03 Feb REAL MESSAGES

Parshas Yisro. The parsha that tells of our
nation receiving The Aseres Hadibros. A most
monumental moment in the history of our
people. A time when HaShem Himself spoke
to all those assembled at Har Sinai. An event
that established the foundation of our religious
beliefs. Timeless wisdom that is not only our
moral compass, but is a source of ethics to the
world.
Yet, the parsha carries the name of Yisro,
father-in-law of Moshe, and Priest of Midyan.
Why was this parsha named after Yisro.
Yisro was a truth-seeker. A sensitive soul,
whose quest for authentic spirituality led him
from one religion to another, experiencing
every form of idol worship known at the time.
“Vayishma Yisro, and Yisro heard.” (Shemos
18:1). Rashi cites a Midrash that Yisro heard
about Krias Yam Suf, the splitting of the sea
and the war with Amalek. The Baal Shem Tov
teaches that true hearing isn’t with our ears,
but with our souls. Hearing means really
listening to our messages, letting them
penetrate our neshamos and acting upon them.
“And Yisro, father-in-law of Moshe, came….

to the wilderness, by the Mountain of
HaShem.” (Shemos 18:5). Though many had
heard about all the miracles of the Exodus,
Yisro was the only one who took it to the next
level, and was prepared to make life changes.
Yisro was different. He heard. He was
inspired. He acted.
Yisro crossed the hot desert sands, trekking
through the desolate wilderness, in order to
meet up with Moshe and Bnei Yisroel. He was
prepared to make personal sacrifices in order
to find spiritual truth.
Yisro teaches us that regardless of our
background, no matter where life’s journey
takes us, we can make changes. We can find
our way to a life of sanctity and spirituality.
Yisro teaches us about the power of a new
tomorrow. To live every day as if it is the first
day of the rest of your life.
Like Yisro, we all have deserts to cross in life.
Obstacles that lie in our paths. Hurdles that we
have to overcome. At times we hear things,
but are we really listening? Do we allow the
messages to pierce our hearts and minds, and
act upon them?
Change is hard, we tend to push it off, we
drown out the messages. We give ourselves
excuses. We say it’s out of our control, we’re

too busy – we’ll get to it later.
Eventually, that inner voice fades
away and even disappears. It’s gone,
forgotten.
But not Yisro. He internalized,
absorbed, responded. To Yisro, the
splitting of the sea was a seminal
event. He saw a people that went
from slavery to freedom, and in the
process elevated themselves to
become an Am Kodosh, a Holy
Nation. He realized that despite all
the wrongs he committed, all his
regrets and misgivings, change was
really possible.
How many times do we say “OY!” – What
was I thinking? What did I do? What did I
say? Notwithstanding all the could’ves,
should’ves, and would’ves, we can still turn
our lives around. Every day is an opportunity
to start anew.
I remember my mother a”h telling me that
after one of her lectures, a woman approached
her and said, “Rebbetzin, if only I met you
thirty years ago, how different my life would
be today.” My mother’s reaction was, “My
dear friend, if only I met me thirty years
ago…” Meaning, that over thirty years we all
hopefully learn and grow. Each year, each
day, brings with it new life lessons. It is our
responsibility to listen to our life messages.
My mother’s message was: Don’t obsess
with the past, but live for a better tomorrow.
“Vayishma Yisro, and Yisro heard.” We, too,
must hear with the soul. There is nothing to
be gained by living with “if only”. We must
see every day as a blessing and an opportunity
for growth.
With the miraculous splitting of the sea,
Yisro saw the yad HaShem, the hand of
HaShem. He understood that HaShem was
with His people, lifting them to great heights.
But it wasn’t until after the war with Amalek
that he joined Moshe and Bnei Yisroel. What
was it about Amalek?
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l explains that
after many years of hard slave labor, the
Jewish people were finally free. Amongst
them were the elderly, women, children,
infirm and elderly, many of whom had a hard
time keeping up with the group. While other
nations were still in awe of the Jewish
people’s miraculous departure from Egypt,
Amalek came to battle them with brazenness
and arrogance. They launched an unprovoked
attack from behind, striking the most
vulnerable.
Yisro viewed this cowardly attack as a total
lack of morals and ethics. Forever the truth
seeker, he yearned to live his life on an
elevated plateau, answering to a higher
authority. It was then that he made the move
to join the Am Yisroel.

Sadly, the moral corruption embodied by
Amalek did not disappear from the world—it
simply changed form. I recently saw a clip by
Ayman Abu Soobuch, a man who grew up in
Khan Younis. He spoke of being raised at
home and trained in school to hate and kill
Jews. Of going to an UNRWA school, where
from the first grade he was taught to say death
to the Jews, death to America. He refused and
was severely beaten. These words were
repeated every week by the sheikh in the
mosque his family attended. It was also in an
UNRWA school where his “teacher” told the
class to throw stones at Israeli soldiers, aiming
for their heads. They were just kids, but were
taken out of the classroom to throw stones.
They were then instructed to run back, sit at
their seats, with books on their desks. When
the IDF soldiers would come into their room,
the teacher would deny it all – and then have a
good laugh, telling the children to “just look at
those dogs.”
Ayman couldn’t take the hate, and was
eventually thrown out of his home. At sixteen,
he found odd jobs in Israel. One day, a
religious man noticed him and asked where
his father was. He answered that he was alone.
The religious man bought him a meal.
Time and time again, Ayman experienced
kindness from the Jews in Israel. He said, “My
soul screamed – I want to be a Jew. I can’t live
amongst a nation that celebrates brutality. The
G-d of Jews says not to kill, not to rob.”
Today, Ayman is Dor Shachar, a religious Jew,
fully committed to Torah and mitzvos. He said
that he chose life.
Just as Yisro was a sensitive soul who
couldn’t’ take the ways of Amalek, Dor
Shachar couldn’t take the barbaric killings
perpetrated by the world he grew up in.
Yisro’s name comes from the word yeser,
meaning additional. Perhaps the parsha carries
his name as a message to us all. Accepting the
Ten Commandments, living a life of Torah
and mitzvos comes with yeser – additional. To
go that extra mile. To make the trek through
the deserts of life. To cross our own seas and
make positive change. To live life answering
to a higher authority. And, to be a blessing to
others.