The Ideal Human Being
What makes us truly human? Our intellect? Our ability to speak? It is our ability to translate lofty ideals into deep emotions and concrete action. PARSHAS YISRO PARSHAS YISRO
Yisro: The First to Bless G-d?
Yisro, Moses father-in-law, upon hearing of the incredible miracles that accompanied the Exodus from Egypt—discussed in this week’s parsha that carries the name Yisro—was impelled to join the Jewish nation. After Moses elaborates on the miracles they experienced, Yisro exclaims: “Baruch Hashemblessed be G-d who has saved you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who saved the nation from under the hand of Egypt.”
Our Sages comment that Yisro was deserving of honorable mention because he was the first person to have exclaimed “Baruch Hashem-Blessed is G-d.”
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This comment has elicited a strong question. Did not Abraham and others bless G-d for His kindness? Didn’t we just read of how the entire Jewish people—led by Moses—sang praise to G-d when they crossed the Sea of Reeds? Why then is Yisro credited as the first person to have praised G-d?
Kesav Sofer (a nineteenth century commentator) answers that while Abraham and others thanked G-d for the miracles that they themselves experienced, Yisro thanked G-d for the miracles enjoyed by others. In other words, the distinction of Yisro’s praise was not so much that he praised G-d, but that he was grateful to G-d for the benefits enjoyed by others.
This answer, however, can be challenged by referring back to the story of Abraham upon his winning the war against the four kings who took his nephew Lot hostage. Upon his return from the battlefield, Malkitzedek, the king of Shalem, said the following: “Blessed be Abram to the supreme G-d, who possesses heaven and earth! Blessed be the supreme G- d, who has delivered your enemies into your PARSHAS YISRO hand!” Here too, Malkitzedek blesses G-d for the good G-d has done for Abraham. What then makes Yisro’s blessing of G-d for the miracles enjoyed by others unique?
Difference between Yisro and Malkitzedek
One can perhaps distinguish between the blessing of Yisro from earlier blessings, including the blessing of Malkitzedek, in another fashion.
It is evident from the Biblical text that Malkitzedek, as Abraham, was a monotheist. Moreover, as a priest it was his responsibility to bring offerings to G-d. This is particularly true in light of the Oral tradition’s interpretation that Malkitzedek was, in fact, none other than Shem, the son of Noah, who actually served as the transmitter of G-dly teachings to others. It was no surprise then that Malkitzedek would bless G-d. After all that was his role as a priest.
By contrast, Yisro was initially not a monotheist. He was formerly a pagan priest. And yet when he heard about the Exodus and PARSHAS YISRO heard from Moses about all of the miracles they experienced, this information effected a complete transformation of his theology. His response of “Blessed is G-d” was not a perfunctory one that was a part of his responsibility as a priest, but was an expression of an inner voice within that recognized the one G-d’s role in history.
In short, Malkitzedek’s blessing of G-d was part of a ritual that he was trained to perform. While it may have been sincere on his part and infused with feeling, it was nevertheless prompted by his external role as a priest and teacher of theology.
On the other hand, Yisro’s blessing of G-d originated deeply within his soul. It was his own profound understanding of the one G-d and his faith in and love for Him that was awakened that impelled him to spontaneously bless G-d for the miracles enjoyed by others.
Thus there were two things that distinguished Yisro blessing of G-d: First, it was for the good enjoyed by others. Second, it represented a radical departure from the PARSHAS YISRO theology he held previously. It was a Eureka moment for him. He finally discovered something that he had never realized before and it found expression in his saying “Baruch Hashem-Blessed is G-d!”
From Academic Knowledge to Emotion
One might still ask the follow up question. Wasn’t Yisro exposed to monotheism by virtue of his relationship with his son-in-law Moses when the latter lived with him in Midian?
The answer to this question actually underscores the uniqueness of Yisro’s expression of gratitude to G-d in this parsha.
Yisro had indeed acquired the knowledge that there is one G-d from Moses. Yisro had already abandoned his belief in all of the pagan gods he had previously worshipped. What changed was that he had graduated from the academic knowledge of this subject to the point where the knowledge actually transformed him from within and prompted PARSHAS YISRO him to exclaim “Baruch Hashem!” This was truly a remarkable and unprecedented event.
People and Trees
The above lesson—the uniqueness of Yisro’s emotional expression of thanks to G-d—is also reflected in the theme of the holiday of the Fifteenth of Shevat (known in Israel as Tu Bishvat), the new year for trees, that always coincides with the reading of the parsha of Yisro.
