Komentarz do Wyjścia 18:16

כי יהיה להם דבר בא WHEN THEY HAVE A MATTER THEY COME (lit., “he comes”) — “He”, viz., who has the matter comes to me.

כי יהיה להם דבר, when someone among these people who hold positions of public trust has a disagreement with one of his colleagues he brings it to me,

Whoever has the matter comes to me. Rashi is answering the question: Why does it begin in plural: [ להם ], but conclude in singular: בא אלי ? Thus Rashi explains: “Whoever has. . .” [In vs. 15-16,] Moshe is answering Yisro, who thought that Moshe’s sitting is [inappropriate] princely behavior. [The thrust of] Moshe’s answer is only, “I judge between man and his neighbor.” I.e., Moshe is answering that the people stand for judgment, not for his honor. [The thrust of] Moshe’s answer is not, “I impart to them Hashem’s statutes and His laws,” [which, taken on its own, could] mean that he is teaching them [and not judging them. This would not answer Yisro] because [in the early generations] both master and disciple stood while studying. Due to the fact [that everything revolves around, “I judge between man and his neighbor,”] Rashi explains that [everything] refers to judgment — even כי יבא in v. 15, and כי יהיה להם דבר in this verse. This is against [the simple understanding of] Onkelos, [that v. 15 speaks of teaching, not judgment].

(Ibid. 16) "When they have a matter (to be resolved), he (the one who 'has the matter') comes to me": ("a matter") as to uncleanliness or cleanliness. "and I judge between a man": This is a judgment where there is no compromise. "and his neighbor": this is a judgment where there is compromise, where they take leave of each other as "neighbors." "And I make known to them the statutes of G d": These are inferences (from what is written). "and His Toroth": His (written) teachings. These are the words of R. Yehoshua. R. Elazar Hamodai says: "statutes" (the laws governing) illicit relations, as in (Leviticus 18:30) "not to follow the abominable statutes (i.e., the lewd practices) which were practiced before you." "and His Toroth": His teachings.

V. 16 präzisiert dies im Einzelnen. Zuerst: כי יהי׳ להם דבר בא אלי wenn sie irgend ein Anliegen haben, hinsichtlich dessen sie Belehrung oder Hilfe bedürfen, kommen sie zu mir. Sodann ושפטתי וגו׳ habe ich ihre Streitsachen zu schlichten. Beides heißt "Gott suchen" in speziellen Fällen und für spezielle Fälle. Endlich והודעתי וגו׳ kommen sie zu mir, um von mir Gottes Gesetze und Lehren kennen zu lernen. Dies ist das "Gott suchen" im allgemeinen. Gottes Beistand selbst ist bedingt durch die Gestaltung unseres Lebens nach seinem Willen und diese Gestaltung durch Kenntnis dieses Willens. Der göttliche Wille für unser äußeres praktisches Leben ist hier in חוקים zusammengefasst, die unser ganzes Tun innerhalb der Schranken des Gebührenden und Rechten umgrenzen. Seinen Willen für unser inneres Leben, für Geist und Gemüt, umfassen תורותיו, seine unser Inneres mit den Lebenskeimen der Wahrheit und Güte befruchtenden Lehren. Auch vor der sinaitischen Gesetzgebung hatten sie bereits Gesetze, die noachidischen Gebote, Mila, Schabbat, die, wie z. B. דינין und עריות, einer ausführlichen Erläuterung und Belehrung bedurften.

את חוקי האלוקים ואת תורותיו, “G-d’s statutes and His teachings.” Moses refers to the statutes and teachings that G-d had already taught him prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai, and his ascending that Mountain to receive the whole Torah. Those teachings had been referred to when the people had been encamped around Marah when the bitter waters had been turned into sweet waters (Exodus 15,25)

בא אלי ושפטתי בין איש ובין רעהו, between these leaders of the community who come to me about matters of public concern.

והודעתי את חקי האלוקים ואת תורותיו, to these highly placed individuals who approach me with the concerns of the public. We encounter similar occurrences described in slightly different words, such as in Exodus 34,31-32 “Moses called to them and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.” Our sages in Eyruvin 54 describe the hierarchy of transmitting G’d’s word to the people. Moses learned the Torah directly from G’d; when Aaron entered his tent he told him what he had learned. Aaron would move over and take his seat on Moses’ left. After that Aaron’s sons would enter and Moses would instruct them in what G’d had taught him. This continued until Moses had taught the same lesson no fewer than 4 times. We can see that all this took time, and as a result the ordinary people had to stand in line for a long time.