Powerful mentor guided Moses

By Richard Ostling
Associated Press

When Jews celebrate Passover, which begins Wednesday, it's understandable why Moses, who led the exodus from Egypt, gets most of the attention. But his father-in-law, Jethro, is among the more intriguing secondary figures of that era.

According to Exodus 2:11-22, the young Moses killed an Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew slave and fled from Egypt to Midian (probably present-day southern Jordan and northwest Saudi Arabia.) There, Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro and worked as a shepherd until God told him to return to Egypt and free his people.

Jethro wasn't part of the exodus. He filled a different role, caring for Zipporah and sons Gershom and Eliezer back in Midian, then returning them safely to Moses in Sinai after the Passover and escape from Egypt. Conservative Judaism's "Etz Hayim" commentary suggests that Moses sent his family away out of concern for safety, or because he needed to concentrate fully on his mission.

Since Moses had been raised in a pampered royal court, it's easy to imagine that Jethro taught Moses much about life in the arid wilderness that proved useful during Israel's 40 years in Sinai.

Jethro helped Moses in another way. Exodus 18 recounts that people flocked to Moses to settle legal disputes. Jethro quickly observed that the system was unworkable.

He advised his son-in-law to select leaders for the people according to groups of 1,000, 100, 50 and 10. These lesser officials then judged "small matters," leaving the "hard cases" to Moses.

The system was like an early version of democracy. Moses said, "Pick from each of your tribes men who are wise, discerning and experienced, and I will appoint them."

According to the now-deceased Lubavitcher rebbe, or rabbi, Menachem Schneerson, whose teachings are posted on the Orthodox Web site www.chabad.org, Jethro was something of a lawgiver. Schneerson credited Jethro with making an addition to the Torah (Law) as given to Moses.

Schneerson also noted that Jethro was a convert to Judaism. Christian commentators have seen Jethro's convert status as a forerunner of the gentiles who joined Jews in early Christian churches.