Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan Parshat Yitro 2

you be a representative to God and you convey the matters to God which means you be the middleman like you were before the prophet to speak to God on our behalf and you shall caution them regarding the decrees and the teachings and you shall make known to them the path in which they should go and the Deeds they should do however you need help and therefore discern from among the entire people man of accomplishment Rich wise knowledgeable people God-fearing people and not people fearing people men of Truth honest people people who despise money that take no bribes and they don't have any Financial considerations in the cases that are presented to them and that is one of the reasons they had to be rich because they will not need the bribe they have plenty of their own money I'm not interested in a bribe and you shall appoint them as leaders of the people and now he tells him the numbers leaders of thousands and since there were 600,000 male Jews he tells him appoint 600 leaders each one is responsible for another thousand men leaders of hundreds and then under them make each leader have 10 helpers and each one of those lower helpers will be responsible for 100 men and that's 6,000 of such lower level uh leaders and leaders of 50s that then each one of these leaders of hundreds will have two assistants each one responsible for 50 and and that's 12,000 leaders and leaders of 10 and then the lowest leader is responsible for 10 men and that means there were 60,000 leaders which were responsible for 10 men so altogether he advised mosha to find 78,500 leaders the whole system of managers and so on they shall judge the people at all times and they shall bring only major matters to you and every minor matter they shall judge and it will be eased for you and they shall bear with you now page 401 mosha listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did everything that he said mosha chose men of accomplishment from among all the Israel and appointed them heads of the people now here our sages note that mosuk did not find all the qualities that utro mentioned he only found men of accomplishment rich and wise knowledgeable people but not the other things God-fearing men of Truth people who despise money that was too hard he wasn't able to find 78,500 leaders like that verse 26 they judged the people at all times the difficult thing they would bring to Moshe and the minor thing they themselves would judge and then at some later point and there's disagreement when it happened mosha sent off his father-in-law and he went to his land moshe's wife and children stayed and the father-in-law went back to his family to try to encourage more people to serve one God now again this advice of was logical but it was not really for the Jewish Nation because it would be much better for people to interact with Moshe himself the man who was learning from God directly instead they had intermediaries so that was not the ideal situation okay now we go to chapter 19 arrival at Mount Si in the third month which is the month of Sian of the Jewish calendar from The Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt on this day on this specific day since the day is not numbered we conclude that this is the first day of the month roses they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain so it took them one and a half months to come which um then they waited another few days which are the 50 days that we count from PES until sh so already the 40 45 days passed and then another few days will pass until they will receive the Torah now God's proposal Moshe ascended to God and Hashem called to him from the mountain saying so shall you say to the house of yov and relate to the children of Israel you have seen what I did to Egypt page 403 you yourselves have seen what did to Egypt I'm not telling you stories you the people who are assembled here you know what happened in Egypt you witnessed the Miracles you saw the hand of God and that I have carried you on the wings of eagles this is an expression that The Exodus happened very quickly and God assembled all the Jews from all corners of Egypt to rames and took them out quickly as if On Eagle's Wings and brought you to me to me means to God to this mountain upon which God appeared verse 5 and now if you listen well to me and observe my Covenant you shall be to me the most beloved Treasure of all Nations because mine is the entire world world so God says to the Jewish people all I'm asking of you is to listen and to keep my Covenant and then you'll receive the entire world you will have me as your protector as your God and I can deliver because the entire universe belongs to me this is the only boss that it's worth working for that you know that he will pay he has the ability to pay you he's not going to uh become bankrupt he's not going to turn around and say I'm sorry I can't pay you the one the only one that we can be sure that every small action that you do will be rewarded is God for mine is the entire world verse six and you shall be to me a kingdom of Ministers of Priests of kohanim and a holy nation so God says Jewish people each one of you can become the servant of God can become the Coen the minister and that's how it is the entire Jewish Nation each Jew boy and girl man and woman are Servants of God this is what par couldn't understand why everyone is going to serve God let just the man go that's how it is by all other nations only the priests serve and only the man and Moshe said it's not like that by us by us the entire nation are the kingdom of of priests every Jew young and old are kohanim as it says you shall be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation verse 7 Moshe came and called the Elders of the people and put before them them all these words that Hashem commanded the entire people responded together and they said everything that Hashem has spoken we will do they didn't hear yet the details Hashem told them I want you to listen to me and observe my Covenant and people said yes you got it boss everything you do everything you say we will do no questions asked