Komentarz do Wyjścia 18:21

ואתה תחזה MOREOVER THOU SHALT PROVIDE through the Holy Spirit that is upon thee (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:21:1),

MEN OF ‘CHAYIL.’ This means men who are capable of leading a great multitude of people. Every assembly and gathering is called chayil, and it does not apply only to soldiers going forth to war. Thus it is said [of the dry bones that Ezekiel resurrected], a great ‘chayil’ (host).¹⁰²Ezekiel 37:10. Of the locusts it is said, My great ‘chayil’ (army).¹⁰³Joel 2:25. Of wealth it is stated, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten this ‘chayil’ (wealth);¹⁰⁴Deuteronomy 8:17. they carry upon the shoulders of young asses ‘chayaleihem’ (their riches).¹⁰⁵Isaiah 30:6. Of fruits it is said, the fig-tree and the vine do yield ‘cheilam’ (their strength).¹⁰⁶Joel 2:22. Thus an ish chayil in the administration of justice is one who is wise, alert, and fair; in war, an ish chayil is one who is strong, alert, and who knows the art of arraying forces in battle. A woman also is an eisheth chayil (a woman of valor)¹⁰⁷Proverbs 31:10. when she is alert and knows how to conduct the management of a home.
Jethro thus spoke in general and in particular. [In general], he told Moses to select people with powers of leadership in the administration of justice for this great people. In particular, they should be such as fear G-d, men of truth, hating unjust gain, for it is impossible for them to be “men of chayil” in judgment, without these qualities. It was not necessary for him to mention that they must be wise and understanding, for it is clear that these qualities are included in the term “men of chayil.” Further on, when it says, And Moses chose men of ‘chayil,’¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. everything is already included — i.e., that they were G-d-fearing, men who hated unjust gain, wise and understanding. Moreover, Scripture says [that Moses chose them] out of all Israel,¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. which means [that they were] the preferred of all Israel, being the ones who have all of these qualities. Since Scripture states that he chose them out of all Israel,¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. it is already stating that they were chosen in preference to all, for it is known that the better ones in Israel possess all good qualities. Jethro, however, not being familiar with them, found it necessary to explain in detail [that they be G-d-fearing, men of truth, etc.]
Some scholars¹⁰⁹Ibn Ezra here. Also, R’dak in Sefer Hashorashim, on the root chayil. explain anshei chayil as men of physical strength and zeal, such as have ability to stand in the king’s palace.¹¹⁰Daniel 1:4. Similarly, eisheth chayil¹⁰⁷Proverbs 31:10. is a woman of strength and industry in the work of the home, as Scripture explains there in that section.¹¹¹Proverbs 31:10-31. Likewise, Make them wander to and fro ‘b’cheilcha,’¹¹²Psalms 59:12. which means “by Thy power.” Also, Neither doth it, [i.e., the horse], afford escape by its great ‘cheilo,’¹¹³Ibid., 33:17. [which means “by its great strength”]. The word [chayil] is associated with the Aramaic, as is evidenced by the [Hebrew] expression, ‘yesh l’eil yadi’ (It is in the power of my hand),¹¹⁴Genesis 31:29. which is rendered in the Targum: “there is cheila in my hand.” And further on it says, And Moses chose men of ‘chayil’ out of all Israel,¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. which means the preferred ones of the entire nation and all qualities are included, as I have explained.

ואתה תחזה מכל העם, select, and then appoint. The only area in which you alone are competent is the choosing of suitably qualified helpers, in accordance with the guidelines Yitro outlined. When it came to handing down judicial decisions, however, there would be 78600 appointees of four different levels of competence who would deal with all but the most perplexing problems without having to come to Moses for approval of their rulings. Initially a problem would be submitted to one of the 60000 men appointed as “chief” of ten. If such a man did not know the answer he would refer it to one of the 12000 chiefs of 50, and so on in an ascending order. The different levels of judges would in effect act as appellate judges, reviewing if judgments made by the lower ranking judges and appealed should be changed.

ואתה תחזה מכל העם אנשי חיל "and you shall seek out from amongst all the people able men, etc." This does not mean that the people should appoint the judges, but that Moses should look for suitable candidates. The Torah also hints that inasmuch as Moses would do the appointing, he could view himself as the judge seeing his appointees were his delegates.

אנשי חיל, wealthy and influential people who had no reason to be afraid of any of their peers.

