Parashat Yitro, Exodus 18:1-20:23

Being a workaholic is a no-no.

Among our most precious commodities is time. There never seems to be enough of it. Technological advances that promised to free us from the shackles of the analog clock have merely chained us to a digital timepiece. The pursuit of free time brings to mind a book I read in my youth called Cheaper by the Dozen. This was the biography of Frank Gilbreth Sr. and Lillian Gilbreth and their family of twelve children. The Gilbreths were efficiency experts and pioneers in what was called time and motion studies. Much of what they did would today be called ergonomics. They were looking for the most efficient ways to carry out tasks in order to increase productivity and save time. Frank had started life as a bricklayer. Through analyzing film of bricklayers at work, he and Lillian determined that the number of steps a person uses in laying bricks could be cut from 18 to about 4. In Cheaper by the Dozen, Frank explains why he wanted to save time. While I can't remember the quote exactly, it was something to the effect that people should have more time to do the things they wish to do, even should it be Mumblety-Peg.  (This is a knife-throwing game that used to be played by boys. Recess ain't what it used to be.)

This week's parasha also contains an efficiency expert; in fact the portion bears his name: Yitro, or Jethro in English, is the father-in-law of Moses. He meets up with Moses after the latter has successfully led the Children of Israel out of Egypt and fought the Amalekites. Now they are settling into life in the wilderness. The purpose of Jethro’s journey is to reunite Moses with his family:

Jethro priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the Lord had brought Israel out from Egypt. So Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after she had been sent home, and her two sons — of whom one was named Gershom, that is to say, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land"; and the other was named Eliezer, meaning, "The God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh." Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought Moses' sons and wife to him in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. He sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons." Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed low and kissed him; each asked after the other's welfare, and they went into the tent.

Exodus 18: 1-7

This is the only snippet of information we have concerning Moses' relationship with his family. Unfortunately, it is not very positive. He needs to be told that his father-in-law is approaching with his wife and kids. Commentators question where they have been. What does it mean that Zipporah had been sent home? Ibn Ezra notes that the same language is used elsewhere in reference to divorce. Bekhor Shor explains that Moses is only reunited with his family after the Exodus. According to Sforno, they now have a place to stay. Most interesting is Hizkuni's comment that this meeting actually occurred after the revelation at Sinai. This would mean that Moses' sons were not present at the giving of the Torah!

Okay, Moses has been awfully busy. First there were all those meetings with Pharaoh, many of them outside of business hours. Subsequently, there were some plagues. Then there was the dramatic crossing of the Sea of Reeds. Just when it looks like things are quieting down, the Israelites grumble and the Amalekites attack. But surely with all this behind him, Moses can take a short break. Not quite. Jethro notices that Moses is overwhelmed with work, settling disputes from sun-up to sundown. Jethro the efficiency expert has a solution: delegate:

But Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You represent the people before God: you bring the disputes before God, and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow. You shall also seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge the people at all times. Have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself by letting them share the burden with you. If you do this — and God so commands you — you will be able to bear up; and all these people too will go home unwearied."

Exodus 18:17-23

It's not just that life will be easier for Moses, or that the people will be empowered. What Jethro proposes is the biblical equivalent of striking a balance in life. Being a workaholic is a no-no. And Moses is to set the example in the Torah. Later in the Talmud, even God sets an example of efficient time management:

Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: "The day consists of twelve hours; during the first three hours the Holy One, Who is blessed, studies Torah, during the second three God sits in judgment on the whole world, and when God sees that the world is so guilty as to deserve destruction, God moves from the seat of Justice to the seat of Mercy; during the third quarter, God feeds the whole world, from the horned buffalo to the brood of vermin; during the fourth quarter God plays with the leviathan, as it is said, There is leviathan, whom You have formed to sport therewith (Psalm 104:26)."

Avodah Zarah 3b, Soncino translation

All of which brings us to the Ten Commandments and finding a balance in life. Did I forget to mention that the focal point of this parashah is the Revelation at Sinai? A parashah named after a Midianite priest, the father-in-law of Moses, a section that deals with the nitty-gritty of running the community concludes with God's Top Ten List. Our focus is number four:

Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:8-11

In the Mekhilta, Rabbi Yitzhak observes that in other societies days have names, whereas the Hebrew days are numbered in relation to Shabbat; the Jewish world, indeed Jewish time revolves around Shabbat. Sforno picks up on this when he comments that we must remember Shabbat all week when we focus on our mundane work. If we "take care of business" at the proper time and place, we can put it out of mind on Shabbat. Sforno teaches that the world does not revolve around us or our work, it revolves around Shabbat

Efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth, Sr., had Mumblety-Peg; God frolics with leviathan. What joy and fulfillment do you have in life? How much time can you devote to it? Jethro's message to Moses was: Make time for your family. The commandment of Shabbat is to set aside time. Setting something apart is a holy act; the basic meaning of the Hebrew word for holy, kadosh, is "set apart." The Ten Commandments, and the entire parashah, teach us that not only must we act responsibly, we must also rest responsibly.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Michal Shekel

Reminder: Unless otherwise noted all Bible translations quoted in the weekly studies are from the JPS Tanakh published by the Jewish Publication Society.

Parashat Behar, Leviticus 25:1- 26:2

Too often in our society, when it comes to a choice between time and people, the latter loses.

One of my favorite books as a child was Cheaper by the Dozen, a memoir by a brother and sister who grew up in a family of twelve children. Other than the challenges of growing up in such a clan, what was most memorable about the memoir was the occupation of the parents. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were motion experts. In fact, they were pioneers in the field and often used themselves and their children as subjects for their studies.

