To Truly Hear is to Change

Exodus 18:1 [Parshas Yisro] begins with words, “וישמע יתרו” — “And Jethro heard.” Sitting in Midian, the exciting and dramatic news came, “all that God did to Moshe [Moses] and to Israel, His people, when God took Israel out of Egypt.” There is no reason to believe that Jethro had a unique source of information. The news came to town and was available to everyone; it was probably one of the main topics of conversation for quite some time: “Hey! Did you hear the latest on what’s happening in Egypt? Blood, frogs, wild animals!” “The whole Egyptian army drowned! Who could have imagined?” “Amalek defeated! Read all about it!”

Yet, while the information was available to everyone, only Jethro truly “heard” the news. He heard the same news everyone else did, but he was the only one who accepted what it truly meant and acted upon it. To “hear” means much more than simply to passively hear a sound, it means to think about what you hear, to understand it, and to change yourself in response to the new knowledge.

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Author: Eliezer Abrahamson

Keywords: Jethro heard, Jethro, Priest of Midian, Shema, Hear Israel, Moses father in law

Bible reference(s): Exodus 18:1-2, Exodus 24:7

Source: “Yisro—To Truly Hear is to Change,” Olive Seedlings.

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