Membership Ticket

Moses accepted Yisro not only as a father-inlaw but as a respected member of the Jewish people. PARSHAS YISRO PARSHAS YISRO

Moses’ Sons’ Names

Just before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, Yisro, Moses’ father-in-law arrives with Moses’ wife and two sons to join the Jewish Nation.

In the very beginning of this week’s parsha the Torah relates:

“Yisro, Moses’ Father-in-law, took with him, Tziporah, Moses’ wife… and her two sons. One of them was named Gershom, because he said, ‘I was a stranger in a foreign land,’ and one was named Eliezer, because, ‘The G- d of my father came to my aid and rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword.’”

Why was it necessary for the Torah to tell us, precisely at this point—when Yisro was PARSHAS YISRO bringing them back to Moses—the reasons for the names of Moses’ sons?

Would Moses Accept Yisro?

The answer to this question perhaps lies in Rashi’s enigmatic commentary that Yisro was not sure that Moses would accept him. Yisro thus sent the message to Moses: “If you will not come out for my sake, then come out for your wife’s sake, and if you do not come out for your wife’s sake go out for her two sons’ sake.”

It is incredulous that Moses would hesitate to greet his own father-in-law, or that his father-in-law would entertain the thought that Moses would shun him. It is even more puzzling that Yisro imagined that Moses might not even go out to greet his wife and children.

Another difficulty arises. Why did Yisro emphasize that these were her children? Wouldn’t Moses have been more receptive to them if Yisro would have emphasized that these were his children?

PARSHAS YISRO

Embracing Yisro as a Member of the Jewish Community

It may be suggested that Yisro was not really concerned that Moses would shun him and not even accept and embrace his wife and his own children. Yisro’s question was not about Moses’ accepting them but why and how he would accept them:

Would Moses accept them solely as members of his family or would he treat them as members of the Jewish community? Would this be a private family reunion or was this going to turn out to be a far more momentous rendezvous?

Phrased differently, Yisro’s quandary was: Would Moses embrace them with love and affection simply and solely because they were his closest relatives, his flesh and blood? And if this was indeed the case and the extent of Moses relationship with them, Yisro concluded that Moses would most likely greet them in his role as a private citizen and PARSHAS YISRO family member and not involve the entire community and its leadership.

But Yisro wanted more than that.

Yisro wanted Moses to receive them in his capacity as the leader of the Jewish people. He wanted Moses to accept them not only because they were his children but also because they were sincere in wishing to become a part of the Jewish community, share their fate and destiny.

Would Moses accept them as an integral part of the Jewish people despite the fact that they were not raised in Egypt and did not share in the experience of bondage with their brethren? Perhaps, Yisro thought, Moses would not feel that they were qualified to be members of the Jewish nation since they did not share their trials and suffering.

The Ten Commandments that the Jews were about to receive begin with the words, “I am G-d, Your G-d, who has taken you out of Egypt, from the House of Bondage.” It links our relationship with G-d to our role as slaves in Egypt. How then could Yisro and his PARSHAS YISRO family become a part of this community when they were not in Egypt and were not witnesses to the slavery that crushed the backs of their brothers and sisters?

Yisro was uncertain if they qualified as members of a community without the history and experiences of the community. Can an outsider become an insider? Does one need a shared history to have a shared destiny?

Perhaps, Yisro thought, Moses would not go out and accept him as a member of the community for his sake because of his idolatrous past and especially as his role as a priest for many pagan religions. Perhaps, he thought, he was not worthy of entering into the community of Monotheists?”

But what about Moses’ wife? At least, she was married to Moses and absorbed some of his monotheistic teachings. Maybe he would accept her as a full-fledged member of the Jewish community. But, perhaps not. Maybe his wife who also grew up in that idolatrous environment was also not worthy of being accepted into the Jewish fold. But, Yisro was PARSHAS YISRO hoping that Moses would, at least, accept her children into the nation of Israel notwithstanding their status as “foreigners.” There was a greater chance that they would be more receptive to the message that would be given at Sinai notwithstanding their noninvolvement in the Egyptian experience of bondage.

Yisro therefore stresses that they were her— Tziporah’s children—because he knew Moses, as a private citizen, would accept them as members of his family. Yisro wanted to know whether he would accept them even if they were only her children. Would their relationship to Tziporah and Yisro be held against them insofar as their membership into the Jewish nation was concerned?

Moses’ Response

What was Moses’ response?

The Torah continues: “Moses (together with Aaron, Nadav and Avihu and a huge welcoming committee –Rashi) went out to greet his father-in-law, and he (Moses) bowed PARSHAS YISRO down and kissed him.” And the Torah continues how Moses recounted to his fatherin-law all that G-d had done for Israel, which prompted Yisro to strongly praise G-d.

