Jethro Calls Moses to Bread and the Power of a Loaf

"He said to his daughters, 'And where is he?'" He said to them: This sign that you spoke of, that he drew water and watered your flock — this is one of the sons of the sons of Jacob, who stood at the well; for the well recognizes its masters. Our Sages, of blessed memory, said: As long as Moses, peace be upon him, stood at the mouth of the well, the waters floated up and stood at the well, and when Moses, peace be upon him, turned back, the waters too returned to their place, as it is said, "He who led them by the right hand of Moses" (Isaiah 63:12). And at first, when Moses came, he found the shepherds striking the flock of Jethro. He said to them: Empty ones, by law the women should water first and go on their way, and if they are unable to draw, the men draw for them. Immediately they did not listen to him. Moses stood at the mouth of the well, and the waters rose, and all their flocks and cattle drank. Moses said: Woe is me, that I have left my people and have come to judge the nations of the world. Therefore it is said, "My own vineyard I have not kept" (Song of Songs 1:6). "Call him, that he may eat bread." And so the wise one said, "Cast your bread upon the face of the waters" (Ecclesiastes 11:1). And who is this? This is Jethro, who fed Moses, as it is said concerning him, "for I drew him out of the water" (Exodus 2:10). He said to them: Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread. And the Holy One, blessed be He, repaid him; this is what is written, "And Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law" (Exodus 18:12). And what caused Jethro all these good things? Because he cleaved to Moses, he merited to raise up sages and prophets, as it is said, "and the families of scribes who dwelt at Jabez" (1 Chronicles 2:55). And Rabbi Yochanan says: Great is a morsel of food, for it brings near those who are far, and pushes away those who are near, and averts the eye from the wicked, and causes the Divine Presence to rest upon the prophets of Baal, and its unwittingness ascends to willful sin. It brings near those who are far: from Jethro — as a reward for saying "Call him, that he may eat bread," his sons merited to sit in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, as it is said, "and the families of scribes" (ibid.), and it is written, "And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law" (Judges 1:16). And it pushes away those who are near: from Ammon and Moab, as it is said, "An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 23:4), and adjacent to it, "because of the matter that they did not meet you with bread and water" (ibid. 23:5). And it averts the eye from the wicked: from Micah — for Rabbi Yochanan said, from Dan to Shiloh were three miles, and the smoke of the altar-pyre and the smoke of Micah's idol would mingle one with the other. The ministering angels sought to push him away; He said to them: Let him be, that his smoke may rise, for his bread is available to wayfarers, as it is said, "And he shall pass through the sea of affliction" (Zechariah 10:11); and Rabbi Yochanan said, this is Micah's idol that passed with them through the sea. And it causes the Divine Presence to rest upon the prophets of Baal: from the companion of Iddo the prophet, as it is said, "And he said to him, I also am a prophet as you are" (1 Kings 13:18), and it is written, "And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet who brought him back" (ibid. 13:20). And its unwittingness ascends to willful sin: for Rabbi Yehudah said [Rav said], had Jonathan lent David two loaves of bread, the kingdom of the house of David would not have been divided, Nob the city of the priests would not have been destroyed, Doeg would not have been driven out, and Saul and Jonathan would not have been slain. Another interpretation of "Call him, that he may eat bread": Perhaps he will marry one of you, for "bread" stated here means nothing other than a woman, as it is said, "except the bread which he ate" (Genesis 39:6).