Parashas Yisro

The Shabbos Parsha is Parashas Yisro and it is in this Parsha That HaShem , Having Waited Since Creation , Comes Down To His Beloved People The Children of Israel And Gives us The Ten Commandments . The Haftorah for this Sedra Parsha is Isaiah 6 : 1 - 7 : 6 , 9 : 5 - 6 for Ashkenazim and Isaiah 6 : 1 - 13 for Sephardim . The Haftorah , like the Parsha , also deals With HaShem Revealing Himself , but in the Haftorah , The Revelation Is To Isaiah , where Isaiah sees HaShem's Merkavah , The Heavenly Court And the Sedra Deals With HaShem Revealing Himself To our Jewish people , past , present and future and also to future Gairim .

In the previous Parsha , we read about the war against Amalek . Straight after that , we hear in this Parsha of Yisro , Moshe's Father-in-Law , who finally makes up his mind to become a Ger , a Convert to Judaism . This means that something about this war finally sealed it for Yisro . Yisro had been a priest in Midyan , well known for trying every religion there was , from one idol worship to another . Yisro had been one of the advisors to Pharaoh and after he saw how Pharaoh had acted and how bitter Pharaoh had treated our Jewish people , he left as Pharaoh's advisor . Yisro was very taken with the hope and faith that he saw in the belief of the Jewish people , that no matter how we suffered , we still carried The Hope And Faith For HaShem To Save us From Pharaoh and the Tum'a impurity of Egypt .

Yisro , having tried every religion there was at the time , shunned every one of them as false and useless . When Moshe came to stay with him and he got to know of the holiness of this very holy and righteous man Moshe , Yisro's mind started to work , faith wise and one by one , Yisro gave up one belief after another ( including the many that he had tried and given up before Moshe had come along ) with a spark growing within him for Moshe's Belief , The Only True Belief . Moshe had had many discussions with Yisro , who was so taken with this very holy and sincere man Moshe . Moshe's Truth and Holiness and Sincerity shone from his holy neshoma and face . The fact that Yisro gave up all the other beliefs one by one , made him very unpopular with the Midyanim and so , they shunned him and his daughters and thus did he have unmarried daughters that the Midyanim did not want to marry .

When Yisro heard about the overcoming of Pharaoh and the Plagues , that really affected him , for he knew that this must have taken place By A Very Great Power Who Had Overcome the might of Egypt . At first Yisro thought that perhaps the punishment was just to Egypt and Pharaoh because Pharaoh had said in the beginning that he would not let our people go , for as Pharaoh had said , he " knows not G-D , " so it at first appeared to Yisro That our G-D was only punishing Pharaoh and Egypt for this statement . Then Yisro heard that we had all left Egypt , a place no one before was able to leave without Pharaoh's permission and Yisro certainly knew that Pharaoh would never have given this permission unless The True G-D Had Intervened And Saved His People . This made Yisro think a lot deeper , as this showed That HaShem Is More Powerful Than any force , even the negativity in Egypt . When Yisro heard that all the Egyptians were drowned in the Reed Sea , that really touched him That HaShem Would Finally Remove our enemy from us , especially doing back to Egypt , the very action back , that Pharaoh had originally done to us Jews . This Action Of Divine Providence really got Yisro thinking , for he had for so many years looked for that very action , as proof of The Divine , The Action Of G - D Returning the very punishment upon the wrongdoer that this very wrongdoer had done to others . Yisro had not found before such a providence in any of the false beliefs he had mistakenly tried . But here before his very eyes , Divine Providence From HaShem The One And Only True G-D , Revealed Itself and this really got Yisro Realizing That HaShem Is The True And One And Only G - D And Creator Of all . But Yisro had still wondered that perhaps HaShem Is Doing these Miracles just to punish Pharaoh and Egypt , for their words , but when Yisro heard That HaShem Had Now Saved Yisrael From another nation ( Amalek ) and that nation was an ally of the Midyanim Midianites , that nation being Amalek , now Yisro fully realized That HaShem All Along Was Doing This For us Jews and Yisro realized The Love That HaShem Must Have For Yisrael and so Yisro , at this very time , after our defeating Amalek , realized That HaShem Must Hold A Very Close Relationship And Deep Love For our Jewish people and this made Yisro finally make up his mind to become a Ger .

