Parshah Summary – P’shat
Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro (Yitro), hears of the great miracles of the Exodus, and comes from Midian to the Israelite camp, bringing with him Moses’ wife and two sons. Jethro advises Moses to appoint a hierarchy of judges to assist him in the task of governing and administering justice to the people.
The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that God has chosen them to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” The people respond by proclaiming, “All that God has spoken, we shall do.” On the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel assembles at the foot of Mount Sinai for the giving of the Torah. The Divine Presence descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightning, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and Moses is summoned. God proclaims the Aseret Hadibrot, the Ten Commandments, instructing the Children of Israel to be aware of the Divine Oneness as the power of liberation, not to worship idols or misuse the Divine Name, to keep Shabbat, to honor their parents, not to murder, not to misuse intimacy, not to steal, and not to lie about others or be jealous of others.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהֹ–וָ֖ה מִכׇּל־הָאֱלֹ–הִ֑ים... Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods… - Shemot (Exodus) 20:1, 2 Parshat Yitro
Rabbi Abraham was asked: “Our sages say: (Pirkei Avot 4:3) ‘There is no thing that does not have its place.’ And so human beings too have their place. Then why do people sometimes feel so crowded?” He replied: “Because each wants to occupy the place of the other.”
The fruit of meditation could be described as alignment with the place in which we stand – the dropping away of resistance to the moment as it appears, and the embrace or at least acceptance of the task we are given. This state of alignment gives birth to the many middot, such as generosity and kindness, creativity, wonder and awe of the outer universe and expansive bliss of the inner universe, and many more. But, if we are fixated on achieving those qualities, we sabotage the process, because they must arise from alignment from where we are now, not where we imagine we would like to be. עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי – Now I know… When Moses’ father-in-law Jethro (Yitro) comes to rejoin Moses and the Israelites, Moses tells him the whole story of how they escaped from Egypt, to which Jethro replies that now he knows Hashem is greater than all the gods. The word for “gods” is elohim – an interesting word, because not only does elohim mean “gods,” but it is also itself a Name of God. In fact, it is the name used in the beginning of the Torah when God creates the universe: בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹ–הִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. - Bereisheet (Gensis) 1:1 In this opening Torah verse, Elohim the Creator is the Source of all diversity. This plurality is hinted at by the name Elohim, which is a plural word, as in, “gods.” In this sense, then, Elohim could mean “God of Plurality.” כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהֹ–וָ֖ה – For Hashem is great… But what does Hashem mean? This is the four letter unpronounceable Name יה–וה YHVH that means “Existence” or “Being.” גָד֥וֹל יְהֹ–וָ֖ה מִכׇּל־הָאֱלֹ–הִ֑ים – Hashem is greater than Elohim… Understood this way, Jethro is saying that Being greater than Plurality. In other words, there are many Divine qualities – kindness, creativity, inwardness, and so on. But of all of them, the simple quality of Being is the greatest, because it is the Source of all the others. The good news is that you don’t have to achieve Being. Everything is already Being. But it is from a rootedness in Being that the many middot can arise as expressions of Being; they are qualities we must bring to the work we do in the world and upon ourselves. זָכ֛וֹר֩ אֶת־י֥֨וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖֜ת לְקַדְּשֽׁ֗וֹ׃ – Remember the sabbath day, to sanctify it… But to do this, we must remember to practice Being – this is Shabbat. שֵׁ֤֣שֶׁת יָמִ֣ים֙ תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד֮ וְעָשִׂ֖֣יתָ כׇּֿל־מְלַאכְתֶּֽךָ֒׃ Six days you shall labor and do all your work… Working to cultivate and express the Divine qualities is crucial; this work makes up the majority of what we are here to do. וְי֨וֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜י שַׁבָּ֖֣ת – But the seventh day is a Sabbath… In other words, work must be oriented around rest; Shabbat is smaller, but it is the Center. How do we do this? עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי – Now I know… Jethro is giving us the answer: Atah yadati- “Now I know!” In other words, to truly know the Greatest Quality, you have to connect with the Now. 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. Beneath all the doing, the cultivating, the creating, is the Divinity of this moment, always available, yet easily obscured. This awakening to the dimension of Being is the Path of Malkhut, also known as Sh’khinah, the Divine Presence that shines from all things…
Read past teachings on Yitro HERE
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