By Rabbi Patrick Beaulier
A brief text study can be found on Sefaria.
If I came to you and said shalom, what would that mean to you? What would you say back to me?
Here is a “shalom” interaction worth noting:
Exodus 18:7
(ז) וַיֵּצֵ֨א מֹשֶׁ֜ה לִקְרַ֣את חֹֽתְנ֗וֹ וַיִּשְׁתַּ֙חוּ֙ וַיִּשַּׁק־ל֔וֹ וַיִּשְׁאֲל֥וּ אִישׁ־לְרֵעֵ֖הוּ לְשָׁל֑וֹם וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ הָאֹֽהֱלָה׃
(7) Moses went out to meet his father-in-law [Yitro, Priest of Midian]; he bowed low and kissed him; each asked after the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent.
Moses/Moshe greets his father-in-law with extreme humility, bowing all the way with his forehead down to the ground. The two kiss, and the they asked about one another’s…what? Their shalom.
SH-L-M in Southwest Asian languages connotes a sense of overlapping characteristics: wholeness, completion and peace. Examples: Shalim was the Canaanite god of dusk (a completed day), salaam is the Arabic word for peace and shalom is the Hebrew word for peace.
So when Moses and Yitro ask about each other's “welfare”, what are they actually asking about? They are asking about one another’s sense of wholeness.
Have you ever sat with a friend and said, “what’s up?” How is that different than saying, “hi”? The difference is inquiry. Saying hello simply means to acknowledge presence. Asking how a person is doing is different.
A quirky fact: asking people how they are doing, and replying “doing well” comes from an era where illness was treatable but not curable. People would ask how people were doing as a way to know who to steer clear from.
Anyway, next time you’re at a party and things get dull…you have a piece of trivia.
At any rate, our sense of wholeness matters. And it matters so much to Yitro that we’ll find another example later in the text.
(יג) וַיְהִי֙ מִֽמׇּחֳרָ֔ת וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב מֹשֶׁ֖ה לִשְׁפֹּ֣ט אֶת־הָעָ֑ם וַיַּעֲמֹ֤ד הָעָם֙ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מִן־הַבֹּ֖קֶר עַד־הָעָֽרֶב׃ (יד) וַיַּרְא֙ חֹתֵ֣ן מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֵ֛ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־ה֥וּא עֹשֶׂ֖ה לָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֗אמֶר מָֽה־הַדָּבָ֤ר הַזֶּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתָּ֤ה עֹשֶׂה֙ לָעָ֔ם מַדּ֗וּעַ אַתָּ֤ה יוֹשֵׁב֙ לְבַדֶּ֔ךָ וְכׇל־הָעָ֛ם נִצָּ֥ב עָלֶ֖יךָ מִן־בֹּ֥קֶר עַד־עָֽרֶב׃ (טו) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֖ה לְחֹתְנ֑וֹ כִּֽי־יָבֹ֥א אֵלַ֛י הָעָ֖ם לִדְרֹ֥שׁ אֱלֹהִֽים׃ (טז) כִּֽי־יִהְיֶ֨ה לָהֶ֤ם דָּבָר֙ בָּ֣א אֵלַ֔י וְשָׁ֣פַטְתִּ֔י בֵּ֥ין אִ֖ישׁ וּבֵ֣ין רֵעֵ֑הוּ וְהוֹדַעְתִּ֛י אֶת־חֻקֵּ֥י הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים וְאֶת־תּוֹרֹתָֽיו׃
(13) Next day, Moses sat as magistrate among the people, while the people stood about Moses from morning until evening. (14) But when Moses’ father-in-law saw how much he had to do for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing to the people? Why do you act alone, while all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” (15) Moses replied to his father-in-law, “It is because the people come to me to inquire of God. (16) When they have a dispute, it comes before me, and I decide between one party and another, and I make known the laws and teachings of God.”
This line: why do you act alone, while all the people stand about you…? I can imagine Moses sitting on a cushion while adjudicating every issue, while others stand around with interest. While there may have been some who thought that they could act as judges, most would have been in awe of Moses and his judicial skills. His monopoly on legal power gives him the credibility he may not actually deserve. Why is he such an amazing judge? Because he’s the only one — and the Israelites cannot conceive of themselves as judges because…well…they are not Moses.
