Dvar Torah Parsha Yitro 5783

Shemot 18:1-20:23

Parsha Yitro is a remarkable parsha. We find the creation of our justice system as Israelites, and the giving of the decalogue. So initially we see the arrival of Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro (Jethro) along with Moshe’s wife and two sons. Yitro has come because he has heard about the miracles by Hashem, and perhaps to see what was to come at Sinai? Anyway, he sees Moshe spending all day answering questions and dispensing justice, and he suggests a better way. Why not appoint men beyond reproach who would not be tempted to capitalize on the system to grow their own wealth. In short, men who are trusted by the people to dispense justice fairly. They would handle the day-to-day business, while the more difficult questions would be passed on to Moshe. In short, Moshe would need to share the responsibility of leadership. Who might be selected to be a leader? This by Or HaChaim: “ ‘From amongst all the people, etc’ This means that Moses might find candidates acceptable to him, he should not appoint them until they also proved acceptable to all the people and the people asked for these men to be appointed as judges.”

The Netziv, a nineteenth century scholar points out one phrase in Torah according to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. It was the words, “so too all these people will reach their place of peace.” It’s all about compromise, not unlike mediation, where both parties reach an agreement where both parties gain. This from Talmud Sanhedrin 6B:

“Rabbi Eliezer, son of R. Jose the Galilean, said: it is forbidden to mediate . . . Instead, let the law pierce the mountain [a saying similar to: “Let the chips fall where they may”]. And so Moses’ motto was: Let the law pierce the mountain. Aaron, however, loved peace and pursued peace and made peace between people . . . R. Judah ben Korcha said: it is good to mediate, for it is written (Zechariah 8:16), “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” Surely where there is strict justice, there is no peace, and where there is peace, there is no strict justice! What then is the justice that coexists with peace? We must say: mediation.”

The law follows Rabbi Judah ben Korcha, according to Rabbi Sacks in favor of mediation with one condition, that the Judge does not know who is right or wrong. Thus began a judicial system for the Israelites. So, Moshe is encamped near Mt. Sinai. What is coming is a new covenant. Other covenants had been made, including with Noah and Abraham. But this one was different, in that consent had to be affirmed by the people for the covenant to be shared. Again, Rabbi Sacks offers, “There is no legitimate government without the consent of the governed, even if the governor is Creator of heaven and earth. I know of few more radical ideas anywhere.”

We are a people with a covenant, an agreement to observe as best we can 613 mitzvot, though time and circumstances have left some obsolete. We do not all observe in the same way, and we are a diverse people, united by this covenant, and each of us interpret in different ways. Imbedded in these laws were ideas incorporated in democracies today.

Indeed as a Jew living in 5783, I look towards our own system of government. The first to be chosen were the judges in Yitro. What is going on in our judicial system today? We are seeing judges appointed not for their adherence to a system of laws and a respect for precedence. Personal bias and political affiliation seem to come first. This can and will undermine trust in the very systems that are there to provide justice. In terms of our electoral system, systematic gerrymandering in several states erodes confidence that we are a nation of democratic values where the majority rules. Even today in Israel, a movement is afoot to remove power from the courts all in the name of their own power. We would do well to learn the lessons from Yitro, I think. Yitro has us distribute leadership, rather than keep it in the hands of the few. Oligarchs and monarchs throughout history have risen, then fallen for this simple reason. Lord John Dalberg-Acton wrote in 1867, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Power distributed among many and with consent of the governed avoids this outcome.

Yitro was not an Israelite, rather a goy, another nation. This passage demonstrates good ideas can come from anybody, not just your own people. Without his sage advice, we never could have made the entire journey to the promised land. Jew and goy, we all carry within us that spark of the divine, and we all have a voice. I listened to an interview the other day by a woman who sat on a federal committee to study governments around the world looking for signs where internal instability could possibly lead to civil war. The USA was high on that list. To avoid that, in what is best described as a partial democracy at best, those voices can lead us from such a reality, or if silent, ensure a decline into chaos. Time will tell.

Shabbat Shalom.