for Parshat Yitro
i
Yitro, Moses’ father- in- law,
away in Midian,
hears of the good God has done
for Moses and for Israel, His people—
how He has taken Israel out from Egypt.
*
Yitro journeys to Moses,
to the Desert,
to celebrate that good.
ii
There, Yitro sees Moses
adjudicating God’s Law
people coming before Moses
from morning till night.
*
Yitro tells Moses:
You and all the people will tire from this.
Let the people judge with you.
Appoint judges over small groups
and over larger groups
and over still larger groups
and only the most difficult matters
will come to you.
*
Moses does this.
iii
Moses, the prophet,
thinks he must carry the burden of Law alone.
But Yitro celebrates
the good God has done
for Moses and for Israel, His people.
Yitro sees God’s hand
in Moses’ life
but also in average lives
of average people
who live through history.
So Yitro can see something new:
how all the people
have a place in God’s Law.
___
I have translated “His people” as referring to God’s people, and not Moses’, but the text is ambiguous.
___
Uploaded before Shabbat
Shabbat shalom,
Abe
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