This week is a really big week, full of fireworks and lights and revelations.

Strangely enough, the parsha (weekly Torah portion) we read on shabbat is called Yitro (Jethro), which has nothing to do with Mount Sinai or even the giving of the Torah. Yitro is the name of a priest from Midian, who just happens to be Moshe’s (Moses) father-in-law, and who drops in to say hello, catch up on some news, and give some fatherly advice to Moshe.

So, why is the parsha named after this man? Why isn’t it named after something relating to the receiving of the Torah?

Before I answer that question, I think we should take a quick tour through the parsha.

The parsha begins with Yitro hearing about what god did for Moshe and for Yisrael and coming, with Moshe’s wife and two children, to visit Moshe in the wilderness. Moshe comes out to greet them and tells Yitro all that happened since he last saw him, and Yitro responds by saying that he now knows that haShem (god) is greater than all the other gods/powers, and he proceeds to bring sacrifices for haShem.

The next day, Moshe sat to judge all the people and Yitro observes the process. That night, Yitro says to Moshe that he is going to burn himself, and the people, out if he doesn’t change the process. He then suggests a hierarchical system of judges so Moshe only advocates between the people and haShem. Moshe accepts the idea and implements it. Moshe then sends Yitro back to his own country.

After this interlude, we rejoin our intrepid travellers where we left them in the last parsha. That parsha ended with the people encamped in R’pheedim, and now we hear that they left there and arrived in the Sinai wilderness and that we are in the third month since they left Egypt.

God calls Moshe up the mountain to tell him to tell the people how god took them out of Egypt, and to him on eagle’s wings, and that if they really listen to god, and observe the brit (covenant), they will be god’s most treasured because all the earth is god’s; they will be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

Moshe goes down the mountain and tells this to the elders. The people give Moshe an answer and he climbs up the mountain (remember, he is 80 years old at this point!) and tells god what the people said.

God tells Moshe that the people will hear him speak and that they should prepare themselves.

Moshe goes down and tells them to prepare for god’s visit in three days.

The third day arrives and there is thunder and lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain and the sound of a shofar (ram’s horn) and the people tremble and Moshe goes back up the mountain.

Mount Sinai is smoking and god has descended on it in fire and the shofar sounds louder. God tells Moshe to go down and warn the people not to touch the mountain. Moshe tells god not to worry for the people already put up a boundary around the mountain. God tells Moshe to go down anyway. So, Moshe goes down.

God now speaks the ten things to the people. I’ve mentioned what haShem said here, so I will not share them again here. I am sure you all know what was said. And if not, it is easy to find.

The bottom line is that all the people saw the thunder and flames and smoke and shofar blast and kept a healthy distance from the mountain. They told Moshe to talk to god, and that they would just listen. Moshe tells them not to be afraid, that god is doing this to test them and put them in awe of her so they won’t sin. Nevertheless, the people kept their distance, and Moshe approached the cloud where haShem was.

God tells Moshe to tell the people that they have seen god speak to them from heaven and that they should not make gods of silver and gods of gold for themselves, and about making sacrificial altars and that wherever god allows his name to be mentioned, she will come and bless them.

This is the whole parsha in a nutshell.

So now that we know what happened in the parsha, let’s go back to my original question: why is the parsha called Yitro?

The first, and obvious answer is that the all parshas are named by the first significant word found in it, and in our case it is the name of Moshe’s father in law.

I could buy that, except for one small thing: the Torah went out of its way to put the story of Yitro first. The reason I say this is because the Torah goes out of chronological order to put Yitro first.

The previous parsha ended with the war with Amalek. This took place in R’pheedim. Yitro shows up when the nation is camping in the wilderness of Sinai. After we read about Yitro, the Torah then says that the people left R’pheedim for Sinai.

This is out of order.

The question is why? And the answer is because the Torah is trying to tell us something. What it is trying to tell us is that sure, the giving of the Torah is a big deal.

BUT what is even bigger is honoring your fellow person!

Moshe, the head of the nation, personally goes out to honor his father-in-law. HaShem, the author of the Torah is telling us, that personal revelation is great, but don’t let it get in the way of honoring another human being.

This is why the Torah goes out of its way to put the story of Yitro, and Yitro’s name at the beginning of the parsha – a place of honor.

The Torah describes Yitro first as a priest of Midian.

Why?

To tell us that it doesn’t matter what another person is into, if they come into your neighborhood, even if they don’t worship like you do, welcome them and honor them.

Our oral tradition tells us that Mount Sinai was the lowest of the mountains.

Why was it chosen?

Because it being so low, represented the humblest of mountains.

Revelation should be a humbling experience, not a ego-building experience.

Our oral tradition also says that if you are planting a tree when the messiah comes, you should finish planting the tree before greeting the messiah. Why?

Because with the messiah will come revelation, which is second to taking care of and honoring another creature – in this case a tree. In the parsha’s case, it was a man.

Yes, the receiving of Torah is a great thing, a defining moment for us as a people. Yet, haShem is telling us, by ignoring the worldly order of things, that god, and revelation come second to honoring your fellow. This is the message of naming the parsha Yitro, for what better way to honor him, than to name the parsha after him.

There is more I saw in the parsha this year, but somehow to add more to this would take away from a very important message.

If you want to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.

About the Author

Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.