Live It!
Inspiration is a terrible thing to waste. When it comes, we must harness it to actions without delay, otherwise it will dissipate. PARSHAS YISRO PARSHAS YISRO
What Did He Hear?
The Torah portion that contains Judaism’s and history’s most important event is named Yisro, after Moses’ father-in-law who joined the Jewish nation.
The Torah introduces his arrival with the words:
“Yisro, the priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, heard all that G-d had done for Moses and for Israel, His people; that G-d had taken Israel out of Egypt.”
The Talmud and Midrash, cited by Rashi, ask the question “What report did he hear that caused him to come? The splitting of the Red Sea and the war with Amalek.”
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Commentators are puzzled about the question: what prompted Yisro to come and join the Jewish people? Doesn’t the Torah state clearly that he heard that G-d took Israel out of Egypt? Isn’t that a sufficient reason for him to have come? Why do our Sages feel there must have been something else that motivated him to come? And why did they conclude that it was actually two events which influenced his decision: the splitting of the Red Sea and the war against Amalek?
And more importantly, why would the Torah highlight the most pivotal event of history with Yisro’s arrival? What relevance does his coming to join the Jewish people—after hearing of the splitting of the sea and the war against Amalek—have to us?
The Heavenly Voice from Sinai
One interpretation of the above bases itself on a well-known Talmudic tradition that every day a heavenly voice emerges from PARSHAS YISRO Mount Sinai and declares: “Return you errant children, return.”
The Ba’al Shem Tov asked the obvious question: Who hears this heavenly voice? If the people are so spiritually sophisticated that they can receive the message, they are, most likely, on a higher wave-length and, therefore, would not require this heavenly reminder on a daily basis. And, conversely, those people who might benefit from these heavenly reminders do not, in fact, ever hear them. So what is the purpose of the heavenly broadcast if the audience for whom it is intended does not even know of its existence, let alone hear its message?
The Ba’al Shem Tov answered that the part of the soul that is not cloaked within the body does indeed hear the call loud and clear. It then relays the message to the soul within the body. But when it reaches the conscious mind it arrives only as a feeling that he or she should change. A person can be walking in the street or engaged in a casual conversation and, without warning, feel inspired. It usually lasts only for a fleeting PARSHAS YISRO moment and then disappears. While we don’t hear the actual message we do get a jolt when the message is transmitted.
However, the question reasserts itself: if the inspiration brought on by the heavenly voice will just dissipate as if it had never come, what purpose is served by the heavenly voice broadcasting to us a need that we change when this inspiration does not last?
Harness the Inspiration, now!
The answer given in Chassidic literature is that when one feels these feelings of spontaneous inspiration he should immediately harness them to some positive action. One should never let an inspiring occasion go to waste. When harnessed to a mitzvah, the inspiration from above acquires a “home” that prevents it from just fizzling out.
Where do we see an illustration of this principle in the Torah? We see it in two key narratives: the splitting of the Red Sea and the struggle with Amalek.
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The Exodus from Egypt was certainly not only a physical event; it represented a spiritual liberation as well. But the spiritual high was actually reached only when they crossed the Red Sea. At that time, our Sages tell us, even a lowly maidservant was able to experience Divine revelations that surpassed that of the great prophet Ezekiel. At that moment the Jewish nation had reached the pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment.
Yet, despite the lofty heights to which they rose at the splitting and crossing of the Red Sea, the Jewish people soon regressed to their previous state again. When they came to the city of Refidim their spiritual high dissipated and gave way to doubts about “whether G-d was in their midst,” as recounted at the conclusion of last week’s parsha. This expression of doubt gave rise to the attack of Amalek who exploited their vulnerability. Indeed, the word Amalek is numerically the same as the Hebrew word for doubt (safek) because it was doubt that unleashed Amalek, and it was Amalek who unleashes doubt.
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How could it be that from such a high perch they fell so low in just a few weeks? How could a nation that witnessed the greatest revelations of G-dliness become so vulnerable?
The answer is that when an inspiration is initiated from above, unless there is a way of translating that initiative into some practical and tangible action, it will not endure.
Yisro’s Reaction to the Miracles
This, then, is what motivated Yisro to join the Jewish people. When he heard about the Exodus from Egypt he was inspired. In his mind the inspiration was a good beginning which he felt would help him in his desire to grow spiritually. At that point Yisro did not feel the need to make a total break from his Midianite environment and to join the Jewish nation. He felt secure that one inspiring event would spark more spiritual awareness and that he would grow incrementally. All he would have to do was sit back and watch the unfolding events.
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These feelings were compounded and buttressed when the Exodus was followed by the splitting of the Red Sea. It served to add a new level of inspiration to Yisro’s feeling about G-d’s abilities and the spiritual awareness that this engendered in him.
However, Yisro’s casual reaction to the miracles changed dramatically when he heard of the war against Amalek. This war, Yisro realized was precipitated as a result of the subsequent decline of the Jewish people. Yisro was shocked to hear of the Jewish nation express doubts about G-d’s ability. How could they have so degenerated? They had just witnessed a myriad of miracles culminating with the Splitting of the Red Sea. They had just “pointed their fingers” and declared, “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him!” And after all of this they could still question G-d’s presence in their lives, which resulted in the attack against them by Amalek.
All of this jolted Yisro and caused him to reach the conclusion that inspiration which comes from Above does not suffice. It cannot last unless it is followed by some drastic PARSHAS YISRO measure on the part of the one who is inspired. And it was this immensely important recognition that led him to pack his bags and join the Jewish people in the desert in order to receive the Torah with them. He wanted to immediately translate his inspiration into concrete action so that his inspiration should not fade away. He could no longer sit passively and watch the miracles unfold.
Revelation and Reciprocation
This lesson is not merely of secondary importance. The fact that the giving of the Torah from G-d followed Yisro’s arrival underscores the importance Judaism assigns to our efforts. Any spiritual experience that comes from Above without any effort on our part, even if it is an authentic experience, is not what G-d has in mind with giving us that inspiration. The objective of every initiative from G-d is for us to immediately respond by creating a physical “residence” for that inspiration. That physical residence is PARSHAS YISRO expressed in the Mitzvos that we perform, and particularly those Mitzvos that do not initially resonate with us. When a Mitzvah comes easily it does not permeate our beings. Only when we struggle to go beyond our nature in fulfilling G-d’s will, does our effort serve as the most concrete instrument which will channel G-d’s energy into our lives— permanently.
Thus, G-d waited for Yisro to join the Jewish nation before giving the Torah. Without this lesson of harnessing inspiration from above to action from below the entire objective of G-d giving us the Torah would be lost.
Welcoming Moshiach Proactively
Nowhere is this message more relevant than in the preparations for Moshiach. Moshiach’s ushering in the Messianic Age does not suggest that someone will fly down from a cloud and unilaterally get us out of exile. The process of Redemption—as the culmination of the Revelation at Mount Sinai—demands that we each do our part in greeting and PARSHAS YISRO welcoming Moshiach with our increased devotion to the study of Torah and the observance of the Mitzvos.
In the past few decades we have witnessed incredible miracles of “Biblical proportions.” From the victories of Israel over its enemies in the many wars of survival it has fought to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the miracles of the Gulf War, etc., the Jewish people have certainly been inspired. Who could not be inspired hearing the Rebbe declare, unequivocally, that the “time of your Redemption has arrived,” which means that we are living in momentous, Messianic times, and that soon we will see the Redemption materialize?
The lesson from Yisro is that we cannot rely on the inspiration from Above; we must translate this inspiration into action on our part. We must begin to live as if we were already beyond the period of exile and already well into the period of Redemption.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Yisro by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
