width":443,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"After his extended listening, it is Jethro who most deeply understands what Moses truly needs, and can counsel him accordingly","post_main_content_content":"

In Exodus 18:1-5, Jethro, having heard of all the miraculous deeds wrought by God, comes to visit his son-in-law Moses. Yet a few verses later (8-9) we hear Moses telling him <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel\u2019s sake, and all the hardship\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/em> and<\/span> that<\/span> \u201c<\/span><\/i>Jethro rejoiced because of all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

If the story is already familiar to Jethro, then for what purpose does Moses retell it, and why does Jethro rejoice as if he is hearing it for the first time?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of all possible answers, let me present three that speak to me:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1. Intellectual<\/span>integrity<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> Jethro is described midrashically as a seeker who explored all world religions. As a true empiricist, he would not credit the veracity of rumors. He must hear from a firsthand eyewitness, and only then allow himself to fully rejoice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2. Emotional<\/span> effect<\/span><\/em>. A specific, first person account is different from generalities. 5,000 killed in an earthquake might be just a number, but the story of a particular individual\u2019s tragedy moves us to tears. <\/span>Hearing is not the same as seeing<\/span><\/em>, teach the Sages. For example, on Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:7-8), God tells Moses that the people are worshipping a molten calf. The word of God is fact \u2013 yet, actually witnessing the idolatrous dancing with his own eyes ignites the great prophet\u2019s anger. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our chapter, the principle still applies, even if at one remove. While Jethro has not seen the events personally, Moses has; and in hearing this first-person dramatic recounting, Jethro is moved to the point of goosebumps.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3. Unburdening<\/span>. Retelling to an outsider helps us to understand what we have been through; it is cathartic. Jethro is one of very few people to whom Moses may speak as a peer, sharing his feelings about everything that just occurred, including \u201c<\/span>all the hardship.<\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I imagine them sitting together in a tent, breaking bread, conversing for many hours. By the end, Jethro is deeply immersed in the story, and marvels at all these wonders; while Moses, for his part, feels a sense of relief at the unburdening.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In fact, in 21-22, Jethro will advise Moses to further unburden himself, by delegating responsibility. After his extended listening, it is Jethro who most deeply understands what Moses truly needs, and can counsel him accordingly.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104684,"alt":"","title":"-62789fd8476c8--62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":639,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg-768x256.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg-1024x341.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":341,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":511,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":639,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg-1200x399.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":399,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789fd8476c8-62789fd8476cbex18-dialogue.jpg-1262x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1262,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Moses Unburdens Himself","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"After his extended listening, it is Jethro who most deeply understands what Moses truly needs, and can counsel him 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Truths and the Limits of Power ","post_title":"Non-Eternal Truths And The Limits of Power","slug":"non-eternal-truths-and-the-limits-of-power","old_id":"41898","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"All human authority is delegated authority, subject to overarching moral imperatives ","post_main_content_content":"

Parshat Yitro consists of two episodes that seem to be a study in contrasts. In the first, in chapter 18, Yitro, Moses\u2019 father-in-law, a Midianite priest, gives Moses his first lesson in leadership. In the second, the prime mover is God himself who, at Mount Sinai, makes a covenant with the Israelites in an unprecedented and unrepeated epiphany. For the first and only time in history God appears to an entire people, making a covenant with them and giving them the world\u2019s most famous brief code of ethics, the Ten Commandments.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What can there be in common between the practical advice of a Midianite and the timeless words of revelation itself? There is an intended contrast and it is an important one. The forms and structures of governance are not specifically Jewish. They are part of chokhmah, the universal wisdom of humankind. Jews have known many forms of leadership: by prophet, elders, judges and kings; by the Nasi in Israel under Roman rule and the Resh Galuta in Babylon; by town councils (shiva tuvei ha-ir) and various forms of oligarchy; and by other structures up to and including the democratically elected Knesset. The forms of government are not eternal truths, nor are they exclusive to Israel. In fact the Torah says about monarchy that a time will come when the people say, \u201cLet us set a king over us like all the nations around us,\u201d \u2013 the only case in the entire Torah in which Israel are commanded (or permitted) to imitate other nations. There is nothing specifically Jewish about political structures.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What is specifically Jewish is the principle of the covenant at Sinai, that Israel is the only nation whose sole ultimate king and legislator is God himself. \u201cHe has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws, Halleluyah\u201d (Psalm 147: 19-20). What the covenant at Sinai established for the first time was the moral limits of power. All human authority is delegated authority, subject to the overarching moral imperatives of the Torah itself. This side of heaven there is no absolute power. That is what has always set Judaism apart from the empires of the ancient world and the secular nationalisms of the West. So Israel can learn practical politics from a Midianite but it must learn the limits of politics from God himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From <\/span>A Nation of Leaders, <\/span><\/i>Covenant & Conversation,<\/span><\/i> Yitro<\/span><\/i> (5774)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":96476,"alt":"","title":"ecc1-vanity wisdom 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Artistic renderings of Biblical scenes often provide another layer of analysis of the text. The artist's choices convey possible interpretations of Biblical ambiguities, sometimes acting like midrash by \u00a0filling in gaps in the text. The two artworks displayed here, Gerard Jollain's <\/span>Jethro's Visit <\/span><\/i>(1670)<\/span> and William Artaud's <\/span>Jethro and Zipporah Return <\/span><\/i>(1790s)<\/span> are illustrative of this. Both works portray the same Biblical scene, Jethro's arrival and reunion with Moses. Each artist made specific decisions as to whom to include in his depiction, the setting in which to place his characters, how to portray the various figures and whom to highlight.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Artaud highlights the relationship between Moses and his wife Zipporah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