we're not even asking what you want we already saying yes this was the the the great understanding that the Jewish people possessed because they realized that if God himself who created the universe is coming to me and telling me that he wants me to do something I better say yes because he created me he is in control he can destroy me shalom and he's the one who is going to give me the reward not only that we have a tradition from our forefathers Abraham is and yob that God is merciful that God is good everything that eminates from god is perfect and for our benefit therefore we are sure that whatever God will ask of us will be for our benefit and therefore we don't have to be afraid we don't have to ask and worry what else is he going to ask the more he asks the better it's going to be for us because he created us and he knows what's good for us and he's going to tell us to do exactly what is perfect for us and people surprised God by fully accepting his leadership mosha brought back the words of people to Hashem and Hashem was happy Hashem said to mosha behold I come to you in the thickness of the cloud so that the people will hear as I speak to you and they will also believe in you forever God said I'm going to speak to you in front of people so that it's not you who is coming to people and saying I saw God God appeared to me listen to me that's not good enough for the Jews that's good enough for other nations a man comes from the desert a man descends from the mountain and says I saw God a man wakes up in the morning and says I had a dream of God we don't believe such charlatans rather Hashem said I'm going to speak with you in front of people so that they will believe in you forever and that is why we are so committed and so loyal to our religion because it's not a Reliance on one man but rather it is our own testimony our own eyes our forefathers 3 million people men women children were there and witnessed it and for thousands of years nobody ever denied only after the uh Advent of Reform and conservative movements questions started arising did it really happen the Bible criticism but for the the hundreds year 100 years that followed the Exodus nobody questioned it of course we we were there and they said it to their children and to their grandchildren and to their great-grandchildren they said yes my parents were there they told me and then my grandparents were there they told my parents and so on and so forth it continued until recently and it still continues among those who are coming from religious families that they have an unbroken chain of tradition father to son and so on until the generation that actually witnessed God and nobody ever denied it or questioned it nobody came to mosha and said mosha what are you saying we were not there we didn't see it you inventing it we're not accepting it no there was no question about it and that is the biggest proof that Torah is true that God actually appeared to us why because such a claim cannot be faked such a claim can only exist and be trusted if it actually happened and uh that is what differentiates Judaism from all other religions all other religions rely on the testimony of one person or a small group of people who you don't know if they're lying to you or not maybe they conspired which is the case here we did not have to rely on anybody we heard God speaking to Moshe and appointing him as our Prophet now verse 10 Hashem said to Moshe go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and and they shall wash their clothing the Jewish people were supposed to prepare themselves for two days and only on the third day God would appear to them let them be prepared for the third day for on the third day Hashem shall descend in the sight of the entire people on Mount Si we're on page 405 and you shall set boundaries for the people around about and tell them whoever touches the mountain shall Sur die people may not go up the mountain they have to stay around and just observe mosha we in verse 15 mosha said to the people be prepared after a three-day period do not draw near a woman now we see that mosha added the day Hashem said two days and on a third day come I will appear mosha said no three days and on the fourth day God will appear and Hashem approved of that addition mosha said I would like to give Jewish people one more day for Preparation and this um three days marital relations were not permitted and the Jewish people were supposed to purify themselves immerse in the Mikvah and also immerse their clothing in Mikvah verse 16 on the third day which happened to be Shabbat the day of Revelation when it was morning there was thunder and lightning and a heavy Cloud on the mountain and the sound of chaar was very powerful and the entire people that was in the camp shuddered from Fear Verse 18 all of Mount Si was smoking because Hashem had descended upon it in the fire it was like a volcano it's smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the entire Mountain shuddered excessively exceedingly the sound of the chaar grew continually much stronger mosha would speak and God would respond to him with a voice and entire people would hear the conversation between God and Moshe Hashem descended upon Mount Si to the top of the mountain Hashem said to Moshe page 407 descend again and warn the people one more time lest they break through to Hashem to see and a multitude of them will fall they must have respect and stay where we designated for them they cannot just rush and run to the mountain because God knows that the Jewish people desire to see God the Jewish people love spirituality and they might even sacrifice their life just to see God just to be close to God and Hashem said warn them they are not allowed to cross the boundary that we set verse 25 Moshe descended to the people and said it to them he warned them again and now we come to the Ten Commandments chapter 20 God spoke all these statements saying commandment number one I am Hashem your God who has taken you out of the land of Egypt from the house of slavery this commandment means you must always be aware that God exists page 409 second commandment you shall not