Yisro’s Search for Truth

Translated and Adapted by Braha Bender

What would you give up for truth? Yisro (Jethro) had experimented with religions, cults, and spiritual practices from around the world, but none had satisfied his spiritual yearning. He had achieved great financial and political power. In fact, he was the religious and governmental ruler of his land. But when Yisro heard how the Almighty had split the sea for the Jewish people, and about their war with Amalek, Yisro decided to travel to the desert to join the chosen nation.

Most religions welcome converts with open arms. Not so Judaism. When a convert first arrives asking to become a part of the Jewish people,  we are commanded to turn him away. Tell him about the holocaust, Jewish law dictates. Tell him about anti-Semitism. If an convert wants to become Jewish for superficial reasons, these warnings will scare him away. Besides, there is no mitzvah for non-Jews to convert. They can serve the Almighty with the Seven Noahide Laws.

But if a person comes back again and again, asking to become a Jew despite these historical truths, then we know that his commitment to come closer to the Almighty will probably not be swayed by the vicissitudes of time. Then, and only then, may the conversion process begin.

When Yisro arrived at the Jewish camp, Moshe(Moses) told Yisro, “...everything that Hashem had done to Pharaoh and Egypt for Israel’s sake - and all the travail that had befallen them on the way - and that Hashem had rescued them.” (Exodus 18:8) He left out nothing.

While it was true that awesome miracles had occurred, and the Jews did have an especially close relationship with the Almighty, that didn’t mean that things had been easy. There had been aspects of leaving Egypt that were painful, even traumatic. Travelling through the desert wasn’t comfortable. Being pursued by the Egyptian army on the banks of the Red Sea had been terrifying. After the splitting of the sea, the nation of Amalek had attacked the Jewish People in the desert when their Torah observance grew lax – distressing, to say the least.

There had also been a few testy hours before the manna came down. No one expected miracles – and no one knew how a nation of over three million people would manage to feed themselves wandering through a desert. The waters of Marra had grown sweet, but the hours before the miracle took place were a frightening test of faith.

Moshe wanted Yisro to understand the other side of the coin. He wanted to show Yisro the facts that, in his rush of excitement, he might have missed. Disappointment and identity crisis’ take place when people don’t know what they are getting into, so Moshe exposed Yisro to what life was really like as a Jew, for good and for better.

Yisro took what Moshe said very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that Torah sources say he got goose bumps at what he was hearing. But the moment Moshe was finished speaking, Yisro confirmed his commitment: he still wanted to convert. The great joy of scaling the mountain, climbing peak upon peak to finally reach the top was about to be his. He could almost touch it. He accepted that the journey would not be easy, but his yearning to come closer to his Creator would finally be able to be fulfilled. A life of transient material gratification would never fulfil him the way a life of Torah would.

After his conversion, when Yisro wanted to return to his land, Moshe said, “Please do not forsake us, inasmuch as you know our encampments in the Wilderness, and you have been as eyes for us.” (Numbers 10:31) Moshe wanted Yisro to stay because Yisro had become a role model for the entire Jewish People.

Anyone claiming that it was hard to be a Jew needed only to look at Yisro to feel his complaints were petty and meaningless. Yisro had left wealth and command to become a part of a small and humble nation, a nation who has the privilege to share an intimacy with the Almighty that no other people can claim. Yisro knew which would satisfy him. We, too, can learn from his mistakes - and his triumphs. What would you give up for truth?