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Parshas Yisro 5784



וישמע יתרו את כל אשר עשה אלקים למשה ולישראל עמו ... (ח-א)


What was it that caused Yisro to pick himself up and join the Jewish people? Yisro had been searching for the truth for years. Rashi tells us that two incidents were the straws that broke the camel’s back: Krias Yam Suf and Milchemes Amalek. The seforim tell us that after Krias Yam Suf, Yisro had already come to the truth. He had already decided in his mind that Hashem is the One and only G-d and Torah is the only truth. But he remained in his land of Midian, serving Hashem from there. However, when he heard that Amalek attacked the Jewish people, he was aghast. He said to himself, if the entire world experienced the miracle of Krias Yam Suf, then Amalek was not an exception. If they could attack the Jewish people after experiencing such an open expression of Hashem’s love and protection for His people, then I better not rely on my own inspiration. Who knows, maybe I too will lose the incredible feeling I have, maybe the yetzer hara will get to me and I will lose all the truth I have discovered. I cannot do this ALONE. I need to be among the Jewish people. I need to have a teacher to guide me. I need constant learning and growing so that I will always be inspired to serve Hashem properly.


So Yisro picked himself up and joined the Jewish people. He made Moshe his Rebbi and was determined to shteig in learning and truly be the best Jew he could be. And this is how he turned his inspiration into reality. He understood that if he just stays where he is physically, he will not grow spiritually. So he picked himself up both physically and spiritually and was ready and willing to work hard, to change and grow so that he would truly be a full-fledged member of Klal Yisroel. He would not rely on himself to be strong in his beliefs. He was ready to do ANYTHING so that his inspiration would not only remain, but burst into a roaring and passionate real avodas Hashem. Yisro was zoche to have a parsha in the Torah named after him, the parsha of Matan Torah no less, not because of his inspiration but rather because of what he did with that Divine inspiration!

 
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