When you Choose Shabbat, you choose to learn that every Shabbat is different and special. This week I learned that Parashat Yitro (יִתְרוֹ) is the 17th weekly Torah portion in the annual cycle of Torah readings.
According to Wikipedia, Yitro (Exodus 18:1–20:23) contains 4,022 Hebrew letters, 1,105 words and 75 verses, making Yitro the shortest weekly Torah portion in the Book of Exodus. Yitro (יִתְרוֹ) tells of Jethro’s organizational counsel to Moses and God’s revelation of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Rabbi Michael D Klein of Temple Torat Emet offers his insights on this week’s Torah reading, Yitro (יִתְרוֹ) for Shabbat February 15, 2025 aka 17 Shevat 5785:
“Each time we place the Torah back into the ark, we recite these words, “Etz Chayim He Lemachazikim Ba: The Torah is a Tree of Life – All who cling to it are blessed – Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace”. The metaphor of the Torah as a Tree of Life is a recurring theme in Jewish Life. This is emphasized even more when the Sedra Yitro, which contains the first iteration of the Ten Commandments, coincides with the week of Tu Bishevat.
In historical terms, the 10 Commandments, the first of 613, guiding principles of our faith are universal. All cultures which seek justice and respect for life have adopted these principles as the basis for establishing systems of jurisprudence and fairness. This is why all its paths lead to peace because without justice there can be no peace.
The holiday of Tu Bishevat that we celebrate, places special emphasis on the love and concern for the beauty of trees and the natural world that G-d has created for us to enjoy and care for. It reminds us of the constancy of the change of seasons and the cycles of nature that bring hope to the world. Likewise, the Laws of the Torah bring us reassurance of G-d’s presence and the hope that all humanity will adhere to G-d’s Laws of Kindness and Justice just as we adhere to the Laws of Nature. G-d created the Laws of the Torah to give us the same balance between humans that go hand in hand with the laws of nature and the chemical and physical cycles that maintain balance between the forces of nature. We must be “in synch” with Torah Laws just as we ourselves are part of the natural world. Doing so brings balance and meaning to our lives and seeks to perpetuate a world in which humans and all creation can live in harmony and bring about Tikkun Olam- the healing of the world which will lead to the coming of Moshiach and the Messianic Era.
We will celebrate Tu Bishevat this Shabbat, by participating in a Seder which includes prayers, fruits, and wine which celebrates the coming rebirth of spring . This is a very mystical method of connecting our belief in G-d and the Torah to the beauty of the natural world and aligning our souls toward appreciation of G-d’s gifts to humankind. Happy Tu Bishevat and Shabbat Shalom!!
Discussion Questions :
- Why do we mention mother second in the commandment “honor thy father and mother”?
- How is the commandment of observing Shabbat stated differently in Yitro compared to later in the Torah?
- Describe the unusual method that the Torah describes the sensory sensation of hearing G-d’s voice?
- Why was Mt. Sinai chosen instead of higher mountains near Horeb?
Rabbi Michael D. Klein attended Yeshiva College of South Florida and served as Torah Reader, Hebrew teacher, Chazzan and spiritual leader of various synagogues throughout South Florida. In January 2015 he became Ritual Director, Bnai/Bnot Mitzvah instructor and 7th grade Hebrew instructor for Temple Torat Emet of Boynton Beach. In October 2019 he was accepted into an accelerated track and received his smicha from Yeshiva Adath Wolkowisk and has been the Rabbinic leadership of Temple Torat Emet since August 2020. In September of 2022 he was appointed Rabbinic and Spiritual Advisor of the Florida Region of FJMC.
Choose Shabbat; choose to celebrate, to light candles, sing songs and learn a little Torah.
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