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Summary: Synopsis 1: Paving the Way to the Giving of the Torah The Zohar states that G‑d did not give the Torah until Yisro came and praised Him. “When Yisro arrived and said: ‘Blessed is G‑d who rescued you … Now I know that G‑d is greater than all deities…,’ he caused G‑d’s glory to descend, after which G‑d gave the Torah to the Jewish people.” How is it possible that the combined sanctity of Moshe, Aharon and over 600,000 Jews was insufficient, so that only after Yisro also praised G‑d could the Torah be given? The Torah portion begins by stating: “Yisro, Moshe’s father-in-law, kohen of Midian, heard about all that G‑d did….” Yisro’s position as kohen of Midian was twofold; he was both the secular and religious leader of Midian, knowledgeable in and having served all the idolatrous cults of the world. Why does the Torah describe Yisro with the seemingly unflattering appellation of “kohen of Midian,” when it could simply have described him as Moshe’s father-in-law? In fact, describing him as “kohen of Midian” stresses Yisro’s past achievements, both in the political arena (as Midian’s secular leader), as well as in the intellectual arena (as Midian’s religious leader). This in turn serves to underscore Yisro’s greatness; he was willing to forego his past glory in order to become a Jew and learn Torah. What is the connection between Yisro’s knowledge of all the world’s idolatrous cults and his intellectual achievement? The Rambam explains that the mistake which leads people to idolatry is primarily an intellectual one: “They said, ‘Since G‑d created various intermediaries by which to conduct the world … it is fitting that they be extolled, praised and given honor. This is what G‑d desires.’ ” They err in thinking that these intermediaries chose to act as such, and that since they chose to act as intermediaries, honor is due them. But of course they have no free choice at all; they are merely “an ax in the hand of the wood chopper.” Yisro’s knowledge of all the idolatrous cults thus means that he was cognizant of all the levels of intermediaries, not only in this world but in the spiritual realms as well. Understandably, this implies a vast comprehension on Yisro’s part. In light of the above, we can understand the Zohar ’s statement that it was specifically through Yisro’s praise of G‑d that we received the Torah: The verse states: “I have beheld the superiority of wisdom over literally, “from” foolishness.” The Zohar explains that the superiority of “wisdom,” i.e., a superior aspect of holy wisdom, is achieved through the refinement and elevation of “foolishness,” i.e., unholy wisdom. Thus, when Yisro (who was so knowledgeable in unholy wisdom) arrived to study Torah and declared that “G‑d is greater than all deities,” it resulted in the refinement of unholy wisdom and its ultimate transformation into holiness. This added an additional measure of divine illumination to sacred wisdom, and resulted in the giving of the Torah — G‑d’s wisdom — below. For in order for Torah to be able to descend, it had to emanate from a truly lofty source. This was accomplished by the additional measure of illumination that came from the refinement of Yisro’s unholy wisdom. It is axiomatic that anything which acts as a preparation to a given event must be similar in some way to that for which it is paving the way. What is it about the refinement of unholy wisdom that caused it to serve as a precursor to the giving of the Torah? Before giving the Torah, “G‑d decreed that ‘The heavens are the L-rd’s, but the earth He gave to the children of man.’ When He sought to give the Torah, He nullified the original decree and declared: ‘Those that are below may ascend above, and those who are above may descend below.’ ” In other words, at the time the Torah was given there was a commingling of “above” and “below” — the physical could rise and be embraced within the spiritual, and the spiritual could descend and be enclothed within the physical. This bears a striking similarity to the refinement of unholy wisdom — the lowest of degrees — and its elevation into holy wisdom. This refinement, brought about through Yisro, therefore served as an appropriate preparation to the giving of the Torah. Based on Likkutei Sichos , Vol. XI, pp. 74-76. |
