Parashat Yitro

B”H

Dear fourth and fifth grade families,

This week we have been learning about Parashat Yitro.  In this Parashah Moshe’s father in law comes to greet him in the desert and there is great rejoicing when he hears about the miracles that had rescued B’nei Yisrael from calamities in Egypt and in the desert.

Yitro noticed that Moshe was spending many hours helping the B’nei Yisrael to solve their problems.  He suggests that Moshe appoint Judges to help him with this overwhelming job.  Moshe listens to the good advice.  How can we know when we get advice whether it is good or not (this led to quite an interesting discussion in class!).

We read a Midrash which examines why the Torah seems to be repeating a message.  It says that Moshe Listened to the voice of his father in law (which means that he did what his father in law suggested) and then it says and “he did all that he said”.  So the question could be asked, was that second “he” actually Yitro?  The Midrash explains that if you look deeper into the Torah you will find that the second “He” was Hashem telling Moshe that the advice was good and he should follow it.

It is important to listen to the advice of others and to let them help us make better decisions.  It is also important to take in consideration “who” is giving us the advice.

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Donna, Morah Hannah and Morah Yiska