18 Jan YITRO- BEING IMPACTED BY IMPACTFUL EVENTS
Parashat Yitro begins with the story of Moshe’s father-in-law, Yitro, who decided to leave his homeland, Midyan, and join the Jewish Nation as a convert. The Torah elaborates in describing how Yitro was given great honor, as Moshe, Aharon, the other leaders, and then the entire Jewish People, came out to greet him.
Rashi makes a very famous comment to the opening pasuk of this parashah. He writes that what inspired Yitro to make this drastic move was two pieces of news: the miracle of the splitting of the sea, and Beneh Yisrael’s war against Amalek.
Many commentators asked, why was it specifically these two events that drove Yitro to join Beneh Yisrael? What about the other miracles that occurred – such as the ten plagues and the manna?
Rav Eliyahu Lopian answered that Rashi did not say that Yitro was inspired by Beneh Yisrael’s winning the war against Amalek, but rather he was inspired simply by “the war with Amalek” – meaning, by the very fact that this war happened.
After the splitting of the sea, the entire world was abuzz. Everyone was talking about this great miracle. All the other nations were shaking with fear after they heard of what Hashem did to Egypt. And then Amalek came along and ATTACKED them. The great miracle of the sea had NO IMPACT upon Amalek whatsoever. For Amalek, it was just business as usual.
This is what made Yitro decide that he needed to join Beneh Yisrael.
He said to himself: “If there can be a nation that remains totally unaffected by news such as the splitting of the sea, then the world is just crazy! If people can go on without being impacted by this, then I need to leave all these nations and join the Jewish People!!”
It’s frightening to think about how many major, dramatic world events have transpired during the lifetime of today’s adults. So many astonishing things have happened. We have seen wars, mass shootings, terrorist attacks, natural disasters – and also happy developments, such as the miracle of Israel’s growth and flourishing. These things must affect us. These are impactful events – but many of us aren’t impacted. We read the news, and then just go on with our lives as usual. We need to be inspired and motivated to change and grow, just as Yitro was.
This is also true about our religious experiences – the mitzvot we do, the Torah that we learn, and the tefilot that way pray. These are impactful experiences – but only if we WANT TO BE IMPACTED BY THEM.
I once heard a very disturbing story about a group of men in Israel who, on the morning of Erev Rosh Hashanah, had a secret meeting to plan a terrible crime that they wanted to commit. In the middle of the planning, they took a break…to recite the Selichot prayers. They finished praying, and then went back to planning their crime…
This sounds crazy, and it is. But let us ask ourselves, honestly: do we not do the same thing? Aren’t there times when we pray or get involved in a beautiful mitzvah, while planning to later do something which we know we shouldn’t do?
Our Torah, our tefilot, and our mitzvot must have an impact on us, and help us change and grow. But we need to be willing to be impacted. If we are, then we will be driven and inspired to reach higher, and become the great people whom we are capable of being.