ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 18:15

AFTER THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D SHALL YE WALK. This is a commandment that we follow His counsel, and of Him alone shall we inquire concerning every hidden thing and inquire concerning the future, as it is written, and she went to inquire of the Eternal;¹⁴⁵Genesis 25:22. because the people come unto me to inquire of G-d.¹⁴⁶Exodus 18:15. And so did the Israelites do with the prophets, [as it is said,] Is there not here a prophet of the Eternal, that we may inquire of the Eternal through him?;¹⁴⁷II Kings 3:11. that the Eternal thy G-d may tell us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing we should do.¹⁴⁸Jeremiah 42:3. And in the Sifre it is stated:¹⁴⁹Sifre, R’eih 85. “After the Eternal your G-d [shall ye walk] — this refers to the cloud [of Glory].”¹⁵⁰See Ramban to Numbers 9:19: “They did the will of G-d in following after the cloud [of Glory].” See also my Hebrew commentary here p. 406. This is as we have explained, that we are to hearken to the “voice” of His signs and follow His counsel.

HOW CAN I MYSELF ALONE BEAR ‘TORCHACHEM’ (YOUR TROUBLE) ‘UMASA’ACHEM’ (AND YOUR BURDEN), V’RIVCHEM (AND YOUR STRIFE)? According to the simple meaning of Scripture, Moses our teacher alluded to them the three things which he told Jethro that he was doing for the people, as I have explained there.⁷⁴Exodus 18:15. Vol. II, p. 263. He now mentioned them to Israel by implication. He said torchachem corresponding to and I make known to them the statutes of G-d and His laws,⁷⁵Ibid., Verse 16. for it was a difficult “task” to teach those who had come forth from Egypt, the statutes and the laws of G-d, their meanings, interpretations, and secrets. He said masa’achem corresponding to the people come unto me to inquire of G-d,⁷⁴Exodus 18:15. Vol. II, p. 263. a reference to prayer, for he used to pray on their behalf. The word masa’achem is related to the expression: ‘v’nasatha t’filah’ (and thou lift up prayer);⁷⁶II Kings 19:4. nor ‘tisa’ (lift up) entreaty or prayer in their behalf.⁷⁷Jeremiah 7:16. [He stated] ‘v’rivchem’ (and your strife) which is to be understood in its plain sense — matters of judgments [because judges must rule when there is strife among people]. Moses continued to state: Get you men who are wise, and understanding, and known among your tribes⁷⁸Verse 13. — referring only to [the qualities of] judges. But he said unqualifiedly, and I will make them heads over you⁷⁸Verse 13. by way of humility.⁷⁹That is, Moses told the people that he will make these judges “heads” over them — in all three of the above capacities: teaching, praying and judging. Actually, however, the “heads” were only for rendering judgment in matters of litigation between them, but not for teaching the statutes and the laws to the people, nor for praying on their behalf, those vital functions being the province of Moses. Yet Moses by way of humility said that he would appoint them to all three functions.
Now Rashi quotes from the Sifre:⁸⁰Sifre, Devarim 12. “‘Torchachem’ (Your trouble). This teaches that they were troublesome. If one perceived that his opponent was winning a litigation, he would say ‘I have witnesses to bring; I have evidence to present; I [exercise my right to] add judges to you [thereby increasing the size of the court].’” But I do not know [the validity of] this law that one of the litigants should have the right to add judges above [the usual number of] three in cases concerning monetary matters, and surely he has no such right after presenting his case before them and perceiving that his opponent was winning the case! For, had he voluntarily accepted upon himself a relative or an unqualified person as a judge, he could indeed retract⁸¹Sanhedrin 31b. prior to the rendering of the final judgment, but from those qualified to judge he cannot retract [his acceptance]! Perhaps we can deduce from here the principle that a man can say, “I choose two judges and you choose two other ones, and they [i.e., the four judges] will choose one more,⁸²For “a court must not be divisible evenly;” it must have an odd number of judges to assure that, in the event of a split, there would not be a tie vote (ibid., 2a). and let the suit be decided by five or more judges,” just as the Rabbis have said:⁸³The precise source of this statement is unknown to me. Rambam states the thought as follows: “Although a court of three judges is a perfect tribunal, yet if they are more, it is to be praised” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Sanhedrin 2:13). “A suit decided by five [judges] is not comparable to one decided by ten [judges].” Although three judges [have the power to] compel parties to come before them for judgment when one refuses to be bound by their decision, yet if one [of the litigants] desires to choose additional judges, he may do so, because it is similar to [the case of] one [of the litigants] who says, “Let us go to the main meeting place of the scholars [to bring our suit before them on the assumption that superior scholars are better qualified to judge],”⁸¹Sanhedrin 31b. in which case we accede to him, provided it does not entail [undue] hardship, for in such a case we have been commanded, Justice, justice, shalt thou pursue,⁸⁴Further, 16:20. [which the Sifre interpreted]: “Go to a reliable court,” and an increase in the number constitutes “a reliable court.”⁸⁵Sifre, Shoftim 144; Sanhedrin 32b. Now in the wilderness, wise men were available to them and the litigants could say, “Let us go before the officers of the thousands.”

טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם, “your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrelsomeness.” Nachmanides explains that the plain meaning of the text is that Moses here repeated in an oblique manner what he had said to his father-in-law Yitro when the latter had enquired what Moses was busy with all day long. At that time (Exodus 18,15-16) he had referred to his duties as threefold: He had stressed that his duties included the settling of disputes arising between one Israelite and another. He told Yitro that the duty to teach the people who had just left hundreds of years of slavery, involved only with the physical effort to survive such bondage, G’d’s law, was not only time-consuming, but difficult. This is what he alluded to when mentioning טרחכם, they were not such brilliant students who immediately grasped the knowledge offered, especially when it came to laws which did not appear logical to them. The word משאכם was a substitute for תפילה, prayer, as in ונשאת תפילה, (Isaiah 37,4) “if you will offer up a prayer.” A prophet, such as Isaiah in the verse quoted- is expected to offer up prayers to G’d on behalf of people who need their prayers for relief from problems to be heard by G’d. Finally, the word ריבכם used by Moses is self-explanatory. The words הבו לכם אנשים וגו', refer only to the attributes of the judges who are to be appointed. Alternatively, the word משאכם refers to the incidents when the people had demanded water, meat, etc., all matters that were beyond their leader’s ability to provide. The word משא is found in connection with that episode. (compare Numbers 11,11)