In contrast, Jollain focuses instead on the embracing of Jethro and Moses, with Zipporah basically ignored by her husband.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This raises the question of Jethro's motives in coming to the Israelite camp. Was Jethro's primary goal the reunification of husband and wife, or was Yitro coming on a personal religious quest or as part of a diplomatic mission?<\/p>\r\n

Jollain's positioning of Zipporah on the sidelines together with a second woman also makes the viewer wonder about the nature of her relationship with Moses. Had Moses taken a second wife? Did he and Zipporah separate or divorce?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Adapted from: ALHATORAH.ORG<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/Yitro's_Arrival_in_Art<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

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His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"I swear, by every sacred vow, the Voice of God is whispering to me","post_main_content_content":"

\"And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard everything that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt.\" (Exodus 18:1)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I heard the Lord had split apart the sea;
\r\n<\/span>I heard the Lord had freed the slaves; I heard
\r\n<\/span>That Moses is His prophet, and the bird
\r\n<\/span>Of freedom God released is calling me
\r\n<\/span>As well, to fly with them unto their tree
\r\n<\/span>Of life where they will nest. \u00a0I heard the Word
\r\n<\/span>Of God is stirring, just as leaves are stirred
\r\n<\/span>By wind and rain, for Israel is free.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I swear, by every sacred vow, the Voice
\r\n<\/span>Of God is whispering to me, I swear
\r\n<\/span>I hear Him speaking in the annals of
\r\n<\/span>His people, Israel. \u00a0I have no choice
\r\n<\/span>Except to turn to You, O Lord, in prayer,
\r\n<\/span>For You have chosen Israel in love.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":90600,"alt":"","title":"ps134-god everywhere suns rays","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Jethro","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"I swear, by every sacred vow, the Voice of God is whispering to me","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":90600,"alt":"","title":"ps134-god everywhere suns rays","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ps134-god-everywhere-suns-rays-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"}]},{"order":16,"id":"41974","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 18 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 18","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-exodus-18","old_id":"41974","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received the Covenant Award in 2000. He is the author of APassover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn, published by JPS in 2011, and the newly released For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther, published by Koren Publishing in 2017 (Hebrew). ","short_description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40937,"alt":"","title":"david-Silber-2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","width":151,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium-width":151,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium_large-width":151,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","large-width":151,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":151,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":151,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":151,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","home_baner-width":151,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Audio","tile_main_caption":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter - Exodus 18","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/rabbi-david-silber-a-lesson-on-exodus-chapter-18","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":17,"id":"42063","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Exodus 18 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Exodus 18","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-exodus-18","old_id":"42063","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05e2\u05e8\u05d1\/\u05d1\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8 - 'Erev\/Boker - Evening\/Morning\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

18:13 - Next day, Moses sat as magistrate among the people, while the people stood about Moses min haboker 'ad ha'arev\u00a0<\/em>from morning until evening.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>18:14 - \u2026 Why do you act alone, while all the people stand about you min boker 'ad arev<\/em>\u00a0from morning until evening?\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The double mention of the pair morning\/evening in our chapter harks back to an earlier pairing of these daily \u201cbookends.\u201d The creation story of<\/span> Genesis chapter 1<\/span><\/a> tells the day-by-day drama of the world coming into being as one of progressive distinctions - between light and darkness, sky and earth, water and land. Each of the six days culminates in: \u05d5\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9 \u05e2\u05e8\u05d1, \u05d5\u05d9\u05d4\u05d9 \u05d1\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8<\/span> Vayehi 'erev vayehi boker<\/span><\/em>, \"There was evening, there was morning\u2026\" <\/span><\/p>\r\n

