Yitro's Advice for the 21st Century

By RABBI JOSHUA LEVINE GRATER

Parashat Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23)

In our world, dominated by capitalism, we value the individual and how much one person can accomplish. We have extended the workday, disbanding the structure of 9 to 5, in favor of pursuing our monetary and material dreams at any cost. We have lost a sense of teamwork; we have lost a sense that volunteering our time for the betterment of our world is a value, not a waste. Most disconcerting is our drive to climb the company ladder over and against sensible boundaries and deeper values.

These declines are affecting how we care for our world, how much time we spend involved in acts of tikkun olam, fixing and mending the world, in which we live. We expect that others will do it for us, others who have the time to spare. The message of this week's Torah portion, Parashat Yitro, jumps off the page in an even starker manner than usual. We can learn how to make change in our societal structure from the lesson that Yitro teaches Moshe when he comes to visit him in the desert.

After an evening of celebration, catch-up and offerings to God, Yitro arises in the morning and observes Moshe in his daily duties of managing the inquiries and demands of the people. Yitro has already expressed his wonder and amazement for God's doings in Egypt, and has declared that God is truly worthy of being blessed (Exodus 18:10). He also acknowledges that Adonai is greater than all other Gods.

It is with these words of praise that Yitro readies himself to critique Moshe and offer him a new way of handling the people. It is only after Yitro praises God that he speaks to Moshe. His model serves as a guide for how we can approach our work: praise for the divine precedes action on earth. Only when we are working with the love of God on our hearts can our actions take on a higher meaning.

Yitro observes Moshe in action as he "sits all day to judge the people; and the people stand upon him from morning till evening." (Exodus 18:13) Yitro is surprised at how Moshe works, and he questions, "What is this thing that you are doing? Why do you sit alone as the people stand upon you all day?" (Exodus 18:14) The commentator Rashi says that Moshe is "sitting like a king" as the entire population crowds him, flooding him with cases and questions.

What is it that Yitro sees as problematic? He tells us a few verses later when he says, "Surely you will wear yourself and the people out because the task is too burdensome for one person to handle alone." (Exodus 18:18) Moshe is trying to do all of the work himself, a job which requires him to be totally unavailable to his family as a husband and father. Yitro suggests that he divide up the tasks among the people themselves by choosing and delegating others to judge the "smaller" cases, leaving only the more complicated and difficult ones for Moshe himself.

Yitro instructs Moshe to educate the people in the matters of law, enabling them and empowering them to control their own legislation. He advises Moshe to choose only those who are "capable people who fear God, people of truth who spurn ill-gotten profit." (Exodus 18:21) Finally, he divides the people into "chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens."

It is from these directives that we can learn how to approach the task of social justice and cultural change in our own society. First, we must recognize the enormity of the task before us. In order to fix the world, we must work together, each person taking their place in the grander order of tikkun olam. If any one of us feels that we can make the difference alone, we will inevitably burn out. Each person who is involved in social justice must try to recruit a friend to join the ranks; with each new soul, there comes new life, new energy and most importantly, another pair of hands. We must empower the people in our communities to get involved and to stake a claim in the destiny of their own lives.

We must not be in it for the profit; we must not be in it for the glory; we must truly want to make a difference for the sake of the betterment of the world, not only of ourselves. Self-betterment comes naturally when we help others; this is the truth of tzedakah.

And finally, the division of labor must be on both the macro- as well as the micro- level. There must be those who work with the thousands, helping on a global level; the hundreds and fifties, those who help on a national scale; and those who labor with the tens, helping in their own communities, on a local level. All levels of work are important, as they combine to shape the whole. If we model ourselves after Yitro's plan, we too can be worthy of fulfilling his promise to Moshe: "Listen to my voice, hear my counsel and God will be with you." (Exodus 18:19) Let this be our goal for tikkun olam in the twenty-first century.