Jethro's Humility

0:00Median Jose Moshe, the priest of Median, the father of the Moshe, heard all that God did for Moshe and to the Jewish people that he took us out. And the third tells us that Israel came and we have raised in the past what did he hear that made him come? He heard about the splitting of the sea and the war against Amulic. He heard the splitting of the sea and the war against Amulic. And that seems to be a little bit counterintuitive because the Torah says he heard about the Exodus. Why does Rashi limit that he heard about the splitting of the sea? And the war of Amulic, what is that? Why is it those two? Why would that change? Why is Rashi adding to the story? Those things to be very, very bookend. Okay, Kreciamsa is important. The war of Amulic. So I heard a beautiful, beautiful idea. And we've talked about this idea is that how dangerous it is for everybody that the whole world heard about the whole Jewish story.

1:09Everybody heard about the Exodus. Everybody heard about it. But what did everybody else do? They didn't want to hear about it. And what Yisra said, when you hear something great, everybody's motivated. When you hear something that's awesome, you tell, wow, what a miracle. But what happens quickly is, is it fades. And that's what Yisra kept realizing. Yisra first turned about the Exodus and he was moved by it. But okay. What happens? Seven days later, he saw that the Egyptians wondered and asked themselves, why didn't we look? Did you sound again? I don't remember what happened. Seven days later, they chased the Jews. They got to the sea. They chased the Jews into the sea. They got drowned. Wow, this is amazing miracle. God totally took out the entire Egyptian army. He finished them off. They're done. What happened the next day?

2:09The next day, a mother attacked us. You see what we would call an English word that we always use. Cognitive, dissonance, a person could see something right in front of them and has no impact. That's what he was afraid of. What you have to do, you have to do something about it. When you hear something, you have to do something about it. You have to realize otherwise it will totally fade. You could see something if you don't make the change then there. I'm going to share with you two great stories about this Rabbi Crone. We're all familiar with Rabbi Pesa Crone, but he had a brother. He had a brother lived in Israel. His brother got a very talkative, friendly, great, great, giant, and angel of a person. He got into a taxi and the taxi drivers in Israel are a little bit different than the ones in America. The ones in America are from the Middle East. But the ones in Israel are Israelis.

3:11You have a conversation with him. He tells him, he tells him, he's carrying a rabbi in the car. He goes, rabbi, I have to tell you the time I met God. I met God, yeah, I got to tell you. He tells him, besides telling the story that after the army, he went with his two of his buddies. They went to the... I don't know so much now, but it used to be. All of the soldiers would go out on a trip. A big, big, big trip after the army to chill down. He says, we went to one of these, the Congo, one of these places, and a major trip and we were sleeping in the jungle. In the middle of the night, I hear my friend gasping. I open my eyes and I see that there's a boa, a boa constrictor

4:11that has him that's squeezing him. And he realizes that it's little that they can do to help. The boa is gigantic and constricting. It's a different travel agent. So finally, he yells to one of the meals, say the shema. You're going to die, say the shema before you die. So he says, he screams out, shema, you saw a shema again, a shema hug. He says, and all of a sudden the snake releases its grip and slutters away. He says, you know, you can imagine the whole story, the whole situation. And my friend says, he makes up his mind. He says, that's it. I'm leaving back to Israel. I'm going to go back to Israel. I'm going to go to, I'm going to see about the shema. I'm going to see about the Torah. I'm going to see about the, this is how I'm out of here.

5:13He says, my friend, he left, he left that time, that day. He headed back to the, whatever it is, to the main base. For playing back to Israel when he's, let's say, he lives in Jerusalem. I was a whole family tradition. Torah of Mitzvah done everything. This taxi driver, this is his telling him. And he tells, so, but he didn't follow that path. So everybody comes, tells him, he tells him, the viata. And you? Who comes with you? He tells him as everybody comes. He says, the snake wasn't around me. He said, the snake wasn't around me. I mean, you can see something right in front of you. You can experience it very simply watching it. It wasn't me. Yeah, person could be involved in something unless you do something.