This makes sense seeing that the roots of the very words <\/span>boker<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>\"morning\", and <\/span>'erev<\/span><\/em>, \"evening\", \u05d1-\u05e7-\u05e8 <\/span>b-k-r<\/span><\/em> and \u05e2-\u05e8-\u05d1 <\/span>'ayin-r-v<\/span><\/em>, mean \"distinguish, split, differentiate\" and \"mix, blur distinctions\" respectively.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With the light of morning, one can visually differentiate between objects. Morning is the time for starting to see things distinctly. The words <\/span>bakarah<\/span><\/em> \u201cexamination, monitoring\u201d <\/span>bikoret<\/span><\/em>, \u201ccriticism,\u201d and <\/span>mevaker<\/span><\/em>, \u201ccritic,\u201d which already appear in the Bible and are used extensively today, are from this sense. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is at the onset of <\/span>'erev<\/span><\/em>, \"evening,\" when those distinctions begin to blur. The name of the string around a Jewish community - <\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/i>eruv <\/span><\/em>- <\/span><\/i>got its name because it combines, or blurs, the boundaries between private and public domain within it to define one big communal home. Double the final consonant of the root, and we get <\/span>\u2018irbuv<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>\u201cmixing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The direction \u201cwest,\" where the sun sets, is <\/span>ma'arav<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>Change one vowel and you get \u05de\u05e2\u05e8\u05d9\u05d1 <\/span>ma'ariv<\/span><\/em>, the name of the evening prayer service. Israelis know this as the name of the broadsheet Ma'ariv<\/em> which came out originally as an evening newspaper, when there used to be such a thing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The dusky transition hour is known as \u05d1\u05d9\u05df \u05d4\u05e2\u05e8\u05d1\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd <\/span>bein ha'arbayim<\/span><\/em>, \"between the two eves,\" the exact equivalent of the English \"twilight,\" literally, \"two lights.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some theories even hold that the consonantal structure of the name \"Europe\" is from this Semitic root \u05e2-\u05e8-\u05d1 <\/span>'<\/span><\/i>ayin-r-v<\/span><\/em> \u2013 later Hellenized in the Greek name \"Europa.\" An indication of a possible connection might be via the mythological figure of Erebus, personification of darkness, born of Chaos, thus connecting the Europe to the setting sun, similar to the name \"Occident\" (from Latin, occidens<\/em> \"sunset, West\"), which contrasts with \"Orient\" (the place of the \"rising\" sun \u2013 though no connection to Hebrew \u05d0\u05d5\u05e8, <\/span>or<\/span><\/i>, \"light).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104681,"alt":"","title":"-62789eee2c1f0--62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim erev boker.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg.jpg","width":1278,"height":466,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-300x109.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":109,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-768x280.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":280,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-1024x373.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":373,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1278,"1536x1536-height":466,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1278,"2048x2048-height":466,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-1200x438.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":438,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-1152x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1152,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"\u05e2\u05e8\u05d1\/\u05d1\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8 - 'Erev\/Boker - Evening\/Morning","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104681,"alt":"","title":"-62789eee2c1f0--62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim erev boker.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg.jpg","width":1278,"height":466,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-300x109.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":109,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-768x280.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":280,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-1024x373.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":373,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1278,"1536x1536-height":466,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1278,"2048x2048-height":466,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-1200x438.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":438,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62789eee2c1f0-62789eee2c1f1ex18-milim-erev-boker.jpg-1152x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1152,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"shutterstock: 118171993","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"420","name":"Time","old_id":"820"}]},{"order":18,"id":"115661","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points To Ponder: Exodus 18","post_title":"Points To Ponder: Exodus 18","slug":"points-to-ponder-exodus-18","old_id":"115661","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"68","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Names reveal.<\/em> The names of Moses\u2019 sons tell a little about his personal history:
    \r\n\u201c[A]nd her two sons\u2014of whom one was named Gershom, that is to say, \u201cI have been a stranger in a foreign land\u201d; and the other was named Eliezer, meaning, \u201cThe God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh\u201d (verses 3,4).<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Find the differences<\/em>. Between the desired characteristics in the job description (verse 21) and those in the people who eventually got the job (verse 25).<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Believe in the wisdom of the nations<\/em>. Jethro, the priest of Midian had a great deal of influence on the establishment and the character of the Israelite legal system (and so if you have any complaints about the bureaucracy - now you have an address!).<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Like a good organizational consultant<\/em>. Jethro doesn\u2019t stick around to maintain the project: \u201c... And he departed for his country\u201d (verse 27).<\/li>\r\n\t
  5. A second before<\/em>. In the next chapters are: The revelation at Sinai: the covenant and the giving of the Torah. Getting the legal and judicial systems organized indicates readiness for the reception of the Law.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Exodus 18","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"68","date":"20251202","wall_id":"68"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/41847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}