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Video Study for Parsha Yitro : Gratitude for the Good

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muman613:
Shalom JTF friends...

It is the 'middle of the week' and once again time to start thinking about the weekly Torah reading. I really enjoy learning the parasha each week even though I have been learning it every year for the last ten years, but I always learn something new and repetition is also the best way to remember things.

So this week's parasha we have another epic scene. The Children of Israel travel to the base of Mount Sinai as instructed by Hashem. The story of Mattan Torah (The Giving of the Torah) also known as Kabbalat Torah (Receiving of the Torah) occurs with awesome details. According to the Midrashim the heavens themselves opened and a glimpse of the Emet of G-d himself was manifest for all to see. These 'background stories' for the Written Torah explain that all 600,000 men (All 3Million men, women & children) heard Hashem speak the first of the two "Ten Commandments". After hearing each of them their spirits departed them, and they were resurrected. After the second time they asked Moshe to bring down the eight remaining commandments.

The other important lesson, the lesson which I alluded to in the Thread Subject, is the lesson we learn from Yitro himself. Now we all should know that Yitro is Moses father-in-law, the father of his wife. Yitro gave shelter, food, and his daughter to Moses in gratitude for the fact that Moses put himself in harms way in order to protect Yitros daughters at the watering hole. For the fact that Yitro was such a generous and caring host to Moses he was rewarded with the Torah portion being named after him. He is only one of three Torah portions named after non-Jews (The others being Noah & Bilaam).

Yitro is also rewarded for the fact that he was originally a 'seeker' who explored all forms of 'Avodah Zarah' or idolatry. He was a master, a 'Priest of Black Magic' who knew of all the idolatrous practices of the time. But despite this being the case, he was able to see that Hashem, the G-d of Israel, is the ONE TRUE G-d and put down his idols and false beliefs. He said to Moses, when he came out to the mountain after hearing of the 'Splitting of the Sea', that he now knew that Hashem is the only true G-d.

So let us look at the portion in a nutshell from Chabad.org:


--- Quote ---http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/36271/jewish/Yitro-in-a-Nutshell.htm

Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, hears of the great miracles which G‑d performed for the people of Israel, and comes from Midian to the Israelite camp, bringing with him Moses’ wife and two sons. Jethro advises Moses to appoint a hierarchy of magistrates and judges to assist him in the task of governing and administering justice to the people.

The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that G‑d has chosen them to be His “kingdom of priests” and “holy nation.” The people respond by proclaiming, “All that G-d has spoken, we shall do.”

On the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel assembles at the foot of Mount Sinai. G‑d descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightning, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and summons Moses to ascend.

G‑d proclaims the Ten Commandments, commanding the people of Israel to believe in G‑d, not to worship idols or take G‑d’s name in vain, to keep the Shabbat, honor their parents, not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, and not to bear false witness or covet another’s property. The people cry out to Moses that the revelation is too intense for them to bear, begging him to receive the Torah from G‑d and convey it to them.
--- End quote ---

I will start the videos with a Rabbi Richman talk about the idolatrous background of Yitro:

muman613:
Rabbi Richman has so many great ideas in his videos, here is another one which explores what exactly Hashem meant when he brought us from bondage to freedom...

muman613:
Lets take a break from Rabbi Richman for a while... Here are some short Torah tidbits from Rabbi Odze...

muman613:
Rabbi Odze provides a perfect 'segway' into a clip I made from a Rabbi Kahane speech, where he explains the idea Rabbi Odze brought up concerning Mount Sinai being a small mountain, and the idea of humility...

muman613:
Now for a slightly more Chassidic/Mystical discussion given by the great Rabbi Yitzak Ginsburg...

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