Yitro
Jethro advises Moses to delegate chiefs to judge legal cases. The Israelites encamp by Mount Sinai and the 10 commandments are proclaimed. God commands them to build an altar of earth and to bring sacrifices.
Yitro - Dina Brawer
Dina Brawer was born in Italy and educated in Milan, Jerusalem and New York. She is a mother, educator and rebbetzin of Elstree and Borehamwood United Synagogue. She holds a BA in Jewish Studies and an MA in Education and Psychology. She has many interests including photography, gourmet cooking and Renaissance Italy.
Moses's leadership role is extraordinarily demanding. It appears he has to sacrifice his family life to fulfil it. He is compelled to leave his wife and his two sons to rescue the Israelites out of Egypt. The Midrash recounts that when Moses left Midian to confront Pharaoh in Egypt, his father-in-law pointed out that it was not reasonable to bring his wife and two sons into captivity, thus, Moses sent Zipporah back to her father's house (with a get) (divorce).
Sadly, they don't seem to be with him when the Israelites witness miracles at the sea and rejoice. They are not with him when they begin their journey through the desert towards the Promised Land. According to some views they are not among the people to experience the giving of the Ten Commandments. Nowhere in the Torah, do we read of Moses's effort to re-join his family or to send for them. They seem to be forgotten.
However, Yitro, Moses's father in law, addresses the situation:
"And Yitro, Moses's father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after she'd been sent home and her two sons [...]"
"Yitro, Moses's father in law brought his (Moses's) sons and his wife to Moses [...]"
"And he said to Moses: I, your father in law Yitro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons" (Exodus 18:2-5)
This text is intriguing for two reasons: Why does the Torah alternate between calling the children 'her sons' and 'his sons'? Why must Yitro announce to Moses that he is arriving with his wife and her sons altogether?
In the first two verses the text narrates the events. By calling Gershom and Eliezer 'her' sons it seems to stress that until now they have been raised single-handedly by Zipporah, seemingly without any input from Moses, who was essentially an absentee father. However, as the reader may misinterpret this to mean that these were her sons from a different marriage, the Torah switches back to calling them 'his sons' to stress that these were indeed Moses's offspring (Mekhilta - collection of legal commentaries).
In the last verse it is Yitro who speaks. The Shem Mishmuel, R. Shmuel Bornstein of Sochaczew (1856-1926) suggests that Yitro is aware that Moses is no ordinary person. He realizes that his son-in law is a man of heightened spiritual awareness who is increasingly detached from the material world in which he finds himself. Yitro half expects Moses to shirk his parental responsibilities when confronted with his family. He therefore tactfully refers to them as "her sons" in order to protect them emotionally from their father's possible rejection.
Another Voice - Elliott Goldstein
Yitro, arguably the first management consultant (!), observes Moshe's daily schedule as administrator, judge, and teacher, realises that Moshe is slowly being totally burnt out, and advises his son-in-law to delegate some responsibilities to a hierarchy of worthy individuals. Moshe heeds Yitro's advice and the legal system that ensued, whereby cases were filtered up to Moshe through a hierarchy of judges, is the basis of the majority of the world's judicial systems today.
In effect, by accepting the devolution of justice from the centre (i.e. one individual - Moshe), to multiple separate interpretations of law by their peer group (i.e. appointed judges), Bnei Yisrael opened up the possibility of multiple "justices" and multiple interpretations/understanding of the law. Is this a bad thing? Possibly yes as it results in ambiguity and perhaps like cases being treated differently. However, of overriding importance in this decision to delegate parts of the judicial system to the judges was that it gave the population, through the judges, the ability to engage in the search for truth, right or wrong. For possibly the first time, it was not only the highest echelons of leadership who had the ability to search for the truth. Indeed, in the words of Albert Einstein: "The search for truth is more precious than its possession".