6:13There's an incredible story in the Ashifah of Allah. In the Ashifah of Allah, that they were known for their great erudition, for learning, for knowing tremendous amounts of Torah. And he, and one of the boys who was in the dining room was a big local in the dining room. We were a toast for this. We were one of the commentaries on the town, they were debating, it's on this side of the page. It's on this side of the page, this side of the page. And they're arguing about it. So somebody brings the Gamara and he shows them where it is. So one of the guys was wrong. He was wrong. So he ran out of the middle of the meal. And he went back, he locked himself so to speak in the base meddush. And he spent, he literally wouldn't leave. To learn and review everything again, because he was so off on the page.

7:14But he left in the middle of the meal. He didn't bench. He didn't bench in the dining room. So they asked the stiple, the stories were all the story. They asked the stiple, the great stiple, he says, was he right? He left without benching. Was he right? It's the stiple said in his brilliance. He said, I don't know if he was right. It could be wasn't right. But one day I can tell you, if you want to left that moment, he never would have became what he became. If you wait five minutes already, the impact is over already. So sometimes you have to realize that you have to capture the moment. When something happens, you have to make a change for the good. Because if you just leave it tomorrow, everything is tomorrow. I was once in a lecture, I was once in a chief rabbi of one of the South American communities.

8:22Not exactly, chief rabbi of one of the German communities. But he himself, strangely enough, was a South American Jew. It's not too many Jews in Germany. Now there are more, but this story goes back about 15 years. So he got the job, but he was born in South America, race in South America. And then he got the job somehow in Germany. So he said that when he got there, he said that, first he gave us an introduction. He said, he asked us, he said, the Americans, he says, what is the word maniana mean? Maniana means tomorrow. All of us answered, we know that much Spanish, we know. Maniana means tomorrow. You don't mean no, you're wrong. He says, maniana doesn't mean tomorrow.

9:23Maniana means not today. Well, it's going to be tomorrow, I don't know. But not today. Not today. So he says, I became, he said, he says, when I became the chief rabbi in Germany. So I came, it was a grand show. We had an official office over there and I, a secretary. So I come in and my desk is a present, a box, and my desk. From the secretary, a nice first day, she bought me a present. I open up the present, it's a watch. It is a watch, very nice. So she says, Rabina rabbi. I just want you to understand, you're going to be the great rabbi here. You have to understand Germany is not South American.

10:24Everything is exact. See, he says, I wanted to give you something to understand the way. It's exact. But today is this minute. It's now. And we have to realize that we have to realize the importance of capitalizing on something. Otherwise, it'll, it'll, it'll dissipate. The inspiration will dissipate. Inspiration is like a match. A match only has, if you don't get the wick lit fast enough, your match goes out. All of us know you're getting it. Ah, come on. Try again. Till you get the wick to catch. Right? The wick has to catch. That's what this is. You have to like them. All of these stories, miracles, right? Don't last. Allieau on how that caramel, the brilliant, what's the story of it? You remember the story of allieau and how that caramel, the fascinating story, right?

11:26You have allieau. I know he wants to prove God's existence again. He wants to reawaken the Jewish people. He wants to have a Sinai too, a second Sinai. So he makes this whole great miracle, right? You have the, the 450, two major idols companies in the world are there battling. Allieau, allieau is alone. You have 450 priests of bow. They're going to make a whole spectacle of them. They're going to light up. They're going to bring an axe up to the deity. Ah, you have the whole thing. And they fail to do so. Allieau comes. Allieau comes. He slaughtered the cow. He asked God to send the fire. God sends the fire. He sweeps everything up. Boom, man. It's the most amazing. Everybody screams out. Hashemhu alokim. Hashemhu alokim. Hashem is God. Hashem is God. That's where we get it from. Hashemhu alokim. Hashemhu alokim. Hashem is God. Hashem is God. Hashem is God. The most, the pinnacle of your giver. So that's taken from the story.