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Synopsis 2: 1. Our Sages comment on a verse in this week’s Torah portion which reads, “And Yisro (Jethro) said, “Blessed is Hashem (G-d) Who rescued you (the Jewish people)”, and say, “It is a blemish in Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) and the Jewish people who did not say, ‘Blessed’, until Yisro came and said, ‘Blessed’”. However we must understand what this means because, as we read in last week’s Torah portion, Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people did indeed thank Hashem when they sang to Him as they were walking through the Yam Suf (the sea of reeds)! Why do our Sages say that “it is a blemish in Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people”? 1. Our Sages comment on a verse in this week’s Torah portion which reads, “And Yisro (Jethro) said, “Blessed is Hashem (G-d) Who rescued you (the Jewish people)”, and say, “It is a blemish in Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) and the Jewish people who did not say, ‘Blessed’, until Yisro came and said, ‘Blessed’”. However we must understand what this means because, as we read in last week’s Torah portion, Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people did indeed thank Hashem when they sang to Him as they were walking through the Yam Suf (the sea of reeds)! Why do our Sages say that “it is a blemish in Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people”? 2. The Rebbe begins the journey of answering this question by introducing another issue: The Zohar tells us that until Yisro came and accepted Hashem as G-d the Torah was not given to the Jewish people, however after he came and said, “Blessed is Hashem who rescued you…Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods…”, a great level of G-dliness went throughout all the worlds and Hashem gave the Torah in its completion. We must understand this! Is it possible that the holiness of Moshe Rabbeinu and the holiness of the entire Jewish nation was not enough to merit the giving of the Torah and only after Yisro came and said, “Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods”, did they merit to receive the Torah? Why is this so? 3. The Rebbe continues the journey of understanding everything by bringing up another issue: The first verse of this week’s Torah portion says, “Yisro, the kohen of Midian and Moshe’s father in law, heard about all that Hashem had done…”. Question one: Since we know that every word in the Torah is perfect and exact, we must understand what the Torah is coming to teach us when it says, “…the kohen of Midian…”; it could’ve just said, “Yisro, Moshe’s father in law, heard about all that Hashem had done…”? Question two: There are two opinions as to what “the kohen of Midian” means. One opinion says that “kohen” means that Yisro was a ruler and sovereign over Midian and the other opinion says that “kohen” means that Yisro was a priest for idol worship. According to the first opinion we can understand why the Torah tells us that Yisro was “the kohen of Midian”, because it is trying to tell us that even though Yisro was a very prominent figure in Midian- the ruler of Midian- he gave it all up to travel into the desert and find the Jewish people so that he could convert to Judaism. However it would seem from the second opinion- which says that Yisro was the high priest of idol worship in Midian- that the Torah is trying to disgrace Yisro by purposely telling us that Yisro was “the kohen of Midian”. However; firstly, we know that the Torah tries to stay away from degrading anything, even a non-Kosher animal, so why would it try to disgrace Yisro? Secondly, from the context of this week’s Torah portion which is telling us about the benefit Yisro was to the Jewish people, it doesn’t seem to make sense to discredit him now. Therefore, we must say that even according to the second opinion the Torah is trying to tell us the greatness of Yisro and emphasis the respect we must have for him. How is this so? This can be understood by first quoting the Rambam; “(The ones who began the service of idol worship made the calculation that) since G-d created the stars and all the constellations to manage and direct the worlds, they are deserving of praise and adoration, and this is surely the will of G-d”. In truth however, even though the G-dly flow of life and energy does indeed go through the stars and all the constellations on its way down to the earth, it is forbidden to give them any honor and respect because they have no choice of their own and are “merely like the axe in the hand of the woodchopper”. Moreover, just like there are “middlemen” in this physical world (the stars and constellations) who receive the energy from on high and give it to us down here, there are also “middlemen” in each of the higher spiritual worlds (the angels and the heavenly hosts) who receive from the world above it and pass it on to their world. At these awe-inspiring levels it is even more compelling for us to give these “middlemen” honor and praise because of their elevated status, again however we are warned not to give them any praise and adoration because they too are “like the axe in the hand of the woodchopper” and have no will of their own. This is indeed what Rashi means when he says that, “Yisro was acquainted with all forms of idol worship in the world”: Yisro had a knowledge and understanding of all the “middlemen” throughout all the worlds, even the “middlemen” at the highest levels, however he made a mistake and accorded them honor and respect and this is why it was considered idol worship. The bottom line from all of this is that we see that Yisro was a very gifted man with an intensely heightened knowledge of all the higher realms and lower realms, and all their inner workings. Therefore, we can now understand how the Torah is praising Yisro when it goes out of its way to say that Yisro was, “the kohen of Midian”: The Torah is telling us that even though Yisro was such an exceptional personality with high status, he still gave it up and went into the desert to convert to Judaism. 