By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin

Parshas Yisro. The parsha that tells of our nation receiving The Aseres Hadibros. A most monumental moment in the history of our people. A time when HaShem Himself spoke to all those assembled at Har Sinai. An event that established the foundation of our religious beliefs. Timeless wisdom that is not only our moral compass, but is a source of ethics to the world.

Yet, the parsha carries the name of Yisro, father-in-law of Moshe, and Priest of Midyan. Why was this parsha named after Yisro.

Yisro was a truth-seeker. A sensitive soul, whose quest for authentic spirituality led him from one religion to another, experiencing every form of idol worship known at the time.

“Vayishma Yisro, and Yisro heard.” (Shemos 18:1). Rashi cites a Midrash that Yisro heard about Krias Yam Suf, the splitting of the sea and the war with Amalek. The Baal Shem Tov teaches that true hearing isn’t with our ears, but with our souls. Hearing means really listening to our messages, letting them penetrate our neshamos and acting upon them.

“And Yisro, father-in-law of Moshe, came…. to the wilderness, by the Mountain of HaShem.” (Shemos 18:5). Though many had heard about all the miracles of the Exodus, Yisro was the only one who took it to the next level, and was prepared to make life changes. Yisro was different. He heard. He was inspired. He acted.

Yisro crossed the hot desert sands, trekking through the desolate wilderness, in order to meet up with Moshe and Bnei Yisroel. He was prepared to make personal sacrifices in order to find spiritual truth.

Yisro teaches us that regardless of our background, no matter where life’s journey takes us, we can make changes. We can find our way to a life of sanctity and spirituality. Yisro teaches us about the power of a new tomorrow. To live every day as if it is the first day of the rest of your life.

Like Yisro, we all have deserts to cross in life. Obstacles that lie in our paths. Hurdles that we have to overcome. At times we hear things, but are we really listening? Do we allow the messages to pierce our hearts and minds, and act upon them?

Change is hard, we tend to push it off, we drown out the messages. We give ourselves excuses. We say it’s out of our control, we’re too busy – we’ll get to it later. Eventually, that inner voice fades away and even disappears. It’s gone, forgotten.

But not Yisro. He internalized, absorbed, responded. To Yisro, the splitting of the sea was a seminal event. He saw a people that went from slavery to freedom, and in the process elevated themselves to become an Am Kodosh, a Holy Nation. He realized that despite all the wrongs he committed, all his regrets and misgivings, change was really possible.

How many times do we say “OY!” – What was I thinking? What did I do? What did I say? Notwithstanding all the could’ves, should’ves, and would’ves, we can still turn our lives around. Every day is an opportunity to start anew.

I remember my mother a”h telling me that after one of her lectures, a woman approached her and said, “Rebbetzin, if only I met you thirty years ago, how different my life would be today.” My mother’s reaction was, “My dear friend, if only I met me thirty years ago…” Meaning, that over thirty years we all hopefully learn and grow. Each year, each day, brings with it new life lessons. It is our responsibility to listen to our life messages. My mother’s message was: Don’t obsess with the past, but live for a better tomorrow. “Vayishma Yisro, and Yisro heard.” We, too, must hear with the soul. There is nothing to be gained by living with “if only”. We must see every day as a blessing and an opportunity for growth.

With the miraculous splitting of the sea, Yisro saw the yad HaShem, the hand of HaShem. He understood that HaShem was with His people, lifting them to great heights. But it wasn’t until after the war with Amalek that he joined Moshe and Bnei Yisroel. What was it about Amalek?

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l explains that after many years of hard slave labor, the Jewish people were finally free. Amongst them were the elderly, women, children, infirm and elderly, many of whom had a hard time keeping up with the group. While other nations were still in awe of the Jewish people’s miraculous departure from Egypt, Amalek came to battle them with brazenness and arrogance. They launched an unprovoked attack from behind, striking the most vulnerable.

Yisro viewed this cowardly attack as a total lack of morals and ethics. Forever the truth seeker, he yearned to live his life on an elevated plateau, answering to a higher authority. It was then that he made the move to join the Am Yisroel.

Sadly, the moral corruption embodied by Amalek did not disappear from the world—it simply changed form. I recently saw a clip by Ayman Abu Soobuch, a man who grew up in Khan Younis. He spoke of being raised at home and trained in school to hate and kill Jews. Of going to an UNRWA school, where from the first grade he was taught to say death to the Jews, death to America. He refused and was severely beaten. These words were repeated every week by the sheikh in the mosque his family attended. It was also in an UNRWA school where his “teacher” told the class to throw stones at Israeli soldiers, aiming for their heads. They were just kids, but were taken out of the classroom to throw stones. They were then instructed to run back, sit at their seats, with books on their desks. When the IDF soldiers would come into their room, the teacher would deny it all – and then have a good laugh, telling the children to “just look at those dogs.”

Ayman couldn’t take the hate, and was eventually thrown out of his home. At sixteen, he found odd jobs in Israel. One day, a religious man noticed him and asked where his father was. He answered that he was alone. The religious man bought him a meal.

Time and time again, Ayman experienced kindness from the Jews in Israel. He said, “My soul screamed – I want to be a Jew. I can’t live amongst a nation that celebrates brutality. The G-d of Jews says not to kill, not to rob.”

Today, Ayman is Dor Shachar, a religious Jew, fully committed to Torah and mitzvos. He said that he chose life.

Just as Yisro was a sensitive soul who couldn’t’ take the ways of Amalek, Dor Shachar couldn’t take the barbaric killings perpetrated by the world he grew up in.

Yisro’s name comes from the word yeser, meaning additional. Perhaps the parsha carries his name as a message to us all. Accepting the Ten Commandments, living a life of Torah and mitzvos comes with yeser – additional. To go that extra mile. To make the trek through the deserts of life. To cross our own seas and make positive change. To live life answering to a higher authority. And, to be a blessing to others.

Shabbat Shalom!

Chaya Sora

Chaya Sora can reached at [email protected]

This article was written L’zecher Nishmas / In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt’l