Parshas Yisro: The Ideal Active Synagogue Member

Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that G-d had done for Moses, and for Israel His people, how that the L-rd had brought Israel out of Egypt… And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his (Moses’) sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of G-d; (Exodus 18:1, 5)

Only six Torah portions are named for individuals. Two are named after the evil instigators, Korah and Balak, to serve as a lesson to Jewish and non-Jewish insurgents respectively; and the other four Parshas are named after Noah, Sara, Pinhas, and Jethro. It's understandable why Noah, Sara, and Pinhas merited bearing the Parsha's name. After all, Noah saved humanity, Sarah mothered the Jewish people, and Pinhas rescued the Jews from a deathly plague which threatened to decimate them all. In contrast, Jethro simply gave judicial reform recommendations. Why did Jethro merit having a Parsha named after him?
Let’s first attempt to understand who Jethro really was? Aside from serving as an advisor to Pharoah (he escaped before the atrocities were committed) and the highest ranking pagan clergyman of Midian, Jethro became the paradigmatic iconoclast. The effect of the Splitting of the Red Sea reverberated throughout the entire world. Everybody heard about, and in a way experienced the miracles in Egypt, the war against Amalek, and the giving of the Torah. Surely people were inspired by and cognizant of the Absolute Truth of Torah and Judaism. Yet who decided to convert at this stage? The Torah only records one convert as a result of this inspiration. (Aside from the eirev rav) That convert was Jethro. He took the inspiration to heart. Everybody else trembled in fear and awe of G-d and His nation, yet they ultimately moved on with their lives. Jethro however saw that life cannot go on as usual. He saw the Truth, and he felt obligated to own up to it.

And what happened after he joined the Jewish people? Yes, he was now a card-carrying member of the complaining people. So what differentiated him from the masses? As we all know, especially in a synagogue setting, many constituents have perfected the stereotypical complaining member profile. Yet, how many people decide to recommend and help implement improvements? Jethro set the stage for all future congregants to not focus on the problem, rather seek out the solution and help set it in place. Jethro taught us what it means to be the ideal active member. He came as an outsider and saw that Moses was the sole judge for the entire nation. As an outsider he had the clairvoyance to propose a new judicial system model. Perhaps that is the reason why Jethro merited leaving his mark on the Parsha’s name. For one, he saw the Truth, he absorbed the Truth, and he acted upon that Truth. But that wasn’t enough for him. He decided to give back to his new nation by helping them become more efficient.

Every Ba’al Teshuva (Returnee to Traditional Judaism) knows that they represent just a slight minority of Jethro-like individuals who have chosen to act upon their realization of the Truth of Torah. In a striking finding of the 2000/2001 National Jewish Population Survey, the major Jewish membership organizations suffered a nearly 20-percent decline in affiliation over the decade of the 1990’s alone. Many of those unaffiliated/non-traditional Jews have been exposed to authentic Torah experiences, but it takes a person like Jethro to take the plunge and make a positive move. Those Jethro-like individuals are most primed to improve the system. Indeed one contemporary Torah giant said that today’s proliferation of ba’alei teshuvas’s is G-d’s way of reinvigorating traditional-born Jews. That said, becoming a ba’al teshuva alone is not fully Jethro-like. One must now seek to help and improve the system to truly be a disciple of Jethro. May we all merit to learn from and to inculcate Jethro’s avant-garde paradigm by becoming inspired and inspirational Jews!

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION:
What is holding back so many Jews from becoming more traditional, and what can we do for them?
What practical thing can we do to help improve a) our community b) and our home?