recognize the gods of others in my presence which means don't believe in any other power besides me and in my presence means since I fill the world the entire universe means nowhere in the universe you can serve Idols now in verse 7even we have commandment number three you shall not take the name of Hashem your God in vain which means you're not allowed to swear falsely cannot take false oath using God's name page 411 commandment number four verse 8 remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it six days shall you work and accomplish all your work and if you do work only six days you will accomplish in all your work but the seventh day is Shabbat to Hashem your God you shall not do any work because for six days Hashem made the heavens and the Earth seea and all that is in them and he rested on the Sabbath day therefore Hashem blessed the Shabbat day and Sanctified commandment number five verse 12 honor your father and your mother so that your days will be lengthened there's a reward for honoring your father and mother long life commandment number six verse 13 you shall not murder and here there's a difference between killing and murdering killing is actually permitted killing means when the when the person that I am killing deserves death for example if he is an enemy of the Jewish people the Jewish people go to war they are allowed to bear arms and to kill or for example if you have a murderer a criminal that the court decreed death penalty upon him the police officer that administers the death penalty can kill him or for example in self-defense we are allowed to kill that is why the Torah says do not murder commandment number seven you you shall not commit adultery no forbidden relations an example is a married woman commandment number eight you shall not steal and our sages say this stealing refers to the most serious stealing that of the human being and that means no kidnapping someone who kidnaps another Jew deserves deserves death penalty commandment number nine you shall not bear false witness against your fellow cannot testify falsely commandment number 10 on page 43 you shall not covet your fellow's house or his wife or anything else that belongs to your fellow that is the Commandment not to to desire and not to plan to take something that doesn't belong to you these are the Ten Commandments verse 15 the entire people saw the Thunder and the Flames the sound of the shaar and the Smoky Mountain and the people saw and trembled and stood from afar they said to mosha from now on you speak to us and we shall hear Let God not speak speak to us lest we die they already heard God's voice they heard God speaking to Moshe and to them and they were overwhelmed I say just say that their soul left and God had to revive them God had to put the soul back into them and it happened twice and they said we already died twice and we came back to life we can't handle more let us stop and our SES say that this was also a mistake instead they should have asked God for more strength and with every time they would hear God and maybe they would die they would become stronger and more spiritual until they would be able to hear God but they said mosha you be the middleman and that brought into existence the possibility that in the future other middleman the prophets might be false and in fact they there were in Jewish history false prophets and we know later there were completely false prophets like the prophets of Christianity and Prophets of Islam so the fact that the Jewish people were scared of God and asked mosha to be the intermediary allowed for that verse 18 people stood from afar and Moshe approached the thick Cloud where God was now Moshe became the the the middleman Hashem said to mosha so shall you say to the children of Israel you have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven and therefore you shall not make images of what is with me gods of silver gods of gold shall you not make for yourselves you saw that God has no image no form and therefore don't represent God by any form or image now we're on page 415 and we have some additional laws an altar of Earth shall you make for me and that's what they did they built while they were traveling in the desert they built an alter made from wood on outside covered with copper and inside it was Hollow and every time they would encamp they would fill it with Earth till the top and that's where the fire would burn for the sacrifices and you shall Slaughter near it your elevation offerings and your peace offerings you Slaughter the animal next to the Altar and then you cut the animal up and you bring it onto the Altar and burn it on the altar wherever I permit my name to be mentioned I shall come to you and bless you this is the verse from which we learn that whenever we mention God's name in purity at the time when we are permitted to mention God's name when we learn Torah or when we pray God comes and blesses us verse 22 and when you make for me an altar of stones that's in the future in bet mikdash when we settle and build the altar in yam it was built from stones but do not build them from C Stone from H stone for you will have raised your sword over it and desecrated it since metal is something that is used in weapons God said don't use metal in the construction of the altar take complete stones and construct the the altar you shall and the final verse 23 you shall not Ascend my altar on steps but rather make a ramp so that your nakedness will not be uncovered upon it and this reason is that when when you have steps you have to make a large step with your foot and that picks up your robe and even though kohanim wore pants on the robe still it doesn't look modest when you pick up your foot too high and your robe is lifted and I Sayes offer a second reason that when you go up to God to serve God you have to make small steps don't try to make big steps but rather any tiny step that you make is good don't think that I have to be all or nothing that I have to jump and move my foot very high no you you can move on a ramp tiny bit at a time growing slowly and that is acceptable this concludes thank you for listening shabbat shalom