We receive the 10 Commandments, Aseret HaDibrot, in this week’s parsha! Of course this is a big, holy moment, but I want to discuss a less-talked-about idea that Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, zt”l shared in his commentary on this parsha a few years ago.
In addition to receiving the 10 Commandments this week, Moshe (Moses) also receives some advice from his father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro).
When Yitro hears of the great miracles B’nei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) have experienced at the Splitting of the Red Sea, Kriyat Yam Suf, he comes to Moshe, where he sees Moshe sitting in “judgement” of B’nei Yisrael day in and day out, but doing this all alone. (What is Moshe judging them for? Some commentators say this was actually the day after Yom Kippur and that this parsha is out of chronological order, and others disagree. We won’t get into that. Point here is: Moshe is sitting and judging lots of people. Like me on a Saturday in the park!! Ah I crack myself up.)
Yitro says that what Moshe is doing, which is not delegating judgement to a system of judges is Lo Tov, לא טוב not good. Rabbi Sacks pointed out that t he only other time the phrase לא טוב is used is after G-d creates Adam and then subsequently creates Chava (Eve) — לֹא־ט֛וֹב הֱי֥וֹת הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְבַדּ֑וֹ - it is not good for man to be alone. So it’s not good for man to live / be alone, and it’s not good for man to lead alone.
So back to Yitro. Yitro says Moshe will wear himself out, as well as the the people, by not delegating his judging to a proper judicial system. Well obviously it would help Moshe not be so exhausted, but how does this help the people? They’re just waiting there for their verdict, right? Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, known as the Netziv, has an interesting perspective. In his commentary on this parsha, he quotes the Talmud, “Surely where there is strict justice, there is no peace, and where there is peace, there is no strict justice! What then is the justice that coexists with peace? We must say: mediation.”
The Netziv connects this idea to Moshe and the people. Moshe was a prophet of immense power. Two people would walk into his presence with a conflict and he would know instantly who was at fault. Moshe was a strict guy, he wasn’t one for mediation or compromise. Which means that, while there was justice, there wasn’t much peace in his wake.
Sometimes we think the thing that is 100% just is the thing that is 100% right to do, but from this idea we learn that this is not always the case. Feelings and emotions of those around us are also very important. While Moshe couldn’t very well lie about knowing which party was at fault, he could delegate his judging powers to non-prophetic people. Not only would he be elevating his appointed judges, he would also be allowing peaceful reconciliations to take place.
Mediations or compromises leave both parties happy and validated, versus strict justice that leaves one party rejected and the other triumphant. Compromise isn’t the solution to everything in life of course, but in conflict, sometimes it is.
Maybe this is not the same thing, but Rachel Berry (played by recently outed-as-problematic actress, Lea Michele) from the 2010s Fox TV show Glee (about a high school show choir club) has popped into my head. If you didn’t watch Glee, we can definitely still be friends, but you must know, in order for us to move forward, that I had a Glee binder throughout high school that I used un-ironically and honestly pretty proudly. So it’s you who may want to remove affiliations 🥴
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