The Gilbreths broke down motion into 18 basic components. From this they were able to help bricklayers, typists, surgeons and others perform more effectively. Efficiency was the key. While much analysis has been done in getting people to work faster, working better and more efficiently was the focus for the Gilbreth husband and wife team. They viewed their concern as being the welfare of the worker rather than the bottom line of the business. They never forgot that they were dealing with people.

Too often in our society, when it comes to a choice between time and people, the latter loses. It is our own fault. We take on too much and are afraid to say "no" because it could cost us a promotion or even our jobs. Unfortunately, we train our children in the same manner, as we ferry them from one afterschool activity to another. Is it any wonder that stress-related ailments are taking their toll on children as well as adults?

Whether it is called hyper-parenting or over-parenting, the micromanaged child or the over-scheduled child, it means the same thing: a generation of children signed up in utero for the right preschool; primed for early brain development with Baby Einstein and the like; embarked on a scheduled life in babyhood with play groups in French immersion, kindergym and infant music sessions; enrolled in tutoring by the age of three; every school day book-ended with a loaded program of scheduled activities and organized games.

Anna Marie Owens, Back to Baby Basics, National Post, May 10, 2008

What we need is a different attitude to time, an attitude that is found in this week's parasha, Behar. Last week's portion introduced us to the importance of the number seven in terms of Shabbat, holidays and counting the Omer. This week, the concept is supersized. Instead of dealing with Shabbat as the seventh day of the week, we are introduced to a shnat shabbaton, a sabbatical year that occurs every seventh year. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the Lord…it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath will produce… (Leviticus 25:3, 7)

Beyond this, there is also the concept of seven times seven years (similar to the seven times seven weeks of counting the Omer). The counting of weeks is followed by Shavuot on the fiftieth day, the counting of years is followed by the Yovel, the Jubilee in the fiftieth year: And you shall count seven sabbaths of years to you, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty and nine years. Then shall you cause the shofar to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the Day of Atonement shall you sound the shofar throughout all your land. (Leviticus 25:8-9) Sifra explains that just as we formally count the days of the Omer, so too the priests were to count each year until the Yovel. Clearly, it was something to be anticipated.

On the Jubilee, land reverted to its original holder, and indentured servants were set free. In addition, the land was to remain fallow:

Leviticus 25 demands that the land, like the people, have a Shabbat in the fiftieth year (in addition to every seventh year). Such legislation symbolizes the intimate bond between the Land of Israel, the people, and God.

The Torah: A Women's Commentary, p. 751

Most interesting is how the beginning of the Yovel is heralded by the sounding of the shofar on Yom Kippur. Sforno teaches that sounding the shofar on the Jubilee is sign of joy because slaves are set free and the land returns to its original holders. Saadia Gaon created a "top ten list" for what the shofar represents. Rambam's explanation of the shofar as awakening our morality is found in the Mahzor, the High Holy Day prayerbook:

Wake up, wake up, you sleepers, wake up from your sleep! Sleepers, wake up from your napping and examine your deeds, return in teshuvah, and remember your Creator! Those of you who forget the truth in your playing around with the latest frivolousness, spending all year in vanity and meaningless things, which neither profits nor saves you, you, look to your souls, improve your ways and works. Abandon the path which is bad and get rid of all your vain goals.

(translation from Kolel website)

Probably the most common connection we make is between the shofar and the story of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. The Mahzor also explains that the shofar is not solely a wakeup call for us. It is also a reminder to God of what nearly happened to Isaac, and how God was roused to mercy. Somehow, as pawn in the Akedah which was a test of Abraham, Isaac not only came close to losing his life but his humanity as well. The shofar serves as a reminder to step back, take time out, reassess the situation, and redress wrongs. It cries out to remember that you are dealing with people, not goals, objectives, numbers, statistics, or the bottom line, but relationships.

The shofar on the Jubilee deals with more than space, the land that is redeemed. The shofar is a symbol of time. Blowing the shofar on the Jubilee teaches us that dealing with the bonds of God, land and people takes more than one day, even if that day is Yom Kippur. Think of what could be accomplished if you were to take an entire year to devoting as much energy on focusing on human interactions as you normally devote to your occupation. Both the sabbatical and the Jubilee point the way: it is all a matter of time, of setting aside time.

Fortunately, some modern trends are changing.

There is evidence -- in the parks, the play-dates, the homework schedules and even Hollywood magazines -- that the end is at least near for the pattern of modern parenting that has in recent years dictated highly scheduled lives for children and spawned the species described as helicopter parents.
It can be found in the stories of mothers at playgrounds and schools, who no longer spend so much of their days scurrying their children from one activity to another; in the experiences of parents who successfully lobbied Canada's largest school board to introduce a radical policy that bans homework on holidays and sets limits for work; in the shelves of the nation's bookstores, no longer filled with sprawling racks of angst-filled tomes about how to make a better baby, but smaller now and more likely devoted to simpler topics such as play.

Anna Marie Owens, Back to Baby Basics, National Post, May 10, 2008

The key is simplicity. Trends are changing not only in how we raise our children, but in some other basics of life: for example, in how we eat. The rise of the slow food movement is a sign of this. Respect for the land and those who till the soil is evident in the "One Hundred Mile Diet" or "eating locally."

I am reminded of a classic Twilight Zone episode called Time Enough at Last in which Henry Bemis, an avid bookworm, just wanted time to read. He found out that when he pressed a stopwatch time actually stopped around him and he could indulge himself. Tragically, when the watch got stuck, and time stopped forever, his glasses broke; and his paradise turned to hell. Bemis got it wrong by trying to impose his will on time. It is the time we share with others that is a priceless gift.

Shabbat shalom,
MS