By Hannah Blass
This week's Torah portion is Parashat Yitro, an action packed continuation of the trials and tribulations of Moses and the Israelites. #biblicalworldproblems
I'll start backwards: in the second half of this chapter, the Israelites gather around Mount Sinai to hear God proclaim the Ten Commandments. God comes to them amidst thunder and lighting, and the Israelites are so terrified that they ask Moses to hear what God has to say and then relay it to them. Moses ascends Mount Sanai and receives the Ten Commandments.
Although this is a super important part of the Israelite's story and the Torah as a whole, I hope thou shalt not be upset that I want to focus on the first half of this parasha...
The chapter opens onto the only non-Jewish person to have a Torah portion named after them, Jethro (Yitro), who was Moses' father-in-law and possibly the best singer in the Torah. Jethro has heard through the grape vine (aka biblical Twitter) about what God did for the Israelites by freeing them from Egypt, and he feels the need to reunite with Moses. So Jethro travels across the desert where Moses is camped with the Israelites under Mount Sinai. He brings with him Moses' wife Zipporah and their sons Gershom and Eliezer, who had been sent away. When he arrives, Moses greets Jethro with warmth and they feast while Moses tells him about everything that happened regarding the escape from Egypt.
The next day, Jethro notices that Moses's entire day is taken up by Israelites who come before him for help and judgement. Jethro questions Moses:
Jethro: Hey Moses, what's up with this? Why are all these people standing before you from morning until evening?
Moses: Well they come to me because they seek God!
Jethro: Dude, you're wearing yourself out! And you can't be what these people need you to be when you aren't taking care of yourself! It's awesome that you're helping your people, but you can't do it on your own.
Moses: Hmm I see what you're saying, I have't even been able to see my family and I'm still two seasons behind on Game of Thrones because I just haven't had the time!
So Jethro advises Moses to appoint "men of substance, God fearers, men of truth, who hate monetary gain" to judge and govern the people at different levels. Basically, Jethro lays out a hierarchical structure of magistrates who will help Moses in governing and advising the Israelites through God. Putting aside the exhaustingly patriarchal nature of this hierarchy, there are a couple things about Jethro's advice that I want to point out.
The first is that one of the requirements Jethro puts forth for these appointed magistrate dudes is that they must be "men of truth who hate monetary gain." This is is striking to me because it defies the association that hierarchy and power have to capitalism, exploitation, and profit in our society today. Jethro wanted these men to serve their people not for their own superficial gains in any way, in fact, he wanted them to actually HATE making money. Without the desire for riches being a distraction, these magistrates could fully focus on helping their people. Not only does this aspect of the story offer us a way to re-imagine hierarchy outside of its often negative connotations and implications, it suggests that self-interest and greed is actually an obstacle in the pursuit of social justice.