One of These Things is Not Like the Others- Parshat Yitro

For some, spirituality is all about generosity and kindness.
 
For some, it’s about creativity.
 
For others, it’s going out into nature. Or going in, deep within yourself…
 
But while there are many different spiritual entry points for many different personality types, there’s one Thing that all these qualities point to, that's fundamentally different from the others.
 
In this week’s episode, Moses’ father-in-law Jethro (Yitro) goes out to meet Moses in the wilderness and give him some crucial advice. But first, Moses tells Jethro the whole story of how they escaped from Egypt, to which Jethro replies (Ex. 18:11):
 
“Atah yadati ki gadol Hashem mikol ha’elohim…”
 
This is usually translated:
 
       “Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods…”
 
The word for “gods” is “elohim”- a very interesting word, because not only does elohim mean “gods,” it's also a Name of God Itself. In fact, it’s the Name used in the beginning of the Torah when God creates the universe:
 
“Bereisheet bara Elohim et hashamayim v’et ha’aretz-
      “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…”
 
So Elohim the Creator is the source of all the diversity in the universe. This plurality is hinted at by the Name itself, because Elohim is a plural word, which is why it can also mean “gods.”
 
In this sense, then, Elohim would mean “God of Plurality.”
 
But what does Hashem mean?
 
Hashem is the four letter unpronounceable Name YHVH that means “Existence” or “Being.”
 
So understood this way, it’s saying that Existence is the greatest Divine quality:
 
“God (Hashem- Beingness) is greater than God (Elohim- plurality of qualities)”
 
There are many Divine qualities- kindness, creativity, inwardness, connection with nature, and so on. But of all of them, the simple quality of Being is the greatest.
 
The nice thing about that is you don’t have to achieve Being. Everything is already just Being.
 
All of the many qualities (or middot) are important for shaping your life as an expression of Being. That’s the ongoing project of spiritual work on yourself and on the world.
 
But the project of just Being is a cessation from work. It’s an allowing of everything to be exactly as it is- and that’s the weekly project of Shabbat (Ex. 20:9):
 
“Sheishet yamim ta’avod v’asita kol m’lakhtekha-      
     “Six days you shall labor and do all your work…”
 
Working to cultivate the Divine qualities, to create and maintain better forms and structures, is crucial. It’s the majority of what we’re here to do.
 
But the center of life is Shabbat- the center is Being-
 
“V’yom hashvi’i Shabbat Ladonai Elohekha-
       “And the seventh day is a Shabbat for the Divine…”
 
But if Being is the greatest quality, how do we come to experience and know this for ourselves?
 
The answer is in Jethro’s words-
 
“Atah yadati- NOW I KNOW (that God-Hashem- Beingness is greater than God-Elohim- plurality of qualities…)”
 
To truly “know” the Greatest Quality, you have to connect with the “Now.” In fact, the word for "know" is da'at, which also means intimacy. So it's not just an intellectual knowing, but a knowing through intimate connection.
 
This moment has a texture, a flavor, an aliveness, if you would but take a "Shabbat" to taste It, to feel It, to dive into It. Underneath all the doing, the cultivating, the creating, is the Divinity of this moment, always available, yet easily obscured.
 
Going back to the story- what was Jethro’s advice to Moses?
 
Precisely this- take a Shabbat!
 
Jethro saw that Moses would “burn out” as a leader if he didn’t delegate some of his duties and take some rest.
 
So on this Shabbat Yitro, the Sabbath of Advice, may we too take Jethro’s advice, to balance our doing with Being and taste the Greatness of Existence. May the shining Wholeness of Being reshape all our doing as well, bringing this world swiftly to realize peace, healing and sustenance for all.

Good Shabblisss!
​b yosef