Kli Yakar Vol. 2
Rendered into English by Elihu Levine

...åéùîò éúøå ëäï îãéï çúï îùä
(éç, à)
Yisro, the priest of Midian, Moshe’s father-in-law, heard...

The Yalkut concludes:¹ “What report did [Yisro] hear that [compelled him] to come?

Rabbi Yehoshua says: He heard about the [Jewish people’s] war with Amalek and he came. Rabbi Elazar of Modi’in says: He heard about the giving of the Torah and he came. Rabbi Eliezer says: He heard about the splitting of the Red Sea and he came.”

It seems apparent that Yisro heard about all [of these events], because from the beginning God did not speak to them in secrecy at Mount Sinai.² [God’s] voice resounded,³ and the nations heard and shuddered.⁴ If that is the case, how did [the Sages] differ [regarding what Yisro heard]? From the [Yalkut’s] usage of the word åáà , “and he came,” it can be deduced that their differences were not in what [Yisro] heard. They all admit that he heard ... àú ëì àùø òùä àìäéí , “all that God did...”⁵ as indicated in this whole parashah, that Yisro heard everything that was done. Rather, the basis of their dispute was which event that he heard caused him to come with Moshe’s wife and children.⁶

Therefore, in all the opinions [brought above] the word åáà was used. They all understood that the entire first verse [relating that Yisro heard about all the events] is connected to the verse .... åéáà éúøå , “And Yisro came....”⁷ It is as if [the Torah] said that since [Yisro] heard something wondrous that compelled him to come, therefore he came and took Tzipporah, Moshe’s wife, with him. The Rabbis therefore asked which [specific] event that he heard about caused him to come with Moshe’s wife and children.

Rabbi Yehoshua [the first opinion] said, “[Yisro] heard about the war with Amalek [and he came].” God said that [the Jewish people] would be at war with Amalek for generations, ⁸ and Yisro [that is, his descendants the Kenites] lived among the Amalekites, as it says, “Shaul said to the Kenites, ‘Depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.’ ”⁹ Yisro thought, If I will not return and rejoin my daughter with Moshe, when there will be war with Amalek, they [the Jewish people] will also do battle with me [that is, my descendants]. Therefore, he came with [Moshe’s] wife to return her and join them back together after [Moshe] had sent her away,¹⁰ thinking [that Israel] would be kind to him [and to his descendants] because of his son-in-law Moshe and [Moshe’s] children, since they were [not only Moshe’s] children but also “my [Yisro’s] children.”¹¹

Rabbi Elazar of Modi’in [the second opinion] said, “[Yisro] heard about the giving of the Torah and he came,” as it says there, “You shall not go near a woman.”¹² Yisro thought to expound the same kal vachomer¹³ that Moshe expounded:¹⁴ if Israel temporarily separated from women at the giving of the Torah, Moshe, with whom the Divine Presence spoke all the time, certainly would completely separate from his wife and thus he would not send for her. Therefore, Yisro came and brought Moshe’s wife to him in order that she should live with him, since “the splendor of man is to dwell [with his wife] in his home”¹⁵ in accordance with Jewish law.¹⁶

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1. Yalkut Shimoni, Shemos 18:1, based on Zevachim 116a.
2. This phrase, ’ ëé ìà îøàù áñúø ãáø ä , “because from the beginning God did not speak to them in secrecy,” is based on Yeshayahu 48:16. See Rashi’s explanation there. The Kli Yakar uses this phrase to indicate that the events that occurred to the Jewish people beginning with the Exodus until Sinai were known to the world and were not a “secret.”
3. The phrase ÷åìå äåîä , “[God’s] voice resounded,” is based on Melachim I 1:41.
4. As expressed in Shemos 15:14.
5. As the continuation of this verse indicates.
6. See Shemos 18:2.
7. Shemos 18:5.
8. See Shemos 17:16.
9. Shmuel I 15:6. The Kenites were an offshoot of the Midianites, the nation to which Yisro belonged.
10. See Shemos 18:2 and Rashi’s explanation there as to why Moshe sent Tzipporah away.
11. The gemara in Yevamos 62b states, “Grandchildren are as children.” Thus Yisro called his grandchildren “my children.”
12. Shemos 19:15. This was one of God’s instructions to the Jewish people prior to the giving of the Torah.
13. A fortiori reasoning; an inference from a minor matter to a major matter.
14. As related in Shabbos 87a. The phrase ãøù ãøù îùä , “Moshe expounded,” is from Vayikra 10:16.
15. Yeshayahu 44:13.
16. The phrase ëãú îùä åéùøàì literally translates as “according to the faith of Moshe and Israel.” It is part of the phrase a man recites when he consecrates his wife to him in the marriage ceremony.

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