In parshas Yisro, the father in law of Moshe rabenu hears about all the good hakadosh Baruch Hu did for Moshe and the people of Israel when He took them out of Egypt. Rashi comments that this refers to the parting of the Red Sea and the war against Amalek. Yisro takes Moishe’s wife and his two children and travels to Mount Sinai where the Israelites are camping. When he arrives Moshe and the entire nation meet him with great honor and joy. Yisro exclaims, "Blessed is the Hashem, Who has rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, Who has rescued the people from beneath the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Hashem (the Creator) is greater than all the gods (powers), because what happened to them was brought on by their malice,” (Exodus 18:10-11).
Later on Yisro sees Moshe acting as the judge in all sorts of disputes. Yisro comments that this will be too much for one man to do and advises that lesser cases be referred to others who are lesser but proper judges. The idea is a popular one and Moshe accepts it. However he later rebukes the nation saying that the reason they liked it was so they could distance themselves from him.
Shortly after that the nation of Israel assembles at Mount Sinai and receive the Ten Commandments directly from Hashem. The first commandment is unusual. It simply states, “I am Hashem your G-d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the place of slaves”. Next comes a lengthy commandment basically demanding exclusive commitment. The third commandment seems to call for respect for religion. The others are to rest on Saturday, respect your parents, not to murder, commit adultery, steal, perjure, or be jealous.
A number of lessons are learned in this parsha. The first lesson is that there are times that Hashem reveals himself to a person and speaks to him. So to speak He says I am G-d and I'm the one that got you out of such and such a mess that you were in. At this point one is called on to recognize the Creator as well as His actions and kindnesses, not only now but the times it happened in the past as well as the times it will happen in the future. In addition one should generally believe.
The second lesson is not to freak out and start doing all sorts of strange things. A person can become excessively enthusiastic and behave like a little child, who when seeing his grandparents that he loves, becomes wild and crazy. A person can also deny the whole experience, belittle it, or specifically act bad. These are all very inappropriate.
The final lesson is that the holy One blessed be He is the teacher of the world and that he gives us standards to guide our life. These are the Ten Commandments. Certainly there is more to life than this and for this we have the words of the prophets, the Talmud, and the books of our learned rabbis. A Jew should be engrossed in their study, but it may take a genius to keep all of these things in mind. Even so a small number of principles with basic belief will take a person a considerable distance.
לע"נ הסבא אהרן בן יוסף ז"ל נלב"ע כז טבת תשכו
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