4. Based on this the Rebbe now answers the second issue brought up at the beginning of this talk as to why the Zohar says that only once Yisro came was the Torah able to be given: On the verse, “Then I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly”, the Zohar says that the advantage of wisdom in holiness comes from the folly, meaning that through elevating and cleansing the wisdom of the world –“folly”– and turning it into wisdom of holiness, the wisdom of holiness becomes greater. Therefore, when Yisro, who was a very wise man in the wisdom of the world, came and said, “Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods”, he elevated and cleansed the wisdom of the world and turned it into wisdom of holiness, and this consequently added to the wisdom of holiness and caused the “advantage of wisdom over folly”. Furthermore, by Yisro adding light to the wisdom of holiness he gave it (the wisdom of holiness) the special strength to be able to come down here into this physical world with the giving of the Torah (which is Hashem’s wisdom). 5. The Rebbe now continues and explains exactly why the cleansing and elevating of the wisdom of the world is a proper preparation for the giving of the Torah: Our Sages explain that before the giving of the Torah the rule was, “The heavens are the L-rd’s heavens, but the earth He gave to the children of man”, meaning that spirituality and physicality did not unite. However with the Torah came the strength to unite the higher worlds with the lower. Therefore, the preparation of Yisro, which was to unite the wisdom of the world (which is a very low part of this world) with the wisdom of holiness, was a perfect preparation for the giving of the Torah. 6. Based on all of the above the Rebbe now answers his original question as to why our sages say, “It is a blemish in Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) and the Jewish people who did not say, ‘Blessed’, until Yisro came and said, ‘Blessed’”: The Hebrew word for “Blessed” is “Baruch”. The word “Baruch” also connotes bringing something down, as we see in the Mishnah, “Hamavrich Es Hagefen – Someone who pulls down a vine”. According to this we can understand that when our Sages say that Yisro came and said “Baruch – Blessed”, they mean that by Yisro coming and saying, “Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods”, he was bringing down G-dliness into the lowest of the low, which Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jewish people were not able to do because they did not get involved with the lowest of the low like Yisro did. 7. The Rebbe now tells us the lesson that can be learned from this: Every day in the morning prayers we say, “Blessed are You, L-rd, who gives the Torah”. In other words, the giving of the Torah is a continuous process every single day. The preparation for this, just as it was at the original Torah giving, is to, “Know Hashem in all your ways”; not only when you are Davening (praying) and learning. Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume eleven, second Sicha. Synopsis 3: Adapted from Yisro’s Identity Who was Yisro? The Torah describes1 him as the kohen of Midian. Our Sages offer two definitions for the word kohen:2 a) “Ruler.” Yisro governed the land of Midian. b) “Priest.” He led the Midianites in their worship. Indeed, our Sages relate3 that Yisro had recognized all the false divinities in the world. The connection between the first interpretation and the giving of the Torah is obvious, for it reflects the extent of Yisro’s commitment. Although he lived amidst wealth and comfort, he was prepared to journey into the desert to hear the words of the Torah.4 But the second interpretation is problematic. Our Sages teach5 that it is forbidden to tell a convert: “Remember your previous deeds.” Recognizing Deities, Acknowledging G‑d During the time of Enosh, mankind made a great error…. They said that G‑d created stars and spheres with which to control the world. He placed them on high and treated them with honor…. Accordingly, it is fit for man to praise and glorify these entities, and to treat them with honor. Thus the worship of false divinities is rooted in a misunderstanding of the fact that G‑d influences this world through intermediaries. Our Sages comment:7 “There is not a blade of grass on this material plane that does not have a spiritual force compelling it to grow.” Idol worshippers, however, attach independent authority