Yitro’s Advice

After all of the excitement of the exodus from Egypt, reality set in, and day to day life began for the Jewish people in the desert.

Moshe Rabbeinu’s father in-law, Yitro, observed what was going on, and offered some help. He felt that his son in-law was carrying too large of a burden in managing the Jewish people.

He suggested that qualified individuals be chosen, to act as judges. They would deal with issues that they could handle, but if they needed help, they could always go to Moshe for the final word.

The men that were chosen needed to come from the highest moral standards. They needed to be men of truth that were not capable of being bribed. Their fear of Hashem would guide them in making the correct decisions.

The Minchat Chinuch comments on this and gives more specific qualifications to be a judge in Israel.

He simply wrote that any judge who does not have חכמה אלוקית, a certain Divine wisdom, must not judge. He goes on to say that judges that do not possess this, might be very nice people, but, inevitably, they will not be able to judge correctly.

One who does judge correctly is described as one who has become a partner with Hashem in creation.

The number one criteria to be a successful judge, is fear of Heaven. He will have knowledge of Jewish Law and the Torah, but he will allow Hashem to guide him in judging correctly.

Yitro made a huge contribution with his advice. The guidelines established in the desert were meant to be followed for all time. If only we would get to that point. What a wonderful world it would be!