וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹהִים לְמֹשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ כִּי הוֹצִיא יְקֹוָק אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם
שמות פרק יח פסוק א
"And Yitro, priest of Midian, Moshe's father-in-law, heard about all that El-him had done for Moshe and for His people Yisrael, when HaShem brought Yisrael out of Egypt
וַיָּבֹא יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ אֶל מֹשֶׁה אֶל הַמִּדְבָּר אֲשֶׁר הוּא חֹנֶה שָׁם הַר הָאֱלֹהִים
שמות פרק יח פסוק ה
"Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came to Moses with his sons and wife, to the Wilderness where he was encamped, by the Mountain of G-d"
אל המדבר - אף אנו יודעין שבמדבר היו, אלא בשבחו של יתרו דבר הכתוב, שהיה יושב בכבודו של עולם ונדבו לבו לצאת אל המדבר, מקום תהו, לשמוע דברי תורה
רש"י שמות פרק יח פסוק ה
"We already know of our own account that he was in the desert! Rather in the praise of Yisro does Scripture speaks: for he was living amidst worldwide honor and yet his heart inspired him to go out into the desert, a desolate place, for the purpose of hearing words of Torah"
Yitro, as Rashi explains was overcome with so much emotion from all the miracles that HaShem preformed for Klal Yisrael, that although he was one of the most respected members of the world, he left his life of luxury to go to a place of desolation a "Makom Tohu". The word "Tohu" as we know HaShem uses this word to explain what the world was before creation:
וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם
בראשית פרק א
"The earth was unformed and desolate, and darkness covered the surface of the abyss. The breath of El-him hovered above the surface of the water."
From here we see the extent of the word Tohu to connote literally nothing, and STILL Yitro was drawn to the desert to hear word of Torah. This was the power of his emotion, this emotion allowed him to look past the impedement of such a place. It drove him out of a life of security and comfort to join the Jewish people in a wilderness fraught with danger and discomfort. It caused him to change his whole life from top to bottom and become a Jew!
However there is a slight difficulty, for four pesukim later when Yitro reaches the encampment of Klal Yisrael, Moshe comes to greet him. Moshe begins to tell him of all the miracles that HaShem preformed for Klal Yisrael:
וַיְסַפֵּר מֹשֶׁה לְחֹתְנוֹ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְקֹוָק לְפַרְעֹה וּלְמִצְרַיִם עַל אוֹדֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כָּל הַתְּלָאָה אֲשֶׁר מְצָאָתַם בַּדֶּרֶךְ וַיַּצִּלֵם יְקֹוָק
: שמות פרק יח פסוק ח
" And Moshe told his father-in-law all that HaShem had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for the sake of Yisrael; including all the hardship that had befallen them on the way, and [how] HaShem had rescued them.
Rashi explains why Moshe found it important to tell Yitro of all the wonderments in Egypt:
ויספר משה לחתנו - למשוך את לבו לקרבו לתורה רש"י
שמות פרק יח פסוק ח
"In order to draw his heart to bring him closer to the Torah"
Why must Moshe draw him closer to Torah? was it not for that express purpose that Yitro left his place of honor in the world to come to the wilderness? its almost analogous to a person coming a Rabbi and saying "I want to learn Torah, please teach me" and the Rabbi answers back "You know..there is a GREAT thing called the Torah have you heard of it? you should really study it!" Yitro went to a makom of "Tohu" to learn the Torah! Why is this itself not enough of a sign of showing closeness to HaShem?
Perhaps one could explain from the words of Rashi. Rashi earlier in pasuk chet calls this emotion which overcame Yitro as "U'ndavo Libo" "Inspiration of the heart" as we saw earlier this emotion was such a powerful moment of inspiration that it caused a person to do things he would have never done before. For example, when one watches the bombs falling on the southern towns of Israel, he may feel an overpowering sense of responsibility and leave his job and family to volunteer for those in need. However like all emotions it can dissipate in short time, and once this feeling wears off he might find himself in a place of discomfort and danger, having lost this excitement he might regret his prior decision and return to a life of idol worship because he doesn't have the same "spiritual experiences" as at first. Although Miztvot should be practiced with the full heart, if the heart is not there it is not a dispensation to the mitzvah. This is where Moshe comes. Moshe wants to draw his heart to the Torah, to show him that Judaism is not just a life filled with spiritual experiences, rather Judaism is a commitment of the self too, of the heart and the mind. To be a Buddhist can also give you spiritual highs, but this is not point of Judaism. A life of Torah is a fulfilment of the will of HaShem. A life of Torah is by definition a life of spiritual highs and lows. As rashi says "In order to draw his heart to bring him closer to the Torah". Not just the heart but the person himself, so at that time when the heart is not there the person will be. This point is brought out beautifully in the Bracha of She'hakol, We start out saying Baruch Ata "blessed are You" talking to HaShem directly but when we finish we say "SheHakol Nehiyah Bidvaro" "that all was created in HIS Word" speaking ABOUT Him. This is teach us that our relationship with Hashem will sometimes be as if hes in front of us and times where his presence to us may be hidden.
According to this explanation we can now understand another seemingly difficult pasuk. After Moshe retells of all the miracles in Egypt, Yitro responds:
וַיֹּאמֶר יִתְרוֹ בָּרוּךְ יְקֹוָק אֲשֶׁר הִצִּיל אֶתְכֶם מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם וּמִיַּד פַּרְעֹה אֲשֶׁר הִצִּיל אֶת הָעָם מִתַּחַת יַד מִצְרָיִם.עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי גָדוֹל יְקֹוָק מִכָּל הָאֱלֹהִים כִּי בַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר זָדוּ עֲלֵיהֶם
שמות פרק יח פסוק יא
"Yisro said, "Blessed is HaShem Who rescued you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh; Who rescued the people from under the hand of Egypt. Now I know that HaShem is greater than all the gods, because the very thing they plotted came upon them."
Rashi explains further:
עתה ידעתי - מכירו הייתי לשעבר ועכשיו ביותר:
מכל האלהים - מלמד שהיה מכיר בכל עבודה זרה שבעולם שלא הניח עבודה זרה שלא עבדה
רש"י שמות פרק יח פסוק יא
"I was aware of Him in the past but, now, all the more so.
Than all the gods.-This teaches that he was acquainted with all forms of idol-worship in the world; that he did not leave any idol un-worshipped.
The question is why NOW? did Yitro not come out to the Midbar with this recognition already in mind? After our explanation the answer is clear. Yes Yitro came with this overpowering emotion which caused him to leave behind his past life, but this emotion which is not a lasting cannot carry him, this is why he tried every form of idol worship! Because when these experiences left him he felt empty and went to the next idol. Only until he came to Moshe and the Torah did he see the substantial worth of a life of Torah and Miztvot, he saw how HaShem has created a Torah which is tailored specifically for man and acts as the perfect bridge between us and Him.
Shabbat Shalom.
Naftali Kassorla
