This parsha begins with the words, וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע יִתְר֨וֹ - And Yitro heard.
The Medrash records a three way machloket:
מַה שְּׁמוּעָה שָׁמַע וּבָא? What news did he hear and come?
Rabbi Yehoshua says: He heard of the war of Amalek and he came .
Rabbi Elazar of Modii says: He heard of the giving of the Torah and he came.
Rabbi Eliezer says: He heard of the splitting of Yam Suf and he came.
The Kli Yakar explains that, obviously, Yitro heard about all three events. Chazal’s question then is: What specific event inspired Yitro to actually pick himself up and accompany Tzipporah and her two sons through the desert to meet Moshe?
It is worthwhile to focus on R. Yehoshua’s view, about Amalek, because it is especially pertinent as we approach Purim. The Medrash declares that there was not one form of Avodah Zorah that Yitro did not try. Clearly, Yitro was a “professor of comparative religion” and he was engaged in a search for the true faith. The philosophy of Amalek had to be especially intriguing to Yitro, because it does not appear to be tied to a particular mode of worship. Its underlying ideology is expressed when Amalek attacks the Jews after they leave Mitzrayim. Rashi tells us that their intent was to dampen the excitement of everyone who had heard about the miracles of Egypt. Those miracles demonstrated, emphatically, Hashem’s existence, omniscience and omnipotence. Generation after generation, Amalek proclaims its unique animosity for this truth, through the proposed genocide of the Jew, Hashem’s designated messengers. In response, Hashem declares a unique form of war against this enemy.
כִּֽי יָד֙ עַל כֵּ֣ס יָ֔-הּ מִלְחָמָ֥ה לַה' בַּֽעֲמָלֵ֑ק מִדֹּ֖ר דֹּֽר׃
‘Hand upon the throne of Hashem!’
Hashem will be at war with Amalek throughout the ages.”
Yitro sees Hashem intervene and help the ragged nation of freed slaves to overcome this fierce enemy. Yitro hears of the Hashem’s proclamation against this nation. The word, “כֵּ֣ס” is a shortend version of כּסא, a chair; it signifies G-d’s throne. The word is written incompletely, because Hashem’s kingship will not be fully realized until Amalek, both nation and its guiding principles, will be eradicated. Yitro wants to understand the nature of an ideology that is inherently antithetical to the ideals first discovered by Avraham and now embraced by the young nation of Israel. The proclamation that Amalek must be wiped out teaches him that it is not enough to affirm the Oneness of Hashem; simultaneously, he must study and demonstrate the unique falseness of this extreme form of Avodah Zorah and be prepared to battle against it. Yitro knows that he must engage in a direct conversion, with none other than Moshe, in order to fully comprehend these concepts.
Yitro is a model, for us at SBTAG, of the pursuit of honest, intellectual inquiry. As we approach Purim, we will guide our students to deeper understanding of both the commitment to Hashem Echad and Amalek’s attempts to undermine that precious truth.
Komentáře