אנשי חיל, “competent people,” people capable of dealing with the masses, i.e. people who have been endowed with numerous qualities, otherwise they would not be equal to the task. Having summed up the nature of such people, Yitro proceeds to list the specific qualities such people must possess in order to carry out their duties satisfactorily. Before referring to such people’s common sense, he mentions that their motivations must be above board, such as their being G’d-fearing, not greedy for money, truthful, etc., but all this is not enough unless they have been endowed with common sense, such as being נבונים. The latter quality need not be spelled out, as it is self-evident. [both Isaiah 5,21, and Jeremiah 4,22, refer to the basic requirement of this “common sense.” It is also the first attribute mentioned by Joseph in his advice to Pharaoh to appoint people who would administer the surplus during the seven bountiful years to come. Genesis Ed.] When reviewing these events in Deuteronomy 1,12, Moses does mention that he had asked the people to furnish him men endowed with common sense in addition to the other attributes as his assistants. [certain details which Moses saw fit to spell out to the common people, Yitro did not have to spell out to his brilliant son-in-law. Ed.] It is also possible that when we read in verse 25 that Moses selected men מכל ישראל, this term already includes that he had narrowed down the selection to the elite of the people, so that he did not need to repeat more than the term אנשי חיל to show that he had taken Yitro’s advice to heart.

ואתה תחזה, “as for you, you are to discern, etc.” We would have expected Yitro to say: “you shall select,” instead of “you will discern.” In fact, when it came to carrying out Yitro’s advice the Torah reports that Moses ויבחר אנשי חיל, “selected men who were accomplished.” The reason two different words were used for the selection of the appointees is that whereas man sees with his eyes, the exterior, i.e. תחזה, Yitro who was aware of man’s limitations in the matter advised Moses to do the most he could, i.e. judge by appearances. He hoped that Moses would have the prophetic insight, i.e. חזיון, visionary quality, to select the right people. When it came to carrying out the advice the Torah reports that Moses had Divine assistance so that the people he “selected,” were confirmed to possess the attributes Moses had judged that they had.
Another approach to the words: ואתה תחזה. We have stated on another occasion that the truly righteous person reflects this quality in his face so that even ferocious beasts do not attack him. Similarly, great men such as Yaakov can read facial expressions accurately so that they know what quality of person they face. Here too, Yitro told Moses that he was the kind of individual who could make such judgments based on merely looking at people from the outside. By emphasizing the word ואתה, Yitro meant that he was confident that Moses was able to select the right people without special Divine assistance.

Through the Divine Spirit which is upon you. [Rashi knows this] because תחזה is an expression related to חזיון (prophetic vision). Otherwise, it should say תבחר (choose). Alternatively, [Rashi knows this] because otherwise, how would Moshe be able to choose the capable and the truthful from among 600,000 men?

V. 21. חיל, jede Sammlung von Kräften an Besitz, Macht, sittlicher oder geistiger Begabung heißt חַיִל, daher: Vermögen, Heer, Bravheit, Tüchtigkeit, Tapferkeit. Daher auch חֵל, die alles umschließende Mauer. — בֶצַע, verwandt mit עsפ, verwunden: ein auf Kosten anderer errungener Vorteil (vergl. נשך). Daher auch בַצֵעַ, die Vollendung eines Werkes, das nur durch Vernichtung des Gegensätzlichen zu Stande kommen kann. —

שרי אלפים, “chiefs over a thousand each.” In the chapter of the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin dealing with this chapter it is pointed out that there were 600 chiefs over a thousand each, 6000 chiefs over 100 each and 60000 over each group of 10 Israelites plus 12000 over each group of 50 Israelites. If that had been so, there were no 600000 privates left in that army. We would have to assume therefore that Moses started with appointing 60000 potential chiefs. Having done so, he proceeded step by step to appoint the most capable of them to become either chiefs over 50, or over 1o00, or over 1000 each. As to the statement in the Talmud there that there were a total of 78600 chiefs of different ranks, this number applied to the people appointed as judges. Alternately, whereas the active soldiers were all of the ages between 20 and years of age, the officers over 50, 100, and 1000, respectively, could have been over 60 years of age.

אנשי חיל, “men who are mentally able to through the strength of their personalities to endure the people demand and not be cowed by their threats."

אנשי חיל MEN OF ABILITY (but חיל may mean “wealth” and in this sense the words would mean) — rich men who will not need to flatter or to show favour (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:21:1).

