One verse, five voices. Edited by Nina Litvak and Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
“You shall seek out capable people who fear God, people of truth who despise gain.”
– Ex.18:21
Liane Pritikin
Writer, Public Speaker
The biggest lie on the playground: “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” Words matter. They not only matter, they give you important information about a person, a people or a culture. Some cultures have many different words for snow because nuance is important. In Los Angeles, it’s just “snow.” The Germans have schadenfreude — pleasure or satisfaction derived from someone else’s misfortune. In Hebrew, we have beitzah, which isn’t just money, but money obtained through ill-gotten gain, perhaps through exploitation, corruption or bribery. Or, as ChatGPT puts it, money with a “moral stain.” It’s the word used in our parsha as part of Yitro’s advice to his son-in-law Moshe about setting up a system of delegation so leadership doesn’t rest solely on Moshe’s shoulders. Yitro outlines four key qualities required of those leaders. Being God-fearing is another important trait. A Pew Research study asked people whether belief in God was needed to be moral. Across 17 countries, the average was 29%. In the United States, it was 34%. In Israel, 47%. That was in 2022. Another important word Yitro uses is chayil, translated as “capable.” It is familiar to anyone who sings Eshet Chayil at the Friday night Shabbat table, often translated as “a woman of valor.” It is also the Hebrew word for soldier — chayal, chayalim. It denotes discipline and directed strength: power that is restrained, reliable, and morally guided. Morality is a theme embedded in the language of the Jewish people. Literally.
Rabbi Natan Halevy
The Hebrew wording is “you shall see.” Hashem instructed Moshe to use his holy vision and spiritual insight to discern judges who truly fear G-d and aren’t intimidated by people. If Hashem was only telling Moshe to select judges, it would have used the word “chosen.” Instead, Moshe was charged with the task of spiritual perception. These judges must uphold the highest standards of honesty and integrity, enabling them to endure the varied personalities, pressures, and provocations of litigants. Hashem specifically emphasized Moshe’s holy spirit because a person cannot always be judged by external appearance alone; true qualification lies in refined inner character traits that must be carefully examined.
They must be men of strength and exceptional moral quality, with zeal to ensure that injustice and theft do not occur. This strength refers to physical resilience, inner fortitude of the heart and elevated spiritual virtue. Such individuals have engaged in deep inner work, refining and transforming their character to lofty levels. Our sages teach that the Divine Presence rests fully only upon one who is wise, mighty and wealthy – wealth here understood as inner abundance and self-mastery.
Judges of this stature will naturally be respected. People will accept their rulings with trust and confidence. They must be people of truth who despise bribery and flattery, recognizing that these corrupt justice and distort judgment. They must intuitively understand that the ultimate purpose of judgment is to uphold truth and justice with humility, fully aware of the immense responsibility resting upon their shoulders.
Rabbi Shlomo Seidenfeld
Aish Scholar In Residence, Freelance Rabbi
Our verse is both fascinating and perplexing. Yitro either remained a non-Jewish priest or became a convert (both opinions are offered). Nevertheless, he authoritatively and boldly offered leadership advice to Moshe, the man G-d chose to confront Pharoah and lead the Jewish people towards their ultimate mission. In our verse he implores Moshe regarding what qualities to seek out in Jewish leaders/judges. Each of the qualities in and of themselves appear to be self-evident and collectively weave together to describe individuals impervious to being corrupted by gain and ulterior motives.
Of all the qualities that Yitro delineates, the characterization that he “despises gain” seems the most redundant. After all, what does it add to the other qualities that Yitro enunciated? Why wasn’t it sufficient to simply list “G-d Fearing and Seeker of Truth” etc?
So here’s a quick story. A rabbi was once walking through Manhattan and noticed that multiple high-rises had a particular family name on them. He turned to the young man accompanying him and said, “That man wasn’t hugged enough as a kid.” He opined that the deep need of this builder to billboard his success, his “gain,” was actually rooted in insecurity and a desperate need for validation. Yitro’s advice to Moshe discerned a crucial insight. That success or gain that is not rooted in a G-dly pursuit of truth is at risk and is vulnerable to being corrupted and co-opted. Gain and success are only gifts if they dignify, elevate and humble. Shabbat Shalom.
Dini Coopersmith
Principal, Maayanot haTorah, www.reconnectiontrips.com
Yitro suggests to Moshe to appoint judges and create a whole court system to help him handle the Jewish People. The Ohr haChaim defines the character traits necessary for these judges: “anshei chayil” are all-around excellent people: they have perfect middot, harmony of body and soul; are balanced, disciplined and have inner happiness and peace. These are to be the supreme court judges. In the lesser courts are the God-fearing people: who would be careful not to err in judgment, “people of truth ” – since they seek truth, would make good minor judges, and lastly, are “despisers-of-gain” – they will at least not be tempted to take bribes.
Obviously, the “ish Chayil,” the capable one, encompasses all other traits and is the ultimate perfect judge. Assuming not many of those would be found, look for “God fearing,” “truth-seekers” and at the very least “gain-haters” for the smaller courts. In the end, Moshe found (in verse 25) “anshei Chayil from all of Israel and placed them as officers of 1,000, officers of 100, officers of 50 and officers of 10.” There were enough of these excellent judges to preside over all courts, supreme and minor.
It’s gratifying to learn that there were so many “capable” leaders to be found in the desert, among the people of Israel. It also reminded me of the song “Eshet Chayil” praising each and every woman in Israel: she is capable, of excellent character and balance, disciplined and with inner harmony and peace. “Who is like your People, Israel?”
David Sacks
Host of the Podcast “Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World”
I don’t care how high your IQ is, nobody can convince me that this astonishingly exquisite and precisely orchestrated universe randomly appeared out of nowhere.
Information has never been this available. But are we getting smarter?
Imagine there’s a man who is at his wedding. And he can tell you everything about it. How many tables there are, who is seated at each table, how much the flowers cost, and the price of the band. He even knows exactly when he has to exit the wedding hall. Then he turns to you and says, “There’s only one thing I don’t know. Which one of these people did I marry?”
It’s beyond heartbreaking. He knows absolutely everything except the one thing he needs to know. This is the world today. People can tell you everything about everything. But the one reality of the world, the fact that there is a God who created us, and sustains us, and loves us, and who is so close at all times, this they don’t know. This is what it means when we say, “The beginning of wisdom is the awareness/fear of Hashem.” (Psalms 111:10)
You can have 10 Nobel Prizes, but if you don’t know Hashem, you don’t know anything. My Rebbe told me there are people with big minds but small souls. And there are people with big souls and small minds. And there are people with big souls and big minds – and those are the leaders of the Jewish People.
