by Rabbi Avi Billet
For the second time in the Torah, we see Moshe Rabbenu having a conversation with his father in law that seems focused on what is in the best interest of Moshe’s flock, the people of Israel.
The first recorded conversation was in Parshas Yisro, in Shmos chapter 18, when father-in-law watched son-in-law sitting all day long judging the people alone. The infamous words of a father-in-law, “What you are doing is no good,” led to the establishment of a tier system of judges, which removed the overburden from Moshe, and put him in the position of handling the most difficult cases.
The second recorded conversation takes place at the end of chapter 10 in our parsha when Moshe turns to חבב בן רעואל חתן משה - “Hovav ben Reuel” his father in law, and tells him “We are traveling to the land of which God said ‘I am giving it to you,’ so travel with us and we will share goodness with you, for God has spoken well of Israel.” The response is “I am going home…” to which Moshe says, “Please don’t leave us! You will best know our encampments in the wilderness and you will be our eyes! When you go with us, it will be that we will share with you the good which God bestows upon us.”
[While a conversation/dissection can certainly be held over the change of names associated with Moshe’s father-in-law, for the purposes of relative brevity and ease, that concern will be ignored for now, and we will simply call the man Yisro.]
The Torah does not make clear what Yisro chose to do. Some commentaries link the two tales, suggesting they took place at the same time, and that Yisro’s departure then (Shmos 18:27) reflects his general departure: “And Moshe sent his father-in-law, and he returned to his land.”
I wonder, though, what Moshe was really asking him. Two verses later we are told that the Ark traveled before the people at a distance of a 3-day journey. Clearly the Ark was leading the way. Earlier in the parsha, we were told in quite certain terms that the cloud of God would determine when the people would set up camp and when they would pack up the camp to continue the journey, whether after a long stay or even very short stays. God is giving several indicators that the encampments will be determined by Him, and there is no need for human intervention. So what role does Moshe have in mind for his father-in-law, if not to be the “Guide”?
Netziv suggests that Moshe was asking for Yisro to be a teacher for the people in the ways of the world. “There will be times in the wilderness when we will need to procure for the needs of people from the nations that are near us.” In other words, we will have physical needs, whether for products, or to learn how to function in a normal realm, beyond that which is being provided for us by the Almighty, and we will need help in communicating with those nations. “You will be our eyes” in the sense of alerting us to local custom and introducing us to whichever nation and people we encounter.
This service which you will provide for us is one for which we will gratefully compensate you when we inherit the land God has promised to us.
This approach suggests that a. there was no indication that the people would be in the land within three days (despite what 10:33 might indicate would have been an ideal), and b. their time in the wilderness would not be dedicated purely and solely to spiritual pursuits, such as exclusively studying the Torah.
In his commentary on the events of Marah, Rav Kasher quotes Ramban, who explains Moshe needed to give the people basic instructions for how to survive in the wilderness. He had to teach them how to call out to God when hungry or thirsty (which is great introduction to how Netziv explains the Mei Merivah story of Bamidbar chapter 20), without resorting to complaining. They should learn to love their neighbors and to follow the advice of the elders. They should engage peacefully with neighbors who come from outside the Israelite camp, to engage in commerce. Moshe aimed to guide them in ethical behavior lectures to avoid being like other traveling bands who engage in every abomination, and to be above such base desires. He concludes quoting an opinion that Moshe had to teach them the ways of the wilderness – how to take best care of your wife, your children, how to engage with wanderers who want to buy or sell from you.
This perspective, even before Yisro showed up in the Torah’s chronology (that was Shemos 15:25 and Yisro arrived in Shemos 18) supports both the idea that this kind of non-slave-now-free-living was on Moshe’s mind, and that Yisro could be a great mentor for everyone in terms of how to navigate their newfound freedom and living in the real world.
This was ALWAYS the Torah’s ideal – for people to engage on the one hand in pursuing their relationship with God, but also, and always at the same time, pursuing advancement in navigating the realities of existing with other people, and engaging in business and other forms of commerce with other nations.
Moshe was simply trying to outsource a mentorship role to someone who had significant experience in that world. Especially if Moshe was to be Moshe Rabbenu, with his role focused more on spiritual growth, aside from the many issues which may come up ala Shemos 18 and his judging the people, then perhaps he was hoping to remain the Judaic Studies Coordinator while hiring Yisro to be the General Studies Coordinator.
While we should never focus so much on our general knowledge to the exclusion of Torah knowledge (or vice versa!) it is extremely important to have that well rounded education in both areas, to be able to function as the best Jew each of us can be, while also navigating the challenges which accompany being a successful human being in the game of life. Particularly in this increasingly complicated world, with all the innovation that continues to happen so quickly, and all the overwhelming noise which comes our way from every direction, our tool box can’t afford to get rusty as we are always meant to be growing in our knowledge and “life skillset” to represent all God, and subsequently Moshe, hoped for us to be able to take in and process to be the most functional AND God-fearing we could become.
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