HATING UNJUST GAIN. “Men who disdain their own money in a law-suit, just as we say:¹¹⁵Baba Bathra 58b. ‘Any judge from whom money is collected by a judgment is not qualified as a judge.’” Thus Rashi’s language. By this, Rashi meant to explain that they disdain all money which they know can be collected from them by law, and return it themselves even though it is truly theirs, such as the case wherein one bought a slave without witnesses,¹¹⁶And the owner comes to reclaim him. Now even though the slave is rightfully the buyer’s, the latter knows that because he has no witnesses who can attest to the sale, the original owner will regain possession of the slave in a law-suit. The buyer therefore voluntarily returns the slave to the original owner. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 381, as to why Ramban mentioned such a specific case. or a similar example.
But the text in the Mechilta is not so, [i.e., as Rashi commented]. Rather, this is the way it is taught there:¹¹⁷Mechilta on the verse here. “‘Hating unjust gain. I.e., those who, when sitting in judgment, disdain to accept money.’ These are the words of Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Eleazar of Modi’im says: ‘Hating unjust gain. I. e., those who disdain their own money. If they disdain their own money, how much more will they despise the money of their friends!’” The explanation [of this text of the Mechilta] is that Rabbi Yehoshua interprets the expression hating ‘botza’ as meaning “hating bribery,” the usage of the word [betza] being similar to: Every one is greedy for ‘botza’ (gain);¹¹⁸Jeremiah 6:13. Each one ‘l’bitzo’ (to his gain), one and all.¹¹⁹Isaiah 56:11. Rabbi Eleazar of Modi’im explained that hating ‘botza’ means that they despise abundance of money and have no desire to increase their silver and gold, something like the verse, If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much.¹²⁰Job 31:25. Money [or profit] is called betza [in Hebrew]: What ‘betza’ (profit) is it if we slay our brother?¹²¹Genesis 37:26. Is it any ‘betza’ (profit or advantage) to the Almighty that thou art righteous?¹²²Job 22:3. And thou shalt devote ‘bitz’am (their gain) unto the Eternal, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.¹²³Micah 4:13.
Again, I have seen in the Yelamdeinu:¹²⁴See Sifre, Devarim 17. For the name Yelamdeinu, see Seder Bo, Note 196. “Hating unjust gain [means] those who disdain their own money, and needless to say, they disdain the money of others. They are the ones who say, ‘Even if this man will burn my stack, even if he will destroy my plants, I will render judgment correctly.’” This is the intent of Rabbi Eleazar of Modi’im, who said that they disdain their own money, meaning that they pay no regard to their property when sitting in judgment, that is, if they will suffer a loss of money on account of it. Moses further admonished them on this, saying, Ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man.¹²⁵Deuteronomy 1:17. [Thus according to the Yelamdeinu], betza means money, as I have explained. Onkelos rendered it: “those who hate to receive money.” But the word “money,” [as Onkelos uses it], does not mean a bribe, [which of course is forbidden in itself]. It means rather that they should never accept money from people as a gift or loan, so that they should show them no favoritism at the time of judgment. It is similar to what the Rabbis have said:¹²⁶Kethuboth 105b. “A judge who is in the habit of borrowing things [from his neighbors] is forbidden to act as judge in a law-suit involving them.”
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, men of truth, hating ‘botza’, means those who love the truth and hate “oppression.” When they see oppression and violence, they cannot tolerate them, their whole desire being only to deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.¹²⁷Jeremiah 21:12.

שנאי בצע, people who hated ill gotten gains. Bribery and robbery are often referred to as בצע. (compare Chabakuk 2,9). Compare also Genesis 37,26 where Yehudah when saying מה בצע כי נהרוג את אחינו, means: “any gain that we would derive from killing our brother would be illegitimate, illegal.” In Job 27,8 we find a similar use of the word בצע.

שונאי בצע, “men who despise money acquired by unfair means.” According to the plain meaning of the text, what Yitro had in mind were people who could not be bribed. Some commentators see in this term a reference to people who despise amassing financial wealth as an investment in the future, people who demonstrate their lack of faith in G’d the provider, by building a “nest-egg.” [after all the idea of G’d providing manna for only a day at time was meant to instill in the people this very trust in G’d as their Provider. Ed.] Rashi [according to some views. Ed.] understood the term literally, people who hated the very idea that money would be obtained though legally, only through the intervention of a tribunal which had to assess one’s legal claim to it. A שונא בצע would be a person who pays up rather than allows the claim against him to be decided in court, even when he thinks he does not owe the money demanded. [we may each have our own views about the unworldly nature of such people and their use in judging the people. This editor cannot imagine that Yitro was so naive as to think that such men could be found in large numbers. Ed.] Still other commentators understand the term שונאי בצע as referring to judges who resist being intimidated by litigants who threaten them if they do not rule in their favour. [this would be equivalent to Moses warning the judges (Deut. 1,17) לא תגורו מפני איש, “do not tremble before any man.”]