12:26Everybody screams out. Hashem is God. Hashem is God. All of the people recognize God. Izebel, if you remember the history of the time, Izebel was the evil queen of the time. What's he going to say? Ahem. Ahem. Ahem was the husband. He was the bad king. But his wife was the source of all of the problems. A lot of things say the same. So she was the source of all of the problems. She sends a message to Elio. After this great spectacle, she proved God is God, which was basically the rejection of the king and everything. He proved God is God. She sends him a message. Tomorrow, I will kill you. That's why she sends him a message. She sends him a text tomorrow, I will kill you. Now, usually, if you're going to kill somebody tomorrow, what you do is you don't send them the text the day before. He killed him for you. And it wasn't. Tomorrow, I'll kill you.

13:26Kill him tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to kill you. And what happens? Elio runs away, depressed. He doesn't have to do the other. She sends him a message. She sends him a message. Tomorrow, I'm going to kill you. He runs away, depressed. So, I think that's what explains. That what she was telling him was today, Elio, you proved God, everybody's excited. I killed you today. Did kill me in a moment. If I tried to touch you today, you're the hottest thing. You're the hottest thing. You're popular today. I can't touch you. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I want to remember that. Forget everything. You got to sleep. Everything out. Everybody forgets. Right? Whatever you've done for me lately. Right? Whatever you've done for me lately. And therefore, these ideas is how do you counteract that? Is that you have to begin when you see something. When you're inspired by something, you have to make some incremental change.

14:28If you say, I'm going to become, I'm not going to eat for 50 days. Right? I'm going to crash diet. I'm not going to do it. But you have to do something. You have to compromise it in some small way. You have to make some small change. Because it does actually come with two things. Number one. Right? You begin. You take one step in the right direction. But what I mean is only a tiny step. The difference is, though, that every time you do it, it gives you the flashback. I mean, you put it something into place and it gives you the flashback. So it's in front of you. That's the key. The key is to keep it in front of you. So you want something small. Over here, yes, we're realized he had better come. Because everybody else, the whole world saw it. The whole world knew about it. And nobody did anything about it. They all inspired. But they didn't do an action. And that's why Rashid says, what did Yisra do that he came? He made a difference. He actually came. And that's what makes Yisra apart from everybody else.

15:31The... If you look at Yisra's name, as mentioned repeatedly at the beginning of the partial, non-stop, and then all of a sudden, when it gives the idea, the critique of the teaching system, and of the justice system, Yisra's name is never mentioned. He's always referenced as Khosim Moshe, the father of Moshe. Very strange. At the beginning of the partial, you'll look repeated one after another. Yisra, Yisra, Yisra, Yisra, Yisra, Yisra, Yisra, Yisra. From the minute that he's analyzing the system and giving his feedback into the system, it always references him as Khosim Moshe, Khosim Moshe, Khosim Moshe, Khosim Moshe, the father of Moshe,

16:31whatever does his name. Maybe because he converted? So it could be... I saw a different answer, I saw a different answer, that very often, when we have an idea, we want the credit for it. We want our name to go on it. Right? We have our ego invested in it. When Yisra, from the moment that Yisra was criticizing the system, his name is not mentioned, meaning it is that there's a different way, right? He blended the idea, so to speak, or separated the idea from his ego. Moshe felt no... Very often, you have a good idea, you give to somebody, how you present it is going to make all of the difference in the world. Right? When you give critique to somebody, does the person feel uplifted? Does the person feel pushed down? Does he feel threatened? Right? Or does he feel uplifted?

17:31Does he feel... That was... You have to lose to certain extent. The goal is that it's not about you or me. It's about what's best. And you have to remove your identity, and that's what the Torah is saying, the greatness of Yisra was, that had nothing to do with him, so to speak. It was all meaning... When you say, my father-in-law... Right? When you say, my father-in-law... He's father-in-law, meaning it was all about Moshe. There was no Yisra invested in it. And it's a powerful mess for all of us when we're offering critique. Right? Does the person feel uplifted? Does the person feel that it's about him? Or does he feel like he's under a microscope? Does he feel like you're constantly criticizing him? You're constantly putting him down? You can't be fighting a fault with what he does. And that is the key. It says that...

