Drawing Jethro Near With the Right Hand

"And he said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you" (Exodus 18:6). Rabbi Yehoshua says: he sent word to him by a messenger. Rabbi Eliezer of Modi'in says: he sent him a letter, and he shot it into the camp of Israel. [It read:] "Do it for my sake; and if you will not do it for my sake, do it for the sake of your wife; and if you will not do it for the sake of your wife, do it for the sake of your two sons." Rabbi Eliezer says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, I am the One who spoke and the world came to be, as it is said, "God, God, the LORD, has spoken and summoned the earth" (see Psalms 50:1). I am the One who brings near and I am the One who keeps far. I brought Jethro near and did not keep him far. This man who comes to you comes only to convert, comes only to be brought in under the wings of the Divine Presence. You too, bring him near and do not keep him far. From here they said: A person should always thrust away with the left hand and draw near with the right hand, not in the way that Elisha treated Gehazi, whom he kept far forever.