Parashat Yitro is a special parasha for two BIG reasons: it lays out the system of governance for all of Israel, and it includes the Ten Commandments. Considering it is one of the shortest parshiot in the Torah, I would say you get a lot of bang for your buck! I want to draw two lessons from these crucial moments of Torah. In the Mishnah, Yehoshua ben Perachia says, “Make for yourself a mentor, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every person with the scale weighted in their favor.” We see this demonstrated beautifully in Moses’ interactions with his father-in-law Yitro and with God at Mount Sinai. God is a mentor to Moses from day one; guiding Moses, pushing Moses, instructing Moses, and teaching Moses what it means to be a leader. Teachers and mentors are most effective when they live an exemplary life and create the space for their mentees, allow their students to grow into themselves, become the best version of themselves, and then fail forward. Friendship, however, requires a different kind of accountability; a kick in the pants and a bear hug, so to speak. After recounting all of the excitement that had happened during the Exodus, Moses returns to the daily grind of legislating Israelite court cases and disputes. All of them. Alone. Moses’ father-in-law Yitro sees Moses grinding and toiling with the burdens of this unending work and asks, “What is it that you are doing to these people?” In other words, this system of governance is to the detriment of both Israel and Moses. Yitro gives his son-in-law the rebuke he needs, as a friend and colleague, helping Moses set up a system of appellate courts of elders and tribal chieftains. Traditionally, we read this as a moment of mentorship from father-in-law to son-in-law, but I read this as a friend holding a friend accountable, pushing Moses to become the best version of himself—giving Moses and Israel the opportunity to judge… with the scales weighted in their favor.
