YITRO_EXODUS XVIII:1-XX:23

As is often the case in many languages, it is difficult– and probably impossible in our case – to define or translate the term Torah. This word is very rich and broad in its meanings. One of the accepted definitions suggests that the Torah is the raison d’être of Judaism, which distinguishes the Jew above all else. Its moral and ethical content is the basis of the Western world, a fact that becomes increasingly relevant over the years, as we observe the presence of hatred and greed, the instinct for the destruction that characterizes a wide sector of Humanity. 

Here probably lies a basic seed of anti-Semitism that does not spare the importance of the Torah for the Jew. Because the Jew was the one who introduced the notion of conscience and responsibility for actions. Greece that delved in science also started from a prism of sensuality, of the visual appreciation for the beauty that surrounds nature. Judaism, however, imposed the criterion of the moral, demanding from the human being conduct framed in social justice, with a deep sense of responsibility for the fate of the neighbor, especially for the less fortunate in society. Therefore, the Torah should have begun with our chapters: the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai because its content is the foundation on which society rests.

Dov Landau elaborates on this idea by pointing out that the account of creation in Bereshit tries to demonstrate the unpreparedness of the members of other nations, their unwillingness to govern their behavior by the ethical ideal. A well-known Midrash relates that God had turned previously to other nations to offer them the Torah, who after inquiring about its contents, refused to receive it. Because by welcoming it they would have had to govern their conduct by its rules. One nation refused because the Torah demands “thou shalt not kill,” and could not submit to a rule that conflicted with its customary conduct of obtaining its goals at all costs, including through murder. A second people refrained from receiving the Torah because it is written there “thou shalt not steal” and theft had become a basic vehicle for their survival and development. 

Starting with Adam and Chava we find personalities with serious moral flaws. Why did they eat the forbidden fruit? Because the serpent told them that by consuming the fruit, they would be able to differentiate between good and evil and, thereby, become gods. Disobedience manifested itself through the bite of the fruit, but its intention was to challenge God’s sovereignty. Landau reviews several biblical characters who never reached a proper ethical level, a level that is non-negotiable.

One person and his family were saved from the flood, but the first thing the elder Noah did was get drunk, run away from his personal responsibility after the traumatic experience. Lot and King Avimelech opted for behaviors of dubious morality. Lot’s daughters got him drunk to sleep with him and procreate. Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Yosef. The Egyptian pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews and ordered the newborn males to be killed. Tamar offered herself to her father-in-law as a prostitute. Each of these characters represents a violation of the ethical norm.

Why did God address Avraham with Lech Lecha, “leave your parents’ home”? Because he found in Avraham a man who could potentially be the father of a people who will govern their action by the Mitsvah, the “moral” imperative of the Torah. According to the Midrash, God put Avraham through 10 different trials, situations whose goal was the verification of the good disposition and conduct of the patriarch.

The Torah insists that Moses was not perfect. He committed a sin. The nature of that sin is a matter of discussion. However, he cannot be underestimated, because he was an extraordinary being, ready to offer his life for the Hebrew people, a fact that he demonstrated once again with the famous phrase: Mecheni na, “Delete me”, pronounced when confronted with the Divine disposition to abandon the Hebrew people and choose another nation.

Even the descendants of the patriarchs were selected individually notwithstanding that many of them showed basic flaws in their character. The difference is in their willingness to make amendments, to do Teshuvah, to rethink their mistakes. Except for Yitzchak, each of them, according to the biblical account, made mistakes in the process of their moral development.

Rashi comments that the Torah begins with Bereshit to justify the bestowal of the Land of Israel to the Hebrew people. Starting from the fact that God as the creator of the universe, has the power to assign any area of the globe to whomever he wishes. And decided in favor of the Hebrew people.

But perhaps the journey from Bereshit to Yitro is a demonstration of the special qualities of the ancestors of the Hebrews when compared to their contemporaries. The Hebrew people received the Torah at Mount Sinai because, instead of questioning the content of the sacred text, they exclaimed “Na’aseh venishma“, “We will do and listen”, showing their willingness to start acting immediately within a framework of morality and responsibility. With the continued practice of the Mitsvah, one could internalize the profound wisdom contained in the Torah in its proper dimension.

MITSVAH: TORAH ORDINANCE IN THIS PARASHAH

CONTAINS 3 POSITIVE MITZVOT AND 14 PROHIBITIONS

1. Exodus 20:2 Believing in the Existence of God
2. Exodus 20:3 Do not believe in any god other than God
3. Exodus 20:4 Make neither sculptures nor images (of gods)
4. Exodus 20:5 Do not prostrate yourself or serve these images
5. Exodus 20:5 Do not worship an idol according to the way you are accustomed to worship it (or worship it in any other way)
6. Exodus 20:7 Do not swear in vain (pronouncing the Name of the Eternal)
7. Exodus 20:8 Verbally sanctify the Shabbat
8. Exodus 20:10 Do no work on Shabbat
9. Exodus 20:12 Honor Father and Mother
10. Exodus 20:13 Do not murder an innocent person
11. Exodus 20:14 Do not commit adultery
12. Exodus 20:15 Do not kidnap a Jew
13. Exodus 20:16 Do not bear false witness
14. Exodus 20:17 Do not covet what belongs to another
15. Exodus 20:23 Do not make sculptures in human form, even as ornament (as deities)
16. Exodus 20:25 Do not build an altar with carved stones
17. Exodus 20:26 Do not go up to the altar by steps (but by a ramp)