Shabbat Shalom. Thank you for coming to support me through this important milestone. I just chanted my Torah portion, Yitro. My portion is the one where Moses AND the Israelites receive the ten commandments. But that’s not the only thing that happens in Yitro. My portion is named after Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law. In the first part of my portion Yitro comes to visit his family. When Yitro sees how all the Israelites come to Moses with their problems and how overworked his son-in-law is he’s confused. Why is Moses doing everything? Yitro convinces Moses to appoint trusted individuals as judges. These judges will take on some of the responsibilities of Moses, so Moses only has to solve the bigger problems. But what does making judges and receiving the ten commandments have to do with each other? My answer to this question is that they both represent the Isrealites spreading power among themselves and regaining a sense of power after slavery in Egypt.
While it makes sense that appointing more people into positions of power is a way to spread power, what does getting the Torah have to do with it? Rabbi Joshua Heller had an interesting idea about this. Here’s a quote from his commentary on my portion called “A leadership Checklist,” where he talks about the fact that Moses is the only one who has the connection with G!d, making him the sole leader of Isrealites, so he is worn down and the people can’t think for themselves which is a crisis. Here is the quote, “The giving of the Torah would both mitigate and aggravate the crisis. On one hand, putting the law in the hands of the nation creates a community that is knowledgeable and empowered. And yet, at the same time, each new law would raise even more opportunities for disagreement and opportunities for interpretation. What I think is that whether giving the Torah to the people made them more knowledgeable and empowered, or created more opportunities for interpretation and disagreement it’s still giving them power to be able to interpret, challenge, and make their way of living better. After so long in Egypt the Isrealites need to be able to have a positive relationship with the forces that govern them.
This brings me to another part of my Torah portion. When the ten commandments were given to us at mount Sanai there were a lot of big descriptions. One example of this is in chapter 20 verse 15 when it says that the people saw the thunder. Many commentaries on this say, “they saw that which should be heard, something which is impossible to see on any other occasion,” I think it's used in this way to emphasize how big, majestic, and extraordinary it was. Every single Israelite person was there and saw this. I think that the fact that a big part of my portion is the fact that EVERY SINGLE person was there to receive these commandments in a very big way makes sense. The Israelites were seeing thunder and feeling the importance of what was being told to them. After so long where the people in power abused that power the Israelites trust Moses because he speaks with G!d. When Moses appoints new people to have positions of power the Israelites need a reason to trust them. Why should they trust these people to make decisions for them? I think it's because they are using these commandments that they felt the importance of guiding them. Additionally, maybe once Moses appointed judges to solve people’s problems people also realized that “Hey, I can make some decisions for myself too!”. Because before Yitro came everything and anything was put into Moses’s hands. Yitro came and questioned it so Moses appointed trusted individuals to act as judges. When Moses took this step and showed that he wasn’t the only one capable of making decisions, I think G!d backed him up by giving EVERYONE the ten commandments, not just Moses but everyone gained more confidence in themselves, spreading power.
As I become a Bat-Mitzvah I am having that spread of power affect me. I can become my own judge and interpret the ten commandments in a way that is relevant to me. Especially because of my torah portion I am looking to go forward into my adulthood to spread more opportunities for everyone to have confidence, knowledge and respect, because that’s power to me. And give more people the opportunity to spread what they feel is power. My first step is sharing this so hopefully you can find ways to make everyone around you more powerful and knowledgeable.
My Parshah clearly shows that it was very important for everyone to build their own power and support otters in building theirs. Yitro helped Moses realize this and then ten commandments helped the Israelites agree. And I am taking on that commandment as a bat-mitzvah right now.