to these intermediaries, thinking they have control over the influence they disperse. In truth, these “gods” are merely “an ax in the hand of a chopper,”8 with no importance or will of their own, and therefore it is wrong and forbidden to worship them.9 By saying Yisro had recognized all the false deities in the world, our Sages implied that he was aware of all the different media through which G‑d channels energy to the world. Despite his knowledge of these spiritual powers, he rejected their worship, declaring:10 “Blessed be G‑d…. Now I know that G‑d is greater than all the deities.” The Microcosm Encouraging the Macrocosm Yisro’s individual acknowledgment of G‑d expressed the purpose of the giving of the Torah. This prepared the macrocosm, the world at large, for such a revelation. To explain: The Rambam states:12 “The Torah was given solely to create peace within the world.” Yet peace is not the purpose for the Torah’s existence; the Torah existed before the creation of the world.13 It is G‑d’s wisdom,14 at one with Him.15 Thus just as G‑d transcends the concept of purpose, so too does the Torah. The Rambam, however, focuses, not on the purpose of the Torah itself, but on that of the giving of the Torah why the Torah was granted to mortals. He explains that the Torah was given, not merely to spread Divine light, but to cultivate peace. When the Twains Meet On the verse:16 “The heavens are the heavens of G‑d, but the earth He gave to the children of man,” our Sages explain17 that originally, there was a Divine decree separating the physical from the spiritual, i.e., the nature of material existence prevented one from truly appreciating spiritual reality.18 At the time of the giving of the Torah, however, G‑d “nullified this decree” and allowed for unity to be established between the two. Moreover, true peace involves more than the mere negation of opposition. The intent is that forces which were previously at odds should recognize a common ground and join together in positive activity. Similarly, the peace which the Torah fosters does not merely involve a revelation of G‑dliness so great that the material world is forced to acknowledge it. Instead, the Torah’s intent is to bring about an awareness of G‑d within the context of the world itself. There is G‑dliness in every element of existence. At every moment Creation is being renewed; were G‑d’s creative energy to be lacking, the world would return to absolute nothingness.19 The Torah allows us to appreciate this inner G‑dliness, and enables us to live in harmony with it. In a personal sense, Yisro’s acknowledgment of G‑d’s supremacy accomplished this objective. From his involvement with “all the false deities in the world,” he came to a deep recognition of G‑d’s sovereignty.20 The transformation of Yisro made possible the giving of the Torah, which in turn transforms the world. From Darkness to Light There are two implications to this. Firstly, that the transformation of darkness results in a higher quality of light than would otherwise be revealed, and secondly, that this higher light does not stand in opposition to the material world. On the contrary, the darkness of the world is its source. The Path to Redemption At the time of the giving of the Torah, however, the revelation was dependent on G‑d’s initiative. Since the world had not yet been refined, its nature stood in opposition to the manifestation of G‑dliness, and so the miraculous revelation did not endure. In the centuries that followed, however, mankind’s observance of the Torah and its mitzvos has slowly woven G‑dliness into the fabric of the world. In the Era of the Redemption, the dichotomy will be permanently dissolved, and we will realize that our world is G‑d’s dwelling.24 (From https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/82587/jewish/In-the-Garden-of-the-Torah-Yisro.htm) Synopsis 4: When everybody else was busy honoring Yisro by attending the banquet, where in the world was Moshe?! * If we were talking about your average person, maybe it is reasonable to say that he was just playing it safe, ducking out from meeting with his in-laws. But it is hard to say this about Moshe Rabbeinu. "And Aharon and all the Elders of Israel came to eat bread with Moshe’s father-in-law." All the dignitaries of the Jewish nation came out to attend a great banquet in the honor of Yisro, Moshe Rabbeinu’s father-in-law. Everyone who was anyone was there - but where in the world was Moshe? Why wasn’t he enumerated as one of the attendees? If we were talking about your average person, maybe it is reasonable to say that he was just playing it safe, ducking out from meeting with his in-laws. But it is hard to say this about Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of the Jewish people. Besides, the Torah has already illustrated how Moshe was devoted to Yisro, as it is written, "Moshe went and he returned to his father-in-law to get permission (to leave Midyan and travel