The action of Yisro choosing to become one of us Jews , was an amazing Kiddush HaShem , for here was a man who had tried every false religion there was and had shown that he had experience in all the other beliefs and could thus attest to their falsity and our Truth of Judaism . This would be a great Kiddush HaShem and an action of great Holiness that attests to The Truth Of HaShem As The One And Only True G-D .

So Yisro , knowing that Moshe and our people were encamped at Har Sinai , took Moshe's wife and children and set out to meet Moshe . When he arrived near the camp , he saw that it was entirely covered and protected by the Clouds of Glory and so the only way that he could get Moshe's attention would be to put a note on an arrow and shoot it in , hoping Moshe would receive it And That HaShem Would Accept him . The arrow with his message Was Accepted By HaShem , which showed Moshe that Yisro would be an acceptable Ger Convert . The arrow miraculously fell miles away from where he shot it , right at Moshe's feet . Moshe and Aharon and the elders went out to welcome Yisro in . Moshe told him About All That HaShem Had Done For them and how , each thing that the Egyptians had done to us , was punished in ways with the Plagues that showed a punishment for what was perpetrated and this only added to Yisro's realization That HaShem Loved Very Deeply , His Jewish People Israel . Yisro also learned How HaShem Had Rescued us from Egypt , which also meant directly that as the Egyptians had at first tried to drown us , so at the end were they drowned . So everything that the Egyptians had planned on us , happened back to them . This showed to Yisro , HaShem's Divine Providence And How HaShem Controls Creation , not just as A Creator from long ago , But That HaShem , at every moment , even in the present , Is Involved With His Creation . Yisro made up his mind to Convert and so Yisro became a Righteous Ger Tzeddek to Judaism . Yisro circumcised himself and made an elevation offering and a feast offering For G-D and Yisro became a Jew .

Torah Tells us that Moshe and Aharon and the elders of Israel ( though Moshe was the one walking up and down and serving ) " came to eat bread with the Father - in - Law of Moshe before G-D . " This has a deeper meaning . Seeing that this very morning the Mannah had already fallen for the people , HaShem Performed Another Miracle , for while they were at the table , HaShem Sent another piece of Mannah To Fall Down directly in front of Yisro , as Yisro's portion as a Jew .

The relationship spiritually between Moshe and Yisro goes back centuries , for our Rabbonim teach us that Moshe had the soul of Hevel Abel , while Yisro Jethro had the soul of Kayin Cain . How Special Is HaShem's Divine Providence And How It Works , so no wonder It Was The Divine Providence that caused Yisro to open his eyes to the Truth of HaShem .

It was the next day that Yisro noticed how the people kept coming to Moshe for judgment and help and how Moshe sat , while the people stood , from morning to evening . Yisro advised Moshe how he would become worn out if Moshe would not stop doing this alone and that Moshe must learn to delegate . Moshe checked this With HaShem , Who Agreed with Yisro . Yisro advised Moshe to choose Men of Accomplishment ( in other words men of standing in the community that would be respected ) ; G-D fearing people ( that would Judge fairly , As If The Sword Of HaShem Was Above their heads ) ; men of truth ( For ' Emes ' - ' Truth ' And Honestly Is One of HaShem's Names - ' Emes ' ) , Truth being the basis of a fair Judge ; people who despise money ( so they won't take bribes ) and that Moshe must appoint leaders of thousands , leaders of hundreds , leaders of fifties and leaders of tens and they will judge the people at all times ( which also includes night times as well ) and that Moshe will do the major matters . Yisro specifically mentioned that this is if ' G-D Commands Moshe , ' so that they can bear with Moshe and so lighten his burden . Moshe listened to Yisro and after this , Yisro went back to Midyan to teach and proclaim about The True G-D HaShem .

It was on the third month after the Children of Israel left Egypt that we arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai and we encamped opposite the mountain . We thus received The Torah in the month of Sivan on the 6th of Sivan , which became our Shavuot . HaShem Chose this mountain , not because it was the biggest , because it actually was not , but because it was smaller and more humble . Also , on this mountain , it was the only one on which no idol worship was done on it .

