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Family Trees – We All Have Them

Uploaded: Monday, March 30, 2009

By: Rav Warren Kaye

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As we begin the parsha that contains a unique and fundamental event in Judaism it is easy to miss the small print. The Decalogue and Yitro’s advice are the usual topics for this Shabbat but there is so much more that happens.

The parsha opens with the arrival of Yitro, the priest of Midyan and the father-in-law of Moshe. A closer reading of the verses will reveal a tension between the titles that this visitor has. At first we expect that the tension will be between his title as priest of Midyan and being the father-in-law of Moshe. A religious tension or even between his past and his present. However, the verses imply that the real friction is between the title Yitro and father-in-law. Both the terms appear seven times in the chapter and as the chapter progresses the use of father-in-law is prevalent.

Yitro arrives with Zippora ‘after she had been sent away’. The commentators discuss the fact that Zippora was not with Moshe. Either he sent her away physically when he was in Egypt, or he divorced her. It was either a technical separation or a breakdown in the relationship. It is interesting to notice that the narrative begins and ends with ‘sending away’. Moshe receives advice from his father-in-law and then quickly sends him away.

In verse 3 we discover that Moshe’s second child has a name. Why specifically at this point do we need an explanation to the names of both of Moshe’s children? Midrashic interpretations of names are normally found in the birth narrative. His firstborn, Gershom, is named after the fact that Moshe was a stranger in a foreign land. Eliezer, however, is a more optimistic name. It means the Lord of my father helped me and saved me from the hand of Pharaoh. The names allude to a drastic change in Moshe’s worldview. Moshe’s defining moment was the revelation at the burning bush. Gershom was born and named prior to this event whereas Eliezer was born later and named on the way to Egypt. These two names help us to understand the tension surrounding Yitro and through them he is assessed. Yitro potentially is capable of going through an educational process that will define his identity. He could join Bnei Yisrael and accept Eliezer and realize that Hashem is the true God or he will be like Gershom, a stranger in his son-in-laws extended family and community. Yitro could be saved like Eliezer. Notice that ‘הצלה’ is a theme through the next verses. The theme of the family tree introduces the concept of who can join Bnei Yisrael. The answer is an ambivalent one because although Yitro becomes ‘father-in-law of Moshe’ he I sent away by Moshe, apparently, before Mattan Torah.

The dialogue that ensued between Moshe and Yitro was a fruitful one and they both learned from each other. Yitro gave pragmatic, practical, advice as to how to run a judiciary and Moshe explained that in the Torah world things are different. This brings us to the brink between Jew and Gentile. What can we learn from them and them from us? In a parallel narrative in Bemidbar 10: 29-32, Moshe pleads with Yitro not to leave but rather to remain with Bnei Yisrael but Yitro initiates his departure. It remains unclear as to whether he left or not.

The convergence and meeting of Jew and gentile in the family of Moshe, the Torah receiver, is a poignant introduction to Mattan Torah.