 |  | In Parshat Beha’alotcha, Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, reappears and joins the people on their journey. Moshe desperately wishes for Yitro to stay with him and the nation, exclaiming, “Please do not leave us!” (Bamidbar 10:31). According to the Midrash, Moshe wanted Yitro to remain because “[Yitro] gave [Moshe] good and beautiful counsel, and the Lord consented to [Yitro’s] words” (Mechilta d’Rebbe Yishmael, Tractate Amalek 4:26). Despite his son-in-law’s impassioned pleas, Yitro refuses his offer, saying, “I will not go…but I will return to my native land” (Bamidbar 10:30). Why does Yitro decline to remain with Moshe and the people? After all, Yitro knows very well that God chose this nation to be His own, and that any chance of attaining greater spiritual development and enlightenment could only be found in its midst. For a genuine spiritual-seeker like Yitro, staying with Moshe and the Jewish people in the wilderness would be like winning the spiritual lottery! And yet he refuses. Why? While Sforno, Chizkuni and others explain his refusal due to his old age and unwillingness to take on new challenges, the Midrash offers an altogether different explanation. Says the Midrash, “Is a candle of any benefit other than in a place of darkness? Can the sun and the moon benefit from the light of a candle? Moshe, you are the sun, and Aharon your brother, he is the moon. What can a candle do between you two? Let me go to my land and I will convert all of my countrymen and bring them to the study of Torah and gather them under the wings of the Divine Presence” (Mechilta d’Rebbe Yishmael, Tractate Amalek 4:26). In other words, Yitro knew that living with Moshe and Aharon would be the greatest spiritual gift he could ever hope for. Yitro knew that truth and the knowledge of God and His ways could only be most directly felt by being in the presence of the camp of Israel. However, Yitro also knew that others beyond the boundaries of the Israelite camp needed to learn of and understand God’s ways and truth as well.
While it is true, Yitro, as an individual, would have enjoyed nothing more than to remain with Moshe and the people, basking in the eternal glory of God’s nearness and love, he also knew that he would be a mere candle against the sun in such an environment. He knew he needed to make a difference in the lives of others to help bring them to the knowledge of God, and that difference could not be made by remaining with Moshe. Thus, Yitro, selflessly, humbly, painfully knew he had to return to his people – to be a candle whose flickering light could yet dispel much darkness. In the wilderness, what difference could he make? In Midian, he could be the very thing which makes souls and teaches eternal life.
It is possible to look at the story of Yitro and chalk it all up to “big fish, little pond.” But that’s not entirely fair. You see, Yitro identified where he could be useful to others and help elevate them as he once wished to be elevated. Yitro saw himself as a man charged with a great spiritual mission: To bring the light of the Torah into the darkness of the pagan world he lived in and dispel it by showing the truth of God’s ways. Only Yitro could do that. Only Yitro could make that difference.
We often ask ourselves, “How can I make a difference in the lives of others?” Sometimes, the answer is by leaving our comfort-zones, our “happy places,” our centers of spiritual fulfillment, and paying our experiences forward in order to help others. Yitro knew he had to make a difference, and that could only be done by leaving his “happy place” and teaching his people, one at a time, as a candle in the midst of much darkness, until God’s light would be shed on all, illuminating the hidden things, and bringing forth the truth for all to share in.
This Shabbat, may we all feel like Yitro – people called to a task which requires us to make uncomfortable decisions in order to be the changing agents in the lives of others. Taking a step back does not mean taking a step down. Moving away from our “happy places” doesn’t mean we will be less happy when done for a purpose. Yitro chose to go back and help his people. And it made a great difference in their lives. After all, the Book of Judges teaches us that when the Jews came into the land of Canaan, “The descendants of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moshe, when up with the Judahites from the City of Palms to the wilderness of Judah; and they went and settled among the people in the Negev of Arad” (1:16). According to the Midrash, the descendants of Yitro came to learn Torah and join with the Jewish people and settle in their midst. They became great Torah scholars, fearers and lovers of God, and practiced kindness and mercy. Indeed, Yitro succeeded, and so can we all if we believe in our missions, put aside our own comfort, and believe in the bigger picture. All of us can be like Yitro, taking those we love and care about to the study of Torah and gather them under the wings of the Divine Presence, but we have to be willing, like Yitro, to take a step back.
Shabbat Shalom!
- Rabbi Dan
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