18:31You should give her proof, you shouldn't put the sin on him, and you should love your fellow neighbor like yourself. The meaning is that people should feel, right, uplifted when you're speaking to them. And the Yisra over here was nothing to do with his ego and nothing to do with Israel. And that was the greatness of how he gave it over to Moshe, that there was none of this hard feelings. A little bit lighter, somebody sent to me that it's interesting when Yisra sent as much as he says, who's coming? Your father-in-law? Your wife? And the two boys? Why did he give such detail? Somebody sent me, he was trying to say, don't worry, your mother-in-law is not coming. That's a joke, but... Okay. I don't know, that's what somebody sent me. This week, that was really my game, and it's a great detail of the joke, and I'll say that's the explanation. But you understand? It's for the record of the deleted.

19:33Everybody knows that it's true. You hear the phrase mother-in-law? It's always the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been talking about my mother-in-law, of course. I have to put that on record here. Yes, it's published. I don't know why I've been talking about my mother-in-law, but... Why did you have so many names? She had like... 40 names. So each of us... Because the names are so... Right on this topic. What's the idea of a name? A self-identity. So one of them was, yes, that he added another partial to the Torah. Each one of them is reflective of a different part of his identity. That's exactly the point over here. Here is the power on your thing. A person who had so many names, also had no name. That's his, because it wasn't about him. It wasn't about him. People have to feel that when you give your correction,

20:33it's not about you. It's not about taking credit. You see, in any time, when you're in a company, in any setting, you know the parties that are all about who wants the credit. And who is a person that just says, what's for the group or what's for the best for everybody else, for the other person. That really has to be about how you identify and what you do. You know, it was also interesting, though, when he told Moshe, you know, hey, you're not running the judicial system as well as it could be. You know, you're going to wear yourself out. You're not dispersing the decision-making power. You know, I mean, it could have been that he could have said, well, instead of you running it, I'll run it and you're out. You could have said that. Like the story could have been different.

21:34It could have been like a coup d'état. But it wasn't. But it's very useful to give Moshe the respect and to keep him in power with a critique of the system, which is interesting, too. I'll close with this basically. Why was it that Yisrael didn't? Yisrael, for all of us to tell us that there's what to learn from everybody. It's what to learn from everybody. Even a non-Jew. You have a person, an outsider. So I was teaching you what the earliest said is to realize it. May Kabbalah's MS-Memisha, am I? May accept the truth from whoever says it. That's the realest that a second idea is that why was Yisrael fitting for it? Because everybody that was there was at Harsinai. Assuming Yisrael came after Harsinai. Everybody was there. So Moshe was, he was Moshe.

22:34And everybody was receiving from Moshe. Everybody wanted to receive directly from Moshe. In that original experience. Yisrael was coming as an outsider. He understood that's good for the original generation. But this has to be given over. There's got to be a system to give it over. Because Moshe is not going to look forever, so to speak. The original will never remain. The old Judaism is going to be in love with Sinai. It's one Sinai. It has to be given over. And therefore it has to be that there's going to be some level of hierarchy, if you will. Yisrael was unique that he was able to see it. Why? Because he was coming from the outside and he had to receive it from, so to speak, in terms of a tradition as opposed to an experience. Everybody else was at the mountain. So they were just getting the details from Moshe. But they were the original. Yisrael was the first outsider. When you're the outsider, you realize, well,

23:34this whole generation is going to die. It has to be given over in some system. And therefore, as he said, we have to create this system by which it's going to continuity of Torah. It's going to be the whole system. That's why Yisrael was uniquely suited to do it. Because he was the first person to come from the outside in terms of that. But it really is the gift. And you also learn, by the way, a person shouldn't say, the only one that's important is Moshe. The only one that's important is the person that he teaches the thousands. The only person that's important, okay, and a thousand, a hundred. The only person that's important is the fifty. No, no, no, no. All of us are important. Every person that's important, all of us are important. The tens, many, every person is critically important. Don't expect or hope or say, only the big rabbis are. Every person that teaches Torah, every person that's engaged, every time we have a moment to share Torah, that's what this is teaching us. It's not about Moses. It's about every single person that's being partnering with Torah.

24:34And that's the, it lifts all of us up. Because all of us have the ability to be the teacher, right? It's not just Moshe. It's all about each of us sharing and giving over the Torah. It's going, it's going. Thank you, everyone.