HaShem Called Moshe up to the Mountain And Related what had been the past months And How HaShem Had Freed us From Egypt and how we Jews are the most beloved treasure of all peoples And How HaShem Had Borne us on ' the wings of eagles ' ( eagle is used as an analogy By HaShem , as an eagle is unlike any other bird , for as it flies and carries its young , it carries its young above its back , thus putting itself between man on the ground that can hurt the young and the young itself , so as to take the arrows shot at it - Just As HaShem Will Take the blows For us And Protect us ) And That We Are To Accept HaShem's Covenant . That we are to be a kingdom of Priests and a holy nation . Moshe came down and called the elders and told them All These Words That HaShem Commanded and the entire people responded That All That HaShem Asks Of us , we will all do and so did Moshe bring word back To HaShem .

HaShem Asked Moshe to have the people sanctify themselves for two days And That On the third day HaShem Would Descend For the people On Har Sinai . That a boundary is to be set around the Mountain , that no one is to touch the edge of the mountain or ascend the mountain and the people did so . The people requested to hear HaShem Speak To them directly And That Is Why HaShem Spoke To us At The Beginning Of This Revelation . HaShem Said That He Would Come To us In the thickness Of The Cloud .

It Was On the third day in the morning That There Was Thunder And Lighting And The Heavy Cloud On Har Sinai . Many of the people were still sleeping , when we should have rather waited in anticipation For HaShem . This is one of the reasons why we Jews study Torah the whole night on Shavuot , to make up for not being up this early morning At The Giving Of The Torah .

HaShem First Sounded The Shofar . Our Rabbis tell us that this was from the horn of that first Ram when Avraham was performing the Akeidah with Yitzchak . Our Rabbis tell us That HaShem Recreated this very horn and that it was the left horn , for in Moshiach's time , HaShem Will Come , With The Blowing of the right horn of this recreated Ram as a Shofar .

All the people shuddered and so , Moshe brought the people out To Meet HaShem . The Torah Tells us that the people stood " at the bottom of the mountain " and this deeply means That HaShem Actually Lifted the entire Mountain above our heads , while we were at the literal bottom of it underneath And So we Were Told That we are to accept The Torah or this Mountain would be put down upon us . The Mountain was like the Chuppah in a Jewish Wedding , above our heads , While HaShem and us and The Torah were like the bride and groom and the Thick Clouds were like the four poles at the Chuppah , surrounded by guests , just like we were all surrounded by The Clouds Of Glory , for this was a Covenant Eternal , Between HaShem And us .

All of Har Sinai was full of smoke When HaShem Descended Upon it In Fire , Very Hot while the Mountain shuddered . The Shofar sound grew louder and louder , louder than any human could possibly blow it and also , if a human would blow it , they would run out of breath and it would get softer , but this Shofar , From HaShem , got louder and louder .

Moshe Spoke To G-D And G-D Answered Him . HaShem Was Actually Still In Shamayim Heaven , so in order for the top of the Mountain to reach Heaven , HaShem Actually Bent Heaven and Earth so that Heaven was touching Earth And So Did HaShem Come Down To us On Har Sinai .

It Was Then That HaShem Gave us The Ten Pronouncements , The Ten Commandments . Before HaShem Spoke , the entire World went completely silent as if no life was around . All went quiet . HaShem Did Not Appear With noise When HaShem Started To Speak , but all of Creation stood still In Total Awe At The Creator Of The Universe , At The Creator Of Creation . Animals did not move or make a sound . Trees stopped rustling and the wind ceased to blow . The waves were silent and the birds were quiet . Even the fish in the sea stopped swimming and stood at attention ready For The Creator Of All To Introduce Himself To His People .

The other nation's people at the time asked Bilaam ( descendant of Lavan ) what was with nature that all had gone silent and Bilaam told them That HaShem Is Coming Down On Har Sinai To Meet With His Jewish People Israel . The World went completely silent When HaShem Came Down And Said , " Anochi A--nai Elokeicha Asher Hotzeiticha Mei Eretz Mitzrayim Mi Beit Avadim , " - " I Am HaShem your G-D , Who Has Taken you out of the land of Egypt , from the house of slavery . " The First Commandment Is That G-D Is G-D And Almighty and the Second Commandment is that we were to have no other gods , For Only HaShem Is G-D . That we are not to make an image or likeness or carved image of anything above or below , nor prostrate ourselves to them or worship them , to not have any other deity , But To Only Follow And Worship G-D Alone . For HaShem Only Is Our G-D . After HaShem Said To us directly these first two Commandments , the people expired and their souls left their bodies , for they actually died - Shemos Exodus 20 : 16 - " lest we die " should HaShem Continue To Speak to us directly , Due To The Greatness And Awesomeness Of HaShem's Power And So HaShem Had To Revive us In The Same Way That HaShem , At The End Of Days , Will Resurrect the dead At Techias Ha Meisim . So the next Eight Commandments , they requested to hear From HaShem , through Moshe .