מכל העם אנשי חיל, “from amongst all the people men of accomplishment.” The term אנשי חיל is a collective term and presupposes that these people possessed all the individual qualities Yitro had enumerated such as being “G’d-fearing, men of truth, people despising money.” The title אנשי חיל is applied to people who can lead the nation by judging fairly. It is impossible for fair judgment to be dispensed unless those dispensing it possess reverence for G’d and His Torah, despise ill gotten gain such as bribes, and are truthful. Our sages (Sanhedrin 7) have stated that a true judge is someone who in his mind’s eye constantly sees a sword at his neck above, and gehinom opening before him below, he being in the middle. If he merits it he will be saved from both, if not he will be afflicted by both. Judges must also be “men of truth,” meaning they must love truth as a value by itself choosing to side only with truth, refusing to accept arguments based on lies. They must personify the principle expressed in Exodus 23,7 applying to judges (according to Ibn Ezra) “keep your distance from anything deceitful.” They must also be שונאי בצע, i.e. display a disdain for money. This applies to a disdain for their own money, money acquired honestly (‎Sifri on Deut. 1,17). It goes without saying that they must hate money that was taken from others illegally. (compare Genesis 37,26). The author quotes Scripture to show that the word בצע may mean simply ”money.” An alternative meaning of the word בצע may be “robbery.” The requirement of the psychological makeup of the personality of a judge would have to be a hatred against anything acquired by means of violence direct or indirect, i.e. the threat of violence.
In order to appreciate how highly these virtues were esteemed by the Torah we need only look at instances of the Torah complimenting outstanding individuals. Noach (Genesis 6,9) was praised for being righteous and perfect (תמים), a contrast to the violence which permeated mankind at the time and resulted in the decree of the deluge. Avraham was praised and instructed to be תמים, (Genesis 17,1). Yaakov was described as תם, (Genesis 25,27) Moses was described as extremely ענו, humble, the opposite of arrogant, demanding. All of this goes to show that the principal quality of a judge is not his intellect but his personal virtue. Just as the trunk of a tree is not its most important component but the fruit it yields, our sages taught us that the meaning of Psalm 111,10 שכל טוב לכל עושיהם, is that not the לומדיהם, the intelligence itself, is the principal value of a clever brain but the use to which he puts such intelligence., i.e. עושיהם (Berachot 17).

Any judge from whom property is taken. . . Re”m writes: The adage which Rashi cited does not exactly fit the point of discussion. [This is because property, if taken away through litigation, is not their own property. On the contrary, it rightfully belongs to the other party.] The answer [to the Re”m is as follows: Rashi’s adage] refers to the case [stated in Midrash Tanchuma, Yisro ch. 2] where one litigant says to the judge, “If you do not rule in my favor, I will burn down your house.” The judge rules in his favor, out of fear. Yet, the judge knows that the other litigant will sue him for the false ruling, and the judge will have to compensate him [from his own property] for the loss he caused him. About this Rashi said, “Any judge from whom property is taken through litigation.” In other words: Any judge who must pay money because he ruled against the innocent party is not fit to be a judge, for it is written: “Do not fear any man” (Devarim 1:17).

מכל העם, "from amongst all the people, etc." This means that although Moses might find candidates acceptable to him he should not appoint them until they also proved acceptable to all the people and the people asked for these men to be appointed as judges.

