Sunday, February 19, 2006, 21 Sh’vat, 5766 - Yitro
The word tov is missing from the Fifth Commandment to honor our parents. Shabbos is the negative of action; honoring parents is the positive of action.
The Ramah died at the age of 33. They wanted to give him 33 eulogies, but got stuck at 30. A eulogy is a story. He lived from 1530-1572 (there is a little discrepancy here.) in Krakow, the same town as Shindler’s List. His name was Moses Issralis, and he made key decisions for the Ashkenazi.
In Parshas Yitro, the first significant word is shmah, not Yitro. Shmah means to listen deeply, to listen to aleph. Aleph is the number one, the letter of paradox. How does one listen to the paradox of the world? We traveled from Refidim (which was a key town in the Yom Kippur war), where we met Amalak. Amalak is discouragement, doubt, competitiveness, origins of corrosive self-doubt. We need to learn the constructive use of self-doubt, and we have to talk about Amalak with a little humor.
Amalak was born from Timna, Esau’s granddaughter. She wanted to join the Hebrews but was rejected, so she returned to her family and consorted with her brother, Amalak was the result of that union. We can speculate that he was raised with a lot of anger regarding the Hebrews, who had rejected his mother. Amalak is the opposite of Yitro.
Giving the Satan his due – don’t kill passion, channel passion.
The Rav of Lublin played chess with the worst elements of the town. When questioned about this, he said that he would rather have a passionate evildoer than a milktoast do-gooder.
Moses saved babies which were being cemented into the wall and also brought Egyptian converts out of Mitzrayim. One of these babies and a lot of the Egyptians caused problems. He put all of his doubts into the Book of Job – main focus of the Zohar.
When you say that G*d is all good, you’re leaving out half of the Torah.
The four worlds are lenses. In World One, nase means to run away. When we look at the Exodus story through this lens, it is just one more story of Jews being hounded. Pogo Torah, we have met the enemy and he is us, is a much higher level.
The founding fathers of our country knew fluent Hebrew and wanted to make Hebrew the national language. They saw themselves as true Israelis coming out of Europe. The Protestant Reformation was based on Yitro. Martin Luther challenged the Catholic church, which was based on Latin. He used Hebrew. The Mormons named their town Moab because the mountains looked the same there as in Moab. They also saw themselves as Jews coming out; they believed the Indians were the ten lost tribes.
Hitler was voted in. You can vote in destructive elements. A lot more goes into good government than just voting. The biblical concepts of good government are laid out in the Torah.
Yitro became the high priest of Midian. He studied every known religion of that time, and, like Abraham, deduced intellectually that there was one G*d.
We don’t have to repeat Abraham’s journey because we have his inheritance. It takes a brilliant mind to learn of G*d the way Yitro and Braham did. Yitro educated Moses’s sons. They did not have that kind of brilliance, and they fell into other religions.
Moses runs out to greet Yitro, bows down, kisses him, brings him into his tent, says “Shalom,” which means completion. Something about Yitro completes Moses.
Chamsa means hand (from the word for five). This is the amulet people like to use for their cars and jewelry.
Toxic fears and desires. If we concentrate only on the good, an (internal) little kid will show up who will want only what he wants and also fears power. This is a fragmented existence.
Moses’s great achievement was to be able to receive the ten commandments, his revelation of the Torah, and also to write down ideas to express his revelation of the Torah. He was a poet, a literary giant.
Yitro went into the desert – he didn’t have to go, he was comfortable where he was. He went to Iran, the place of desolation, to be present at the Revelation.
Yitro – integrity.
Joan’s notes:
Connecting the first words of the parsha Yitro with Amalek/discouragement:
Yitro himself emodied at least two characteristics which fight against discouragement:
1-The uplifting nature of being around quality people. Yitro's wisdom, perspective, and friendship was an encourgement to Moshe. Being around good people is an antidote to feeling discouraged, fragmented, hopeless. Being around capable and insightful people gives us encouragement, especially when we are feeling the weight of the world.
2-Structure, organization, routines. People who are disorganized and who lack routines and organization get easily frustrated, discouraged, and maybe depressed. Yitro helped Moshe not to become overwhelmed or fragmented.
The opening word of the parsha, shma, ends with an ayin. When you say this aloud, it opens you up, draws you out, and seems to echo and elongate. It spreads out into space. It might represent longevity, lastingness. When we see that the Jewish project has lasted so long despite the high odds, we see a purpose and a large perspective, and we are reinforced to be hopeful and encouraged.
We have to say shmah sitting down; it’s called the sitting prayer. Introspection, receiving, spiritual reflection, spiritual needs.
Shemona Essray is said standing, asking for physical needs.
Yitro says the key thing is to find people who won’t take bribes. How do I even know when I’m being offered a bribe? Bribes will bring down every government, no matter how good it is.
At the edge of Egypt between the statues people had to choose what they wanted. The statues offered safety from fear (the bull) and freedom for licentiousness.
Job said, “The L*rd gives, the L*rd takes away, blessed be His name.”
Billam, Job and Yitro were three believers. Distinguishing between them requires the study of nuance.
Moses might be taking a bribe, the bribe of power. (This was before he took Yitro’s advice to delegate.)
Moses didn’t set boundaries; he set himself up, did too much in a relationship. He struck the rock because he was angry at being interrupted while sitting shiva for Miriam when the people cried out because there was no water.
When you’re doing everything, you don’t expect criticism. I’m the good guy.
Moses shouts, “Morim ma tem.” This can be translated as “Rebels, you’re screwing me up one more time!” Or it can be translated as “You are my teachers!”
Tsur: The poison and the cure are the same.
Moses is netzach, tenacious, but not yielding enough, so he needs Aaron’s energy. Moses tenaciously holds on to his truth, doesn’t lie. Aaron is more flexible, and will lie for the greater truth.
The job of a teacher is to bring down group revelation.
Moses’s relationship with Yitro is an echo of Jacob’s relationship with Laban. Moses asked permission to go to Egypt from Yitro. Jacob did not ask Laban permission. We have to study relationships that worked and relationships that didn’t work.
Moses prepares a feast for Yitro, an echo of Abraham preparing a feast for the angels.
Ishbitzer Rabbi:
Many people start the thought process with desire. The negative is murder, the positive is no adultery. Thought comes to rationalize what you want.
Prune your imagination. Tsur is mitzrayim, also the place between the rock and hard place. Egypt is the long short way – it looks easier but it’s really longer.
How do we motivate ourselves?
Desire leads to thought, results in us being trapped in slavery, it will take great clarification to sort out this complex situation. What is my relationship to what motivates me?
To be able to see the lack of water as an act of love, not spiritual masochism, a time that gives me a chance to liberate myself from slavery to the material – the bribe –
Out of narrow places, but your habits, positive imagination.
Don’t covet – negative imaginations.
It’s very addictive to always be needed. It’s the person who is always rescued who ends up needing to be needed.
The journey from Refidum (Amalak) to Har Sinai (the Revelation) is the journey from fragmentation to unity, not from bad to good.
“I am the L*rd your G*d who takes you out of mitzrayim.