HaShem Spoke the First Two Commandments Directly To us , for we asked to hear HaShem Directly and also that we would always within our Neshomas , have The Fear Of HaShem Within us . The Third Commandment , was not to take HaShem's Name in vain , making a false Oath . The Fourth Commandment was to keep the Shabbos and all its thirty nine Melachos . The Fifth Commandment was to Honour Parents . The Sixth Command was Not to Commit Murder . The Seventh Commandment was not to commit adultery . The Eighth Commandment that talks of theft , actually refers to kidnapping for the Commandment against theft is in Vayikra Leviticus 19 : 11 . The Ninth Commandment is against bearing False Witness and the Tenth Commandment prohibits coveting .

The first Five Commandments Are Between HaShem And us and the second five Commandments are between woman or man and her or his fellow . When HaShem Gave all The Ten Commandments , HaShem At First Spoke them all at once so that all Ten Commandments Were Actually First Said By HaShem Within A Single Moment In Time All At The Exact Same Moment All At Once . Such a feat is impossible for a human to do And Only HaShem Could Accomplish This . Also , the people were all at different ages and levels of intelligence And HaShem Said The Ten Commandments To each person directly , At The Same Time , So That each person Was Given The Commandment And An Individual Understanding Of It Equal To their fellow , so that their fellow could understand It To Exactly The Same Level As their fellow , But Given At A different level of intelligence , so all could have the same exact understanding at the end . Again , Only Something That HaShem Could Do . Also , The Intricacies Of Each Commandment Was Given To each individual To their levels of understanding , in the way only they could each understand it , but at the end , each one had the same understanding . How Wonderful Is HaShem .

All Jews past present and future and even those not yet born and those set to become Gairim Converts , even thousands of years later , their souls Were Brought To This Revelation . The Parsha ends With HaShem Commanding That an Altar Mizbayach of earth be made for korbanos and that when we make an Altar Mizbayach of stone , that we are to not build them hewn , where a sword was raised over it which would desecrate it , for metal things are objects of war and the purpose of the Mizbayach Altar is the exact opposite , for it is for the purpose of Peace and Bringing " Closeness , " in Hebrew " Karov , " which is the root of the word " Korbanos " , Between HaShem And us . Also , we are not to ascend HaShem's Mizbayach on steps , so as to ensure modesty when walking toward the Altar . So ends the Parsha .

The word " Torah " has a Gematriah of 611 and if we add to this , The Two Commandments That HaShem Spoke Directly To us With His Voice , it comes to a total of 613 , which is the exact number of Mitzvos we as Jews are to follow . This is represented by our Tzitzis that Jewish males wear , where the Hebrew word Tzitzis , has the Gematrical value of 600 and with it's five knots on each corner and eight strings , comes to 613 . When a person becomes a Ger , they are to take on all the Commandments when becoming a Jew . Such a person has finally heard the Truth And Come To HaShem . Becoming a Gair , is when they leave behind incorrect ways And Follow HaShem Only . They have finally heard and thus left Avodah Zorah ( idol worship ) behind . This is shown in the beginning of this Parsha , where the Parsha starts as , " Va Yishma Yisro , " - " And Yisro heard . " Though , on the surface , it translates as that Yisro had heard All That HaShem Did To Israel His People , taking it more deeply , it is also that the Gair has heard HaShem And HaShem's Emes Truth , within their Soul . After the long road following foreign untrue ways , they , the Gair have now , just as Yisro , finally heard HaShem And His Truth From within . Not easy at all for the Gair , who has to turn away from all that they knew before as a belief and take courage in their hand and admit the way that they were used to is the wrong path . Not easy at all . But in " Hearing " HaShem , they take HaShem , Within them Faithfully Following HaShem and they become a Jew .

We Jews have within us , HaShem's Name , for we " Vayishma " - " Hear " HaShem . Within the word " Vayishma , " - " Hear " is the word " Shem " - which means the word " Name . " Thus , when they convert According To Torah Law , As Given By HaShem To Moshe , carried through the ages by our Sanhedrin and Jewish Beth Din Courts and become a Gair , as one of us , they also Take In HaShem's Name within and become one of our people .