Die von Jitro vorgeschlagene und von Mosche ausgeführte Organisation bedarf einer eingehenden Erwägung. Wenn das שרי אלפים וגו׳ dahin zu verstehen wäre, dass sechshundert Richter je über Tausend, sechstausend je über Hundert usw. eingesetzt worden und diese Richter alle eine gleiche Kompetenz gehabt, so wäre jeder einzelne des Volkes vier Richtern untergeben gewesen, seinem Zehntrichter, seinem Fünfzigrichter, seinem Hundertrichter und seinem Tausendrichter, und es wäre in der Ausführung ein solcher Kompetenzzweifel notwendig entstanden, der weit entfernt von dem "Frieden" gewesen sein müsste, der durch diese Einrichtung hat gefördert werden sollen. Es scheint daher durch diese Einrichtung vielmehr eine Rangordnung der Kompetenz begründet worden zu sein und שר אלפים usw., nicht sowohl den über Tausend etc. Gesetzten, als vielmehr den aus Tausend etc. als der tüchtigste und beste der Auserwählten zu bedeuten. Ein שר אלף war ein aus Tausend, ein שר מאה etc., ein aus Hundert etc. Erwählter. Es. ist klar, dass, wenn man zuerst ein Volk in Gruppen von Tausend zusammentreten lässt und aus je Tausend den besten heraushebt, und dann in Gruppen von Hundert und aus ihnen den besten aushebt, und so weiter bis zu Gruppen von Zehen verfährt, man vier Kategorien von Männern erhält, deren jede vorangehende der nachfolgenden an Charakter und Tüchtigkeit überlegen ist. Erwägt man, wie aus Dewarim 1, 13 hervorzugehen scheint, dass alle die einzusetzenden Männer vom Volke selbst vorgeschlagen und von Mosche nur bestätigt und ernannt worden, — es heißt dort: wählet, eigentlich gebet, euch weise und einsichtsvolle und euren Stämmen bekannte Männer, die will ich an eure Spitze setzen — so wird diese Erwählungsart noch entsprechender erscheinen. Es hätten zuerst je Tausend aus sich den Besten und Tüchtigsten auszuwählen und dann je Hundert. und so weiter bis zum kleinsten Wahlkörper von Zehnen. Es gab somit vier Kategorien von Tüchtigkeit und Vertrauenswürdigkeit, die einander übergeordnet waren. Wie hier unter Mosche vier einander übergeordnete Gerichtskategorien waren, so gab es auch im spätern jüdischen Staat vier Kategorien einander übergeordneter Gerichtshöfe unter dem großen Sanhedrin, welches die Stelle Mosche vertrat. Ein Kollegium von dreien in jedem Orte; ein Kollegium von dreiundzwanzig in jeder größeren Stadt; zwei Kollegien von dreiundzwanzig am Eingang zum Tempelberg und zur Tempelvorhalle; und als höchstes Tribunal das Kollegium von Einundsiebenzig in der Steinhalle. Wie die ersten jüdischen Richter von dem Volke und aus dem Volke erwählt wurden, so wird auch noch nachher die zum Richter erforderliche Qualifikation מומחה לרבים, ein dem Volke Erprobter, genannt. Es gab einen Apell von den kleinen Gerichten an die größern, bis hinauf zu dem großen Sanhedrin. Allein nicht die Parteien appellierten, sondern die kleinen Gerichtskollegien selbst wandten sich in Fällen, die ihnen zweifelhaft waren, an die ihnen übergeordneten Stellen. Ähnlich wie es ja auch hier heißt: כל הדבר הגדול יביאו אליך, die Richter selbst bringen Fälle, deren Entscheidung sie sich nicht zutrauen, bis zu dir, und darf dies sehr wohl voraussetzen, dass sie zuvor sich an die ihnen übergeordnete Kategorie um Entscheidung zu wenden hatten, bevor sie zu Mosche kamen (siehe סנהדרין b 88)

יראי אלוקים, men who only fear G-d, and not their fellow human beings.

אנשי אמת MEN OF TRUTH — These are people commanding confidence (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:21:1); who are deserving that one should rely upon their words — appoint these as judges because on account of this their words will be listened to.

שרי אלפים ושרי מאות, “leaders of thousands, and leaders of hundreds.” This verse answers the problem raised by Ibn Ezra, who could not understand why fully one eighth of the people (78600) were “chiefs” of one kind or another. (compare Deut. 1,15) Here there was no need to spell out how many of these people were appointed as judges, how many law enforcers, seeing that the appointment of judges without law enforcers is something quite futile. Clearly, the people described as ראשי שופטיכם, “your chief justices,” must have been drawn from the group described here as שרי אלפים “leaders of thousands.”

