Parshas Yisro 5775
This week’s parsha begins that Yisro heard what Hashem did for the Jewish Nation and he came to join them. Rashi cites the Mechilta, which asks: What did Yisro hear that made him come? The splitting of Yam Suf and the war against Amalek.
This Mechilta raises a few questions. First, we know that Yisro had abandoned his position in Egypt years earlier and had reached emuna in Hashem, and yet after hearing about the Exodus from Egypt he did not decide to leave his home in Midyan to join the Jewish People. Why did he decide to do this now, after the splitting of Yam Suf and the war against Amalek? Even if we’ll answer that Yisro came because the splitting of Yam Suf was a more dramatic revelation of Hashem’s hand in the world (Rashi 14:21 notes that all the waters of the world split at that moment), still, why mention the war against Amalek? Although the Jews won this war, their victory was certainly not more miraculous than the miracles of the Exodus.
The Slonimer Rebbe explains that what made Yisro come was the fact that after the splitting of Yam Suf there could still be a nation brazen enough to make war against Yisrael. This indeed was unexpected, as it states that “The nations heard [about the splitting of Yam Suf] and were shaking … all the dwellers of Canaan melted away [in fear]” (15:14-15). Amalek was one of those nations dwelling in Canaan (Bamidbar 13:29). It seemed as though all of humanity now recognized Hashem as Creator and Master of the world and feared Him. When Amalek instigated the battle against Yisrael, Yisro realized: even after reaching recognition of G-d, one can still revert back! I must join the Jewish People! Only they possess an emuna that is unshakable.
Even though Yisro had long before come to recognize the Creator, his recognition was based on rational, analytical thinking, such as observing the wonders of creation and comparing it to the transparent fallacy of idolatry. Just like Amalek backslided into their former way of thinking, Yisro realized that anyone with a rational understanding of Hashem’s existence, as clear as it may be, could also slip back into error. Therefore, he decided to join the Jewish People.
Only, what makes the Bnei Yisrael’s emuna so unshakable?
This is addressed in the introduction to the Sefer Hachinuch. First, the Bnei Yisrael had a tradition of emuna inherited from the Avos, and this emuna was given the ultimate validation when Hashem fulfilled His promise and took His nation out of Egypt with open miracles, witnessed by the entire Jewish Nation. Since this was passed down from father to son over the millennia in an uninterrupted chain, each relating what his father or forefather had seen with his own eyes, the Exodus serves as an impeccable basis foremuna in Hashem.
Even if one would err and suggest that the miracles of Egypt were done through witchcraft,chalila (which is illogical, as even Egypt’s world expert sorcerers admitted that the Ten Plagues were the work of Hashem), the Jews have an additional basis for emuna, which leaves not the slightest room for error: kabalas haTorah took place before the entire nation, who reached the level of prophecy and heard Hashem directly as He commanded them: “I am the Lord, Your G-d, who took you out of Egypt” and “You shall have no other gods before Me.” When over 2 million Jews see and hear Hashem himself, no question can remain about His existence and power. In Jewish Law, when two witnesses give testimony they can determine rulings of life and death. Here, millions of witnesses each passed on their testimony to their children and grandchildren, and the chain continues to this day. The Torah itself promises that this emuna will continue forever, as Hashem says openly to Moshe later in our parsha (before giving the Ten Commandments), that He was doing this “In order that the people will hear as I speak to you, and they will believe in you as well,forever” (Shmos 19:9).
If, when faced with such unassailable proof, one would still try to squirm out of it, saying: “I want to look into it a bit more,” the Sefer Hachinuch responds with an analogy:
Once upon a time there was a polluted river that flowed through many countries and regions. Wherever this poisonous river reached, cases were documented of people drinking the water and dying. This had been the case throughout all of recorded history; never had a person drank from this river and survived. One day, a doctor arrived and took a sample of this river water back to his laboratory. Sometime later, he announced that after having conducted a comprehensive series of tests, to the best of his knowledge the water was perfectly drinkable.
Would anybody dare to drink from this river?
No. But why not? Didn’t the doctor say the water was clean? Why the concern?
The answer, of course, is that no human knowledge is perfect. Theories often gain popularity only to be discarded later. To ignore the fact that throughout history so many people have died based on what one doctor says would be inexcusable folly. We know that our knowledge is limited. Can we confidently ascertain what is true based on our own experimentation? If so, how can anyone rely on experimentation or man-made theories to disregard the Jewish People’s emuna, which is based on eye-witness testimony? This testimony was given down from generation to generation. No amount of “looking into things” can stand a chance against this.
A Jew is encouraged to bolster his emuna, perhaps by studying the wonders of creation, reading stories about tzaddikim or hashgacha pratis, exploring codes discovered in the Torah by Rav Weissmandel and so on. However, the foundation of our emuna must always remain our uninterrupted chain of testimony that reaches back to the Exodus and the Giving of the Torah.
When the issue of military service for yeshiva bachurim first came up in the fledgling State of Israel, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion travelled to Bnei Brak to speak with the Chazon Ish.
“The religious community is so small in number. This state is a democracy. We are the majority and we say you should serve. Why should the will of the majority have to conform to that of the minority?” asked Ben Gurion.
The Chazon Ish replied: “The Talmud states that when two wagons meet at a crossroads and one must yield the right of way to the other, if one wagon is full and the other is empty, the empty wagon must yield to the full wagon.”
Concluded the Chazon Ish: “Our wagon is full; yours is empty.”
Included in the Chazon Ish’s reply was surely that the “wagon” of the Torah-observant Jewish Nation was far from representing the minority. It in fact was laden with the collective Jewish People of all history, linking the current generation to the Tannaim and Amora’im, Nevi’im and ultimately to Moshe Rabbeinu. The secular Zionist “wagon,” on the other hand, had no backing of any sort, and was nothing more than an idea that had cropped up recently in European intellectual circles. Ben Gurion had no answer.
May we be zoche to unshakable emuna, based on our unrivalled chain of tradition!