Yithro: the context of the Law

Yithro: the context of the Law

This is the core of the Torah.  The revelation at Sinai, the giving of the Law, the Ten Commandments

Look at the context: Moshe visits with Jethro. Previously, Jethro saw Moshe's true potential  He heard how he had protected his daughter at the well and, on that basis, Jethro invited Moshe to his home and made him family. Jethro became grandfather to Moshe and Tziporah's children.

Moshe's time with Jethro was formative.  It was during that period, presumably under the influence of Jethro, that Moshe met the burning bush, met his mission.  Moshe globalized his protection of the weak ( the taskmaster in Egypt, the daughters of Jethro at the well)  to the liberation of the Hebrews..  While living with Jethro  he learned the power of signs, the credibility that miracle brings.


Jethro understood the meaning of Hebrew liberation.  They were liberated from an autocrat,  from one whose word is law, and the law included drowning infants. When Jethro  heard all that happened to Israel, he saw  that the people were guided by justice.  The Egyptians had drown the Israelite boys in the river.  Gd drown the Egyptian soldiers in the sea. Now the people were led by his son-in-law, who had been  cast upon the water ( in a basket) and whose sense of justice meant protecting the weak.

But the autocracy, even if benevolent,  remained a problem. A system of justice, a hierarchy of courts, was the only solution that could survive over time.  Gd approved of  Jethro's idea.

The pyramid of justice would need to start with every person knowing what to do, the basic principles and laws, the Torah, the ten Commandments. Each person needed to understand the principles on her own level,

  The law that applied to all had to validated ... by signs The parsha even says as much. (20;17).  The purpose of the overwhelming display was so that the people fear Gd ( the source of the law) and not sin.

The law requires "we will do and we will listen"  That is the nature of law, it is assumed to be correct.  Questioning comes later.

So, it becomes quite confused, pushed into a unity.  The law, the interpreter, the hierarchy, the truth and faith.