(יז) וַיֹּ֛אמֶר חֹתֵ֥ן מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֵלָ֑יו לֹא־טוֹב֙ הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתָּ֖ה עֹשֶֽׂה׃ (יח) נָבֹ֣ל תִּבֹּ֔ל גַּם־אַתָּ֕ה גַּם־הָעָ֥ם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עִמָּ֑ךְ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֤ד מִמְּךָ֙ הַדָּבָ֔ר לֹא־תוּכַ֥ל עֲשֹׂ֖הוּ לְבַדֶּֽךָ׃
(17) But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing you are doing is not right; (18) you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.
“And these people as well.” How can Moses wear out people who are not doing anything? I suspect a lot of ways. The commentators had some ideas. My bias in the reading is synagogue life. When everything is about a single clergy person, a single teacher, a single volunteer, it gets awfully stale. People need the dynamism of different energies. As the proverb goes, “familiarity breeds contempt.”
So the solution? Two parts…
(יט) עַתָּ֞ה שְׁמַ֤ע בְּקֹלִי֙ אִיעָ֣צְךָ֔ וִיהִ֥י אֱלֹהִ֖ים עִמָּ֑ךְ הֱיֵ֧ה אַתָּ֣ה לָעָ֗ם מ֚וּל הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְהֵבֵאתָ֥ אַתָּ֛ה אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ (כ) וְהִזְהַרְתָּ֣ה אֶתְהֶ֔ם אֶת־הַחֻקִּ֖ים וְאֶת־הַתּוֹרֹ֑ת וְהוֹדַעְתָּ֣ לָהֶ֗ם אֶת־הַדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ יֵ֣לְכוּ בָ֔הּ וְאֶת־הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַעֲשֽׂוּן׃
(19) 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, (20) 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.
In the Biblical mind, there are certain leadership roles to play. And in many synagogue and church management books, you find similar:
The Priest - the person who acts out the service of the community
The King - the person who runs the business of the community
The Prophet - the person whose outsider vision inspires the community
The Judge - the person who manages the people in the community
Moses is attempting to be all of these, and his Priest Midianite father sees this trainwreck. There is a role for Moses to play: the prophet. He is to show a vision to the community, often frustrating these people with a combination of rules and outsiderness that prevents the mob from ever having control (or for him ever been absorbed into the mob and going along). Moses is not the Priest, the King or in Yitro’s mind, the day-to-day Judge.
In order for Moses, the great prophet of God, to be in shalom, to be in wholeness, he needs to stick to his role and let others play their role.
And that is?…
(כא) וְאַתָּ֣ה תֶחֱזֶ֣ה מִכׇּל־הָ֠עָ֠ם אַנְשֵׁי־חַ֜יִל יִרְאֵ֧י אֱלֹהִ֛ים אַנְשֵׁ֥י אֱמֶ֖ת שֹׂ֣נְאֵי בָ֑צַע וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ עֲלֵהֶ֗ם שָׂרֵ֤י אֲלָפִים֙ שָׂרֵ֣י מֵא֔וֹת שָׂרֵ֥י חֲמִשִּׁ֖ים וְשָׂרֵ֥י עֲשָׂרֹֽת׃ (כב) וְשָׁפְט֣וּ אֶת־הָעָם֮ בְּכׇל־עֵת֒ וְהָיָ֞ה כׇּל־הַדָּבָ֤ר הַגָּדֹל֙ יָבִ֣יאוּ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְכׇל־הַדָּבָ֥ר הַקָּטֹ֖ן יִשְׁפְּטוּ־הֵ֑ם וְהָקֵל֙ מֵֽעָלֶ֔יךָ וְנָשְׂא֖וּ אִתָּֽךְ׃
(21) You shall also seek out, from among all the people, capable individuals who [are in awe of] God—trustworthy ones who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and (22) 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.
What does any of this have to do with shalom — that sense of wholeness, completion or peace? The final line: letting them share the burden with you.
Clergy are terrible at this, by the way. We tend to think that carrying the tasks all in our hands is our responsibility. It’s often caked into organizations we serve. We’re terrible at being that person who says “this is not my job” and walks away with a clear conscience.
But this is what the Torah is telling us through the Yitro/Moshe encounter. It’s not only OK to share responsibilities with others. It helps us to be fully ourselves, to soar with our strengths — including, in this case, being a prophet.
And this, sharing with others, makes us a whole person.
So to recap:
Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace or hello, but it is rooted in the idea of sh-l-m, wholeness and its connection to peace
Even Moses (whose name in Hebrew is actually pronounced Moshe) could not be everything to everyone. He had unique skills, but others needed to play their role. Ultimately, sharing the burden of freedom from Egypt with Moses