“Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that G‑d did for Moses and His people Israel, that G‑d had taken Israel out of Egypt (18:1)
Of what did he hear that he came? Of the splitting of the Red Sea and the war against Amalek.(Rashi)
Jethro heard . . . and Jethro came . . . (18:1)
This is the meaning of the verse (Proverbs 27:10) “Better a close neighbor than a distant brother.” “A close neighbor”—this is Jethro; “a distant brother” refers to Esau. (Midrash Rabbah)”
“Of the Ten Commandments, only four will land you in jail if you are convicted of violating them. The winners:
1. You shall not swear falsely by God’s name (assuming you are under oath).
2. You shall not murder.
3. You shall not steal.
4. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (assuming, again, some court proceeding)
All this leaves us a lot of wiggle room to sin. If we want to create a sculptured image and worship it, no one will stop us. If we want to dishonor a parent, we may. If we want to spend the Sabbath day laboring away at some menial task, let’s shvitz to our heart’s delight. It’s a free world. The opportunities for sin abound, and ironically, it is in such an environment that the possibility for living the sacred life is greatest.”
“We have arrived. All of the stories; all the of the generations between Adam and Eve, and the matriarchs and patriarchs; and 400 years of slavery in Egypt now culminate in the Israelites’ triumphant redemption. They all lead to this singular moment: the Revelation at Sinai. In Parashat Yitro, Moses guides the Israelite people to Mt. Sinai where they encounter God, experiencing all the drama and glory of Revelation.”
“The week’s parashah, Yitro, takes its name from the opening line which states “And Yitro (Jethro) father-in-law of Moses heard all that God had done to Moses and to Israel his people, that God had taken Israel out of Egypt.” The parashah then continues on with Yitro’s advice to Moses not to take on the duty of judging the people’s grievances alone, but to appoint judges to help him. Finally, the parashah reaches a climax with the central event of our religious mythology, the giving of the law/Torah at Sinai. It is at Sinai that the ragtag bunch of former slaves finally covenants themselves to God as a people. At Sinai the nation/people of Israel is born.”
“Isaiah was anything but eager to take on the role of prophet. God had to pull out all stops to convince him. And all for good reason. Isaiah would be asked to be the harbinger of the severest of messages, a message which would foresee the downfall of the nation on account of its sinfulness. After Isaiah accepted his charge, he delivered this message to his people: “Go say to the people: ‘Hear, indeed, but do not understand; See, indeed, but do not grasp.” (verse 9) It gets worse. The people’s obstinacy is then reinforced by God: “Dull that people’s mind, stop its ears; lest seeing with its eyes and hearing with its ears, it also grasp with its mind and repent and save (heal) itself.” (verse 10)”