אנשי חיל, יראי אלוקים, וגו׳ "able and G'd-fearing men, etc." Yitro spoke of four different qualifications corresponding to the four levels of judges he had suggested, i.e. chiefs of tens, chiefs of fifties, chiefs of hundreds and chiefs of thousands. The expression אנשי חיל is an all encompassing term, i.e. people who possess all the necessary qualifications mentioned to the fullest extent. Such people would be appointed as chiefs of thousands. In order to qualify as a chief of hundreds, Yitro demanded that the judges possess fear of the Lord; the reason that he mentioned יראי אלוקים (instead of יראי השם, for instance) was that their fear of the Lord need comprise only fear of punishment if they trespassed the Lord's commandments. This qualification was adequate to qualify a person to be a chief of hundreds. Although fear of the Lord in His capacity as the tetragram might be perceived as a higher qualification, in this instance it was not. Fear of the Lord as awe of the majesty represented by G'd includes awareness of all of G'd's attributes including the fact that He may be forgiving, display patience, etc. These latter considerations would make a judge think that if he committed an error G'd would be indulgent with him. It was important to Yitro that the judge would be constantly aware of the penalty he would face if he perverted justice. Yitro's point is best illustrated in Chagigah 4 where the prophet Samuel who had been raised from the dead by the witch employed by King Saul was visibly frightened (Samuel 28,15). If Samuel had reason to be concerned, how much more must ordinary individuals be afraid of G'd's justice. The Talmud reports that Samuel did not make an appearance until Moses himself accompanied him as a protector. The chiefs of thousands also possessed this quality of fear of punishment; in their case they possessed an additional qualification which the chiefs of hundreds did not need to possess. Concerning the qualifications needed in order to be appointed as one of the chiefs of fifties, Yitro demanded that these judges be known as truthful. Although these people did not possess the level of fear of punishment which characterised their colleagues the chiefs of hundreds, their reputation as truthful men sufficed to make them eligible as chiefs of fifties. Finally, in order to qualify as a chief of tens it was only necessary to have a reputation that one spurned ill-gotten gains. Yitro was careful to describe these people as "hating" ill gotten gains. It was not enough that they could curb their desire for such gains; they had to be people who never allowed themselves to lust after such gains. These last-mentioned qualifications were, of course, presumed to be possessed also by the chiefs of fifties and the chiefs of hundreds. If Yitro had meant for these various qualifications he mentioned to be be cumulative, i.e. that even a person who was a chief of tens had to possess all of these attributes, the attributes should have been linked to each other by the conjunctive letter ו i.e. אנשי חיל ויראי אלוקים.

Auffallend könnte die große Anzahl Richter erscheinen. Es ergibt sich nämlich eine Zahl von 78.600 Richtern, somit war der siebente oder achte Mann in Israel ein Richter. (סנהדרין יח א) Allein jeder rechtschaffene und des Gesetzes einigermaßen kundige Mann war in Israel zum Richter berufen. Rechtschaffen und des Gesetzes nicht unkundig sollte ja eigentlich jeder sein. Und so ward das ganze Volk und somit jeder im Volke als Träger und Vertreter des Gesetzes betrachtet, dass je drei rechtschaffene Männer aus dem Volke zu einem Richterkollegium zusammentreten und jeden Rechtverweigernden aburteilen und zur Erfüllung des Rechts nötigen konnten. סנהדרין 5a, תוספו׳ ד׳׳ה אפי׳). Die Wohltat einer solchen Institution lässt sich leicht an der Schwierigkeit und Kostspieligkeit der Rechtsauslegung in andern Kreisen ermessen und würdigen. Es dürften aber überdies diese Erwählten des Volkes nicht bloß zu Entscheidungen von Prozessen bestellt gewesen sein, sondern ihnen auch die Belehrung des Volkes obgelegen haben, also, dass die Mosche geoffenbarten Gesetze vermittelst derselben dem Volke mitgeteilt, zum Verständnis gebracht und im Gedächtnis wach gehalten wurden. So fasst auch רמב׳׳ם in seiner Einleitung zur Mischna die (עירובין נד ב׳) mitgeteilte Lehrordnung: כיצד סדר משנה וכו׳ auf, dass die zuerst von Mosche dem Aaron, sodann in dessen Gegenwart seinen Söhnen, sodann den Ältesten in Gegenwart aller dreier, und endlich in Gegenwart Aarons, seiner Söhne und der Ältesten der Volksgesamtheit mitgeteilten Gesetze, sodann durch die השרים על כל ישראל, somit durch die hier erwählten Gesetzesbeamten dem Volke bis zur vollständigsten Aneignung gelehrt wurden. וישוטו השרים על כל ישראל ללמוד ולהגות עד שידעו בגרסה המצוה ההיא וירגילו לקרותה עכ׳׳ל.