to Egypt) - Rashi." So the question stands: when everybody else was busy honoring Yisro by attending the banquet, where in the world was Moshe?! Rashi explains that when it came to honoring his father-in-law, on the contrary, Moshe Rabbeinu pulled out all the stops, taking upon himself the role of "standing and waiting upon Yisro and the other guests." Now that’s silver service! Similarly, in narrating this story, the Torah itself takes the opportunity to honor Yisro, as it is written: "Yisro, Kohen of Midyan, the father-in-law of Moshe...came to Moshe, to the desert where he was encamped by the Mountain of G-d." Not only is Yisro praised here in virtue of being the father-in-law of Moshe Rabbeinu, leader of the Jewish people, but he is also praised with greatness in his own right, honored with the title "Kohen Midyan," Minister of Midyan; the "foremost among them" (Rashi). The Torah further commends Yisro by specifying that when he "came to Moshe," he came "to the desert where he was encamped," teaching us "the praise of Yisro, for he had been sitting in a position of honor in the world, yet his heart moved him to go out to the desert, a place of desolation, to hear words of Torah." (Rashi) MINISTER OF MIDYAN, PRIEST OF MIDYAN Wait a second! The term "kohen" also has a second meaning: It is true that "kohen" means minister, or ruler (as it written, "You will be to Me as a kingdom of kohanim," and as Rashi interprets, a kingdom of ministers, or rulers sarim), but "kohen" also means priest. In fact, concerning Yisro, the title Kohen is not meant in the holy sense of the word - that is, the Jewish priestly class, who were chosen by G-d to serve in the Holy Temple - rather, it refers to priesthood in the ignoble sense of the word. Before he converted, Yisro was a priest of idolatry, as Rashi writes, "Yisro was familiar with every form of idolatry in the world; there was not a single form of idolatry that he did not worship." So what kind of praise is it to call Yisro "Priest of Midyan"?! The Rebbe explains as follows: The worship of idolatry originated as a flaw in reasoning, an error in the attempt to fathom the Supernal will, as Rambam writes: "The original idolaters reasoned that since the L-rd created the stars and constellations to conduct the world...they are, therefore, fit to be praised and exalted and honored. And this they falsely concluded is the will of G-d." Although it is true that G-dly energy is channeled into the world through intermediaries, such as the stars and constellations (as the Sages say, "there is no blade of grass below that does not have a spiritual source mazal Above that strikes it and tells it, ‘grow!’"), nevertheless, it is forbidden to glorify them, etc. These beings have no freewill of their own. Rather, they are merely "like the ax in the hand of the ax-wielder," acting according to the will of the King, King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. And just as there are intermediaries in the physical world, so too there are intermediary beings in the spiritual realms, as it written, "for there is a high one who watches over another high one, and there are yet higher ones over them." Even with regard to entities in the highest worlds this prohibition stands; they mustn’t be worshipped, for these lofty beings are still nothing more than "the ax in the hand of the ax-wielder." In fact, at these sublime heights, the prohibition is even more pertinent, for relative to the loftiness of the intermediary beings is the temptation to err in this matter, G-d forbid, to believe that they wield power in their own right. The Torah specifies that Yisro was the "Priest of Midyan," an idolater who was "familiar with every form of idolatry in the world" not to shame him, but actually to teach us the extent of his intellectual prowess: Yisro had an encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of all of the lofty intermediary beings, in all of the worlds, even those at the most sublime heights. Notwithstanding Yisro’s profound intelligence, which resulted in establishing a position of greatness and importance among his people, he was willing to leave everything to convert and accept the one and only G-d. Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, vol. 11; pp. 74-5 Yisro’s conversion was such a great transformation that the Torah itself was given to the Jewish people as a result of it, as the Zohar says: "Up until the time that Yisro came and praised the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah had not been given to the Jewish people. But when Yisro came and said, ‘Blessed is G-d who saved the Jewish people... Now I know that G-d is greater than all the gods, etc.,’ this caused the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, to be revealed Above and below. And then the Torah was given in its entirety." (From http://www.beismoshiach.org/Editors_Corner/355.htm) Translation:
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