January 27, 2019 · 04:33:57
Hearing Hashem’s MessagesYISRO LEARNS SOMETHING NEWOurparshahthis week begins with the story of Yisro leaving the comfort of his hometown to travel out into the dangerous wilderness to visit the encampment of theAm Yisroel. And for what reason did he undertake such a journey? Why would a man like Yisro, a man of nobility in Midian, forsake his home to go to themidbar? So the Torah tells us, וישמע יתרו – Because he heard something that stirred his mind. When Yisro was informed of what had happened inMitzrayimand at theYam Suf, there was some great ideal that was triggered in his mind. And it was that ideal that caused him to make that fateful decision to come out to the wilderness to join his son-in-law and theAm Yisroelin their happiness.Now when he arrived we know that he made abrachahon theneisthat happened to the people of Hashem: ברוך השם אשר הציל אתכם מיד מצרים ומיד פרעה – “Hashem should be blessed for having rescued you from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians” (Yisro 18:10). And in the climax of his praises of Hashem, Yisro added apeirush, some details about theneisofKriyas Yam Sufthat we should consider carefully. עתה ידעתי – “Now I know,” said Yisro, כי גדול השם מכל האלוהים, “that Hashem is greater than all gods.” “I recognized Him in the past,” explains Rashi, “but now I know Him even more.” And that’s a remarkable statement because Yisro had already known ofHashem Elokei Yisroelthrough his own reasoning, as well by the traditions of his own family of Midian, who