Jethro’s Unexpected Inspiration (Yitro – 02/07/26)

Jethro’s Unexpected Inspiration

If you weren’t Jewish, what would entice you to join the Jewish people?

In our Parsha, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, feels compelled to join Moses and his people in the desert.

וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע יִתְר֨וֹ כֹהֵ֤ן מִדְיָן֙ חֹתֵ֣ן מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֵת֩ כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ לְמֹשֶׁ֔ה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עַמּ֑וֹ כִּֽי־הוֹצִ֧יא יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃

“Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel—God’s people: how the ETERNAL had brought Israel out from Egypt.”

So, he took his daughter and Moses’ sons, and came to the desert before the Mountain of God.

Upon hearing of all the miraculous deeds done on behalf of the Jewish people, he’s convinced that the God of the Hebrews is the only true god and converts to Judaism.

The Talmud asks: What specific motivation led Jethro to abandon his comfortable life and join the Jewish people in the wilderness?

Rabbi Eliezer HaModei points to the revelation at Mount Sinai as the reason for Jethro’s conversion. The experience of God descending upon Mount Sinai and speaking directly to an entire nation is utterly unique. As the most singular event in world history, it naturally drew Jethro, a spiritual seeker, to join these people.

Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol says: the splitting of the Red Sea. Rabbi Eliezer thinks Jethro came before the revelation at Mt. Sinai and was inspired by this awesome supernatural event. If God is willing alter the rules of nature for the Jewish people, Jethro wants to be a part of them.

Rabbi Yehoshus says: the war with Amalek. Right after the splitting of the Red Sea, the Jews were flying high. They witnessed ten miraculous plagues in Egypt and their salvation by God’s hand at the Sea. On the other side of the sea, the Jewish people finally felt liberated. When they were inhaling their first breaths of freedom, they were blindsided by the battle calls from Amalek. These emancipated slaves were not equipped for war, and they suffered losses, but with Moses and Aharon’s help, they survived. This event moved Jethro to join the Jewish people.

The first two opinions make perfect sense; the revelation of Godliness and Divine favor to a particular people should make any true seeker want to join them. But why would you want to join a people just because they were attacked?

I posit Jethro was thinking, “These people just witnessed the most supernatural events ever to occur in world history.”

As Moses says so eloquently in Deuteronomy 4: “Has any deity ventured to go and take one nation from the midst of another by prodigious acts, by signs and portents, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and awesome power, as the ETERNAL your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? It has been clearly demonstrated to you that the ETERNAL alone is God; there is none else.”

To Jethro, Amalek should have been congratulating these people, not attacking them. Jethro understood that something monumental was happening with the Jewish people. And as it is with every great endeavor or revolution, there comes resistance.

Jethro recognized the profound significance of these people: an enemy was willing to attack and destroy them, not because they posed a physical threat, but because they represented a spiritual and moral challenge to the world’s religious status quo. Amalek’s willingness to annihilate them confirmed the Jewish people’s unique and special nature.

Jethro saw that this nation’s powerful and impactful light could be extinguished in a second. Right after hearing of their survival in this war, he joined them. The Jewish people’s mission is too precarious; it needs to be strengthened and supported, so he became our first convert.

Believe it or not, our haters still inspire Jews and non-Jews today.

The wars with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houtis and Iran have not dissuaded Jews from making Aliyah. Just the opposite, over 50,000 people have immigrated to Israel since October 7, 2023. When the destiny of our people and nation is in danger, they want to ensure that our future remains strong.

I have personally witnessed that conversions to Judaism are proceeding as usual. Far from being deterred by the animosity, these idealists have come to understand that our small community must possess something exceptional to provoke such intense opposition.

Alexei Navalny, the prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, perfectly encapsulated our situation when describing his own fate: “If they decide to kill me, that means that we are incredibly strong. We need to utilize this power to not give up; to remember we are a huge power that is being oppressed.”

This perspective suggests that the intense animosity we face from our detractors is a direct recognition of our inherent strength—a power that simultaneously draws hatred from some and admiration from others.

Be proud and be strong,

R’ Neil