When we look at the Gematriah of the first two words of this Parsha " Vayishma Yisro , " we get the number 1042 which , added up as 1 + 0 + 4 + 2 becomes 7 , the Gematriah of the Hebrew word Moshiach . So , when we Listen To HaShem and throw out all foreign ways and beliefs And Follow HaShem Only , this is one of the ways to help bring Moshiach and usher in The End Of Days . In taking the 10 ( 1 + 0 ) and the 4 and the 2 from this total , the Tenth letter is a Yud , the forth letter is a Daled and the second letter is a Bet/Vet and these three letters spell , " BaYaD , " - In The Hand " Of HaShem . So when we Listen And Hearken To HaShem , as Yisro did , we are Lifted Up By HaShem And Held Within The Hand Of HaShem .

So life must be a constant yearning With Closeness For HaShem , just as the Gair , which has now " Vayishma " - " Heard " HaShem's Calling and so , Yearns For HaShem's Closeness . HaShem So Values the Righteous Gair Tzeddek , That HaShem Chose To Put The Parsha That Contains HaShem's Meeting And Revelation With His People And Ten Commandments , In The Parsha Sedra Named after a Gair Tzeddek , Yisro . So Much Does HaShem Appreciate the actions of the Gair , to leave what they held familiar and comfortable and to actually " Lech Lecha " as Avraham did , going from all that they knew and all that was comfortable for the time , to a new way of living , Serving Only The True Creator HaShem . So Much Does HaShem Value the Gair Tzeddek , who comes to Holy Yiddishkeit .

HaShem Teaches us Here In This Sedra how Yisro , the Gair Tzeddek , took on the whole Torah , For That Is The Only True Way Of Jewish Conversion , To Keep And Follow All The Laws Of The Holy Torah , converting through HaShem's Sanhedrin , or today HaShem's Beth Din , for a Gair is to follow All The Holy Torah Laws Given By HaShem To Moshe , so as to follow Judaism , for as we learned in this Sedra , that means following The 613 Mitzvos , The Entire Holy Torah And It's Explanations .

The Ten Commandments are the basic foundation to the Laws . If we count all the letters that make up the words of the Ten Commandments , one counts 620 letters , which is the 613 Mitzos that every Jew must keep and the 7 Noachide Laws that the nations of the World are to keep . So deep Is The Holy Torah .

HaShem Reminds us In Devarim Deuteronomy That All The Holy Torah Laws can be kept , For They Are ( as Devarim says ) not just in Heaven that we have to climb up and get them , or across the sea that we have to swim to reach them ( though if they were up in Heaven or across the Sea , we should make every effort to attain them ) But HaShem's Full Torah Laws Are ( as it says in Devarim 30 : 11 - 14 ) very near us , in our mouth and in our heart , that we may perform it , that we may keep all The Words Of This Torah . Torah Mitzvos Are our life And The Pathway To G-D .

To Hear And Listen To HaShem , Is To Obey Everything That HaShem Commands . Not just what we might like , But What HaShem Likes And Wants Is What Counts And What Is Important , For HaShem Knows All And HaShem Knows What we must do And HaShem Wants us to follow His Whole Holy Torah Laws , as a special Gair Tzeddek is to do . For only then can one say that one truly " Hears " HaShem And HaShem's Wishes . " Vayishma Yisro , " - " And Yisro Heard , " says so much , just in those two words that start out the Sedra . " Yisro heard , " That There Is No Other Way But HaShem's Way And All Of HaShem's Holy Laws Must Be Followed .

Yisro advised Moshe to have his delegates assist in Judging and Teaching . Now all of us need to realize that too . HaShem Is Always Near And Close To all who call upon Him directly , with love . We are all HaShem's Children and can all speak To HaShem Directly Without intermediaries . " Vayishma " - " Hearing " HaShem Is The Only Way And Following HaShem Is The Only True Path . HaShem's Laws Are A Tree Of Life To us . All we need to do is " Vayishma " - " Hear " and Grasp Them . Follow Them and Make Them an inner and outer part of our body and soul And HaShem's Shamayim Heaven Will Open up To us Forever More .

I wish Ever Most Eternally Beloved HaShem With Deepest And Sweetest Forever Love Always , A Most Beautiful And Special Shabbos Kodesh With The Most Deepest Love and to all of my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Most Beautiful and Special Shabbos Kodesh with love .