Moses’ response was thus an unequivocal yes!

Yisro, his daughter and grandchildren (her children), were to be embraced not just as Moses’ family members, and not just as “honorary” members of the Jewish people because of their close relationship with Moses, but as an integral part of the Jewish nation.

Yisro passed the test of entry into the Jewish nation with flying colors.

In the final analysis, it mattered not that he did not share in the suffering of the Jewish people. What mattered was that he rejoiced in their salvation and recognized that it was G-d’s hand that brought them out of Egypt and performed all of the miracles for them.

This explains why, when the Torah introduces Moses’ sons, it says that one was named Gershom because “he said that he was a foreigner in a strange land.” In other words, PARSHAS YISRO by invoking his naming of his son Gershom, the Torah underscores how he too was a foreigner in a strange land. And that being a foreigner—and not experiencing the suffering of his people—did not preclude the option of becoming a full-fledged member—and indeed the leader—of the Jewish people.

Moses’ Qualifications

However, that just raises a question. What were Moses’ qualifications to be admitted into the Jewish people? How did Moses join the community of Israel after such a protracted absence in a foreign land?

The answer to this question was provided for by his second son Eliezer, who was born to him just before he returned to Egypt to confront Pharaoh. Eliezer was so named because Moses acknowledged G-d’s role in saving him, in general, and saving him from Pharaoh’s sword, in particular. Moses never lost sight of the miracles G-d wrought for him.

PARSHAS YISRO

By telling us that the second son was named Eliezer, the Torah wishes to suggest to us that the criterion for entry into the Jewish nation is not just sharing in their negative experiences; it is also determined by one’s ability to appreciate the continuous role G-d plays in one’s life and in the life of the Jewish people.

Thus, Yisro hints to Moses: “One can even be a foreigner (“Gershom”), but it shouldn’t prevent me from entering into the fold just as it didn’t prevent you from joining the Jewish people and even becoming their leader. Why should it stop me and my family from doing the same? After all, I too represent the combined features of Gershom and Eliezer; although I am a stranger to Jewish suffering I am cognizant of G-d’s role in saving them from their enemies, for which I am eternally grateful.”

Emphasize the Positive!

The lesson we can derive from this narrative is that contrary to the notion that one must PARSHAS YISRO be able to relate to the suffering of the Jewish people to be part of the Revelation at Mount Sinai, it “suffices” for one to share in and identify with the positive experiences of the Jewish people, and recognize that they were/are orchestrated by G-d.

To be sure, it is important for us to study and know Jewish history and relate to the relentless suffering of our people. It is also true that a prospective convert must be told of the suffering that the Jewish people has endured. It is also true that in the Passover Haggadah we make explicit reference to our suffering in the past, which makes our remembrance of the Exodus more meaningful. It is certainly true that we must never forget what Amalek did to us, including the modern day Amaleks.

However, the emphasis of Jewish education for a child, and even for an adult, does not have to be—nor should it be—on the sad and tragic past of our people. A child can grow up and even be unaware of the suffering and still become a strong member of our people. As long as they are inculcated PARSHAS YISRO with the awareness of the miracles of our survival and prosperity as a people, and know that it is because of G-d’s role in our history, their identification with the Jewish nation will not suffer.

Conversely, one could be exposed to the horrors of the past and not feel the need to be a part of the Jewish people. On the contrary, many have been frightened away from their people because of their exposure to a past riddled with sorrow.

Reflect on the Modern Day Miracles

Moreover, as we approach the Messianic Age, even greater emphasis should be placed on the current miracles that we see on a daily basis and the view that the future will even be better. These miracles are G-d’s way of giving us a “taste” of the miracles of the future Messianic Age. For the Messianic Age is compared to the Shabbat. And just as it is customary to taste some of the food before the Shabbat so that we will savor the taste of PARSHAS YISRO Shabbat, similarly we are getting a taste and glimpse of the future Redemption.

And while we must always be mindful of the threats to our people and do everything to counteract them, we must also be aware that among the strongest weapons against the forces of evil are joy and optimism that derive from faith and trust in G-d.

And while we might still be in exile (“strangers in a foreign land—Gershoms”), we are also “Eliezers.” We are all grateful to G-d who continuously “saves us from the sword of Pharaoh;” from those who—in the words of the Passover Haggadah—“stand against us in every generation to destroy us.” But as we conclude that piece, “The Holy One, blessed is He saves us from their hand.”

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Yisro by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.