This week, we read about the reentry of one of the Torah's heroes into our story. After hearing of all the wonders Hashem had produced for the Jewish people, Yitro came to the Israelites' camp, bringing his daughter and grandsons to rejoin his son-in-law, Moshe. Which specific events inspired Yitro to join the Children of Israel (and, according to many, convert)?
The commentaries on the Torah debate this point. Some state that Yitro heard about the giving of the Torah. They explain that this is one of the many places where the Torah differs from the chronological order of the events depicted. There are many reasons to think this is the case. For example (as Ramban tells us), Yitro joins the Jewish people at the foot of Mt Sinai, but if the verses are chronologically ordered, the Jews have not yet travelled to that holy place. Similarly, Yitro suggests to Moshe that he should appoint judges to rule on disputes under him, and Moshe agrees, teaching them the laws that Hashem gives him. However, those laws have yet to be provided.
Rashi and Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra advance a different view. Rashi explains that Yitro came after he heard of the victory over Amalek. This makes sense since he was bringing Moshe's wife and children. He would only do so once he was sure that it was safe. It also matches the verses speaking of the wonders that Hashem performed for the Jewish people.
The State of Israel represents both approaches to why the non-Jewish Yitro chose to throw his lot with the people of Israel. On the one hand, Israel rose out of the ashes of the holocaust and created a place of (relative safety for the Jewish people). Today in Australia, with anti-Semitism on the rise and seemingly even nurses happy to harm their Jewish patients, we can appreciate the need for a haven more than ever. On the other hand, Israel represents the culmination of recent Jewish history. It is a prosperous, liberal, boisterous Western democracy, a fount of technological innovation for the whole world, and a key part of the prosperity that all people have come to enjoy. Israel is a miracle, rising from the desert and representing humanity's best.
As the news again takes a more ominous tone, and as it seems that the fragile ceasefire that was bringing out brothers and sisters home slowly might end, let's all remember that Israel is a place to love and cherish. It is Hashem's gift to us and our gift to the world. And while the journey to hold onto it might seem long and fraught, it is worth the struggle and the sacrifice. Just ask Yitro.
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