D’var Torah –
Parashat Yitro –
Steve Kerbel
In the narrative of this week’s parasha, the Children of Israel are out of Egypt, on their own and
in the wilderness of Sinai. The
father-in-law of Moses, Yitro (our portion’s namesake), having heard the news
of the Exodus brings his daughter and grandsons to reunite with Moses (curious
in itself, because they had all set out from Midian together with Moses’ return
to Egypt in Shmot (Exodus) 4:24-26 –
the cryptic “Bridegroom of Blood” episode).
Yitro is a wise and experienced leader; Moses is a new and
untested leader. Yitro wisely watches his son-in-law at work (Shmot (Exodus) 18:13-14) and like an effective mentor, offers Moses some
management tips about division of labor and delegation
You shall also
seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men
who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these
over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, and let them
judge the people at all times (ibid
17-23).
Moses was trying to do it all, lead the people, handle the
logistics of travel, supervise their care and feeding, resolve interpersonal
disputes, and Yitro identified the burnout factor and offered practical advice
to preserve Moses for the long haul (though no one yet knew it would be a 40
year commitment/ordeal). Yitro is helpful
and Moses gratefully accepts his mentor’s advice.
I think this also calls into question a biblical training
ground for leadership, the role of the shepherd. Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David all share the
common resume-building job as herdsman/shepherd. Each displays expertise in elements necessary
to be successful shepherds: Abraham
shows the ability to find and negotiate the use of scarce water resources;
Jacob excels in animal husbandry, Moses shows courage in confronting the
shepherds of Midian (and according to Midrash,
concern for each sheep by chasing after a stray, leading to his encounter with
the burning bush) and David shows bravery in defeating a lion and a bear. Some qualities of the shepherd: solitude,
problem solving on the fly, care for a large group, showing empathy for God’s
creatures may be good qualities for a leader.
But many skills required for leadership: delegation, working with
people, conflict resolution and interpersonal skills are not qualities most
shepherds have the opportunity to develop.
Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David all have serious deficits in
their parenting skills. Abraham and Moses have communication issues, Jacob and
David are sneaky and conniving. All of
them have problems with the next generation following them, and all of them
have a hard time transferring the mantle of leadership (Moses being the best of
the four, in my opinion).
So what are the lessons learned from Yitro? Delegation is good; sharing the burden is
smart. Listen to your father-in-law – he
has experience you don’t have and that can be helpful in a variety of ways,
personal and professional. Leadership is
hard and you can’t govern alone. Only
after Moses enacts the advice of Yitro does he receive the blessing on our
behalf that “if we obey [God] faithfully and keep [His] covenant, [we] shall be
[His] treasured possession among all the peoples (ibid 19:5).”
For further discussion:
1.
Can a great leader “do it all”? Can you think of successful leaders who have?
2.
What’s hard about working together with other
people? What if they don’t do it the way
you would? Is that ok?
3.
What would you do if you were Moses – would to
try to do it all?
4.
Why can it be good to involve more people in
doing a task together?
5.
Yitro leaves after seeing that Moses implemented
his suggestion. Do you think he could
have continued to be helpful if he had stayed with Moses?
Steve Kerbel is the
Director of Education of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, MD. He is the chair emeritus of the Education
Directors Council of Greater Washington and a national vice president of the
Jewish Educators Assembly.
