By Marissa Friedman

Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1 - 20:23) contains two major events: Moses' sharing of responsibility and the Israelites receiving of the ten commandments.

Yitro, Moses's father-in-law tells Moses that it is completely unreasonable for him to try and manage every single person's problems himself. He says to Moses "The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone." (Exodus 18:17). Basically, Yitro tells Moses that he needs to ask for help. He needs to share his responsibility with others.

I know that I often have difficulty asking for help from others. In a culture that values independence above most things, asking for help can be seen as succumbing to failure. However, in these occasions I need to take a step back and focus on my goal. Reaching our goals should be the main priority and we should not let pride get in the way of them. Moses's goal was to help others and he was able to establish a system that did this much more effectively than he could ever do on his own. Our movement has a lot of strong ideals and we all have a lot of feelings and visions about how the world can be a better place. We need to focus on those visions and ask others to help us achieve them. We need partners.

In addition, we need to take responsibility for each other. Yitro gave Moses very direct feedback and offered him an alternative plan. Moses recognized the value of that feedback and changed his behavior based on it. The ability to critique someone and help them do a better job is a sign that you really care about them.

G-d spoke to all of the people of Israel when he delivered the ten commandments. Commandment number four is all about keeping the Sabbath. This commandment takes up four verses and is the longest commandment out of the ten. Unlike most of

the others, this commandment has a lot of detail and states that on the seventh day "you shall not do any work--you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements." I find it interesting that this is the only commandment that mentions that it applies to anyone besides those receiving it (ie: you shall not steal). G-d explains that the seventh day is to be holy because G-d rested on that day. I think that emphasizing that this commandment applies to all people reminds the Jews that even though they are the 'chosen people, all people are made in G-d's image.