When the Torah speaks of the analogy of humans to trees in the Book of Deuteronomy it says: “for a person is a tree of the field.” And the Talmud asks: Is a person really a tree? The Talmud’s answer is that when a person endowed with knowledge uses his knowledge for the good he or she is compared to a fruit bearing tree that must not be cut down. If however that knowledge is not used for the good then the person is like a barren tree that can be cut down because it has no use.
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The question asked here is why did the Talmud even ask the question “is a person really a tree?” Didn’t the Talmudic sages know that it was only a figure of speech and it was obviously not meant to be taken literally?
What Really Distinguishes the Human Being?
The Rebbe answers this question and discusses the analogy of man to a tree at great length. The Rebbe prefaces his analysis with the discussion of four words in Hebrew that mean man or person. Of these four, the word Adam is the one employed in the Torah’s comparison of a person to a tree. The four names correlate to the four domains of existence that are incorporated within the human condition. A human being is a composite of the inanimate (actions), the vegetative (emotions), practical intellect (animal) and abstract intellect (human). The term Adam reflects the highest form of human expression; the human being’s ability to fathom truths that are above the human— PARSHAS YISRO i.e., the recognition of a G-d who is utterly transcendent Hence the Talmud’s question “Is a person (Adam) really a tree” was meant to ask the following: Is a tree, which symbolizes emotion, the right metaphor for the term “Adam?” Adam, as stated, represents the highest form of humanity; his intellect. Is it then appropriate for the highest human function to be associated with the level of humanity that is represented by a tree?
In other words, from the Torah’s comparison of Adam, the highest form of humanity, with a tree, it indicates that it is our emotions and not our intellect that is the ultimate expression of our humanity. Is that truly so?
And the answer is yes and no. While humanity is characterized and distinguished by its ability to know abstract things it does necessarily mean that an ideal human being is one endowed with this knowledge alone. The apparently sophisticated person who is endowed with the most abstract and sublime knowledge is only considered to be full and PARSHAS YISRO ideal human being when this superior intelligence he or she possesses affects the emotions. When a human being, and particularly a Jew, translates his or her abstract knowledge into concrete feelings of faith, love, awe, respect and concern for G-d and others, then that person can truly be called a full-fledged human being, and is worthy of the appellation Adam.
We can now appreciate the significance attached by our Sages to Yisro’s expression of gratitude to G-d and what distinguished it from Malkitzedek’s blessing of G-d. In Yisro’s situation his abstract knowledge of G-d was translated into real feelings.
Torah’s Ideal Human Being
We can now also understand the reason why the Zohar states that the Torah could not have been given until Yisro came to join the Jewish people. With all due respect to Yisro, why was his participation so crucial for the giving of the Torah?
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One answer that may be proposed in light of the above analysis is that it was Yisro’s ability to take the abstract knowledge of the oneness of G-d and translate it into heartfelt emotions that is what the Torah is truly all about. The Torah is not just interested in imparting Divine knowledge to us.
The Torah wants us to transform our personalities by taking that knowledge and applying it to our feelings, as Moses exclaims to the Jewish people before their entry into the Promised Land: “And you shall know this day and take to your heart that G-d is G-d in heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other.”
To be sure, translating knowledge into emotion too does not suffice. We must take our feelings and translate them into action. However, when dealing with Torah’s vision of the ideal personality type it wants to see a person who develops the proper emotions and not be content with theoretical knowledge even if it leads to proper action.
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A Taste of the Messianic Age
When Maimonides describes the nature of the world in the future Messianic era he states: “In that time there will be neither famine nor war, envy or competition for… the occupation of the entire world will be solely to know G-d.” Maimonides seems to be saying two things:
First, the reason all of our attitudes will change is because we will be endowed with the knowledge of G-d.
Second, by prefacing the changes that will occur in the world before mentioning that we will be occupied with the knowledge of G-d is to underscore that the ultimate goal of our knowledge is to transform us into a higher level of humanity—one that is deserving of the title Adam. Indeed, the very word Adam is said to be a composite of Adam, Moses and Moshiach. This suggests that the ultimate realization of the term and status of Adam is through Torah (Moses) and Moshiach.
There are many changes that will occur in the Messianic Age. The one that is arguably PARSHAS YISRO most significant to us is that we will live up to our human potential. We will be Adam again in the full sense of the word; in theory and in the concrete!
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Yisro by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