שונאי בצע, men who despise to make money only through being successful in litigation. Rashi bases himself on the saying in the Talmud in Baba Batra folio 58; “any judge from whom one extracts money only by means of legal proceedings, is not fit to be a judge.”What is the correct interpretation of the expression: “they hate money gained through litigation?” Example: one of the litigants threatens the judge that if he is not found justified in his claim against his fellow man, that litigant will burn the judge’s house down, or threats of a similar nature. If such a judge is undeterred by such threats, he truly fits the definition of people whom Yitro called שונאי בצע. If, however he indicts the innocent and convicts the guilty, out of fear of the threats that had been made against him, the opposite party of the one who had won in the litigation is considered as having won judgment only by dint of legal proceedings but not by dint of having been found righteous in his claim.

שנאי בצע HATING LUCRE — men who hate (pay no regard to) their property when it is to be made the matter of a law-suit (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:21:1), in accordance with what we say: Any judge from whom one has to wring the money he owes only by means of a law-suit is no fitting judge (Bava Batra 58b).

It is obvious that if Moses were able to find a sufficient number of people possessing the highest of these attributes this would be wonderful; as it turned out, the Torah reports that Moses was indeed able to find close to 80,000 people who could qualify for the title of אנשי חיל. This also proves that Yitro had spoken of these qualifications in a descending order. Had Yitro intended for these qualifications to be cumulative, the Torah would have had to report that Moses found people who were men of truth, G'd-fearing, hated ill gotten gains, etc. We must certainly not assume that the reason the Torah does not mention Moses as having selected men of truth, G'd-fearing men, etc. was because he could not find such people. The only reason that Yitro had mentioned a variety of qualifications in a descending order was that he was afraid Moses might not be able to find a sufficient number of people with the highest attribute of all.

שרי אלפים, “chiefs in charge of thousands; according to Rashi, there would be 600 such “chiefs.” There would be six thousand chiefs” of hundreds and 60000 chiefs of ten Israelites each, so that there would be a total of 78600 “judges.” If so we have to assume that these were in addition to the 600000 ordinary Israelites, and who had not been included in the census. [There are numerous problems with this count. See Tossaphot Baba Batra 121, Ed.] Some commentators suggest that there is no problem at all as all these “judges” were over the age of 60, and thus would not have been included in the census at any rate. The Talmud stated explicitly that males under 20 years of age and over 60 years of age were never included in any census. A third opinion holds that each group of “chiefs” was included in the census of his particular category, i.e. the chiefs of thousands in the count of each one thousand Israelites, etc.

שרי אלפים OFFICERS OF THOUSANDS — there were six hundred such officers for the six hundred thousand men of Israel.

I have given some thought as to the reason why Yitro merited that this whole portion bears his name. While it is true that inasmuch as Yitro paid honour to Moses the servant of G'd, G'd repaid him by honouring him, G'd could have found many other ways of compensating Yitro for his good deeds. Why did the Torah have to create the impression that if it had not been for Yitro a priest from Midian, Moses together with G'd's chosen people would not have known how to administer the Israelites' affairs?

שרי חמשים OFFICERS OF FIFTIES — twelve thousand.

שרי מאות OFFICERS OF HUNDREDS — there were six thousand of them.

I believe the reason for all this is that G'd wanted to show the Jewish people already at that time and for all future generations that there are great and intelligent men to be found amongst the nations of the world. Vitro was an example of an enlightened Gentile who demonstrated this point beyond question. It is to teach us that if G'd chose the Jewish people as His people this is not because they possess superior intellectual qualities. G'd chose the Jewish people as a reward for the loyalty the patriarchs had shown Him and as an act of love towards this people. There is a discussion in Zevachim 116 as to whether Yitro arrived in the desert prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai or after. According to the view that he arrived prior to the revelation, the point we just made that G'd did not choose the Jewish people because of their intellectual superiority is reinforced. Although the Gentiles number more wise men than the Jews G'd still decided to make us His pilot project. This imposes an additional duty on us to praise Him for having chosen us as an act of love. Even according to the opinion that Yitro arrived in the desert only after מתן תורה, the reason that the Torah reports his arrival before it reports the revelation indicates that the Torah wishes us to learn this lesson.

שרי עשרת OFFICERS OF TENS — sixty thousand (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:21:2, Sanhedrin 18a).