Rabbi Simon A. Dolgin



"And Yitro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, that the Lord brought out Israel from Egypt." -Shmot 18:1

"What report did he hear that he came to Moses? The parting of the Red Sea and the war against Amaelk." -Rashi

Rashi's question regarding the opening words of this portion is difficult to understand. The verse itself later provides the answer to what brought Yitro to seek out Moses, for he had "heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, that the Lord brought out Israel from Egypt." Would the miraculous events in Egypt, culminating in the exodus itself, not be enough to move Yitro tocome and join Moses and the people of Israel? If so, why does Rashi find it essential to add these two other miracles- the parting of the Red Sea and the victory against the Amalakeites - to what motivated Yitro?

One can distinguish however, between the miracles in Egypt and the later miracles of the sea and Amalek. In Egypt, the people of Israel had no active role. The Almighty, via his messengers, Moses and Aaron, brought his plagues upon the Egyptians.

Beyond this, the people of Israel did nothing specific to contribute to the miracle of their deliverance. To recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate events for which only God was responsible, and in which the people themselves had only a passive role, Yitro need not have made his journey. He may hust as well have praised God from his home in Midian. Therefore Rashi takes the position that the miracles of Egypt were in themselves necessary but insufficient reasons for Yitro's being so moved.

The later events - the parting of the sea and the war with Amalek - were different. The Torah says (Shmot 14.22), "and the Children of Israel came into the midst of the sea on dry ground..." in response to God's instruction (14.15) "...speak unto the Children of Israel that they go forward." God commands them to cross the sea, and they act.

The pepople themselves were delegated an active role, and they undertook it faithfully. The people completed the miracle God had begun.man and God

Similarly, the war against Amalek was fught by the people themselves, under God's Divine supervision. It was this connection of the Jewish people to their God, this bonding of personal involvement and Divine direction, that moved Yitro to seek out Moses and the Children of Israel. He needed to witness this up close. This he could not accomplish by simply praising the Lord from Midian.

We are obliged to do our part in making God's miracle complete, just as our ancestors did when they crossed the Red Sea and went to war against Amalek. We must take an active role in our partnership with the Almighty. In this way, we give God's miracles an added dimension that attracts the world's curiosity and provides a model for the nations to emulate. Thus may we fulfill the words, "To establish the world as the Kingdom of the Lord."