Jethro Comes Out to the Wilderness Where Moses Camped

(Exodus 18:5-7) "And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came, with his sons and his wife." But has it not already been said, "and your wife and her two sons with her"? I might hear that her sons were from another man; therefore Scripture says, "and his sons and his wife to Moses": they were Moses' sons, not her sons from another man. "To the wilderness where he was encamped": here Scripture expresses wonder at him, that he was dwelling within the glory of the world and sought to go out to the wilderness, a place of emptiness that has nothing in it; therefore it is said, "to the wilderness." "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you." The Holy One, blessed be He, who tests hearts and kidneys, said to him, "Jethro, you have come to greet that righteous man; may houses of study never cease from your seed forever," as it is said, "Strong is your dwelling, and set your nest in the rock" (Numbers 24:21). From here they said: a man should give his daughter to a Torah scholar even if he must buy him with money, and a man should marry the daughter of a Torah scholar even if he gives all his wealth. If a man marries the daughter of an ignorant person, in the end his children will be ignorant; if a man marries the daughter of a Torah scholar, in the end his children will be Torah scholars. They told a parable: grapes of the vine with grapes of the vine. "And he said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro." Rabbi Yehoshua says: he wrote to him in a letter. Rabbi Elazar of Modi'in says: he sent to him by a messenger and said, "Act for my sake; and if you will not act for my sake, act for the sake of your sons; and if you will not act for the sake of your sons, act for the sake of your wife." Rabbi Eliezer says: "and he said to Moses, I," the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I am the LORD who spoke and the world came into being; I am the One who draws near and not the One who pushes away, as it is said, 'Am I a God near at hand and not a God far off?' (Jeremiah 23:23). I am the One who drew Jethro near and did not push him away. And you too, when a person comes to you to convert and comes only for the sake of Heaven, you too draw him near and do not push him away." From here you learn that a person should push away with the left hand and draw near with the right, not as Elisha did to Gehazi, whom he pushed away forever. "And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law." They said: Moses went out, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel, and after them all Israel; and some say even the Divine Presence went out with them. "And he bowed and kissed him." I do not know who bowed to whom, or who kissed whom; when it says, "and they asked each other of their welfare," who is called "man"? You must say this is Moses, as it is said, "and the man Moses was very humble" (Numbers 12:3). Thus it was none but Moses who bowed and kissed his father-in-law; from here they said that a man should conduct himself with honor toward his father-in-law. "And they came to the tent": this is the house of study. (Exodus 18:8) "And Moses recounted to his father-in-law": to draw him near, to bring him close to the Torah. "All that the LORD had done": that He gave the Torah to His people Israel. "All the hardship that had befallen them": at the sea. "On the way": this is the war with Amalek. "And the LORD delivered them": the Omnipresent delivered them from everything. (Exodus 18:9) "And Jethro rejoiced over all the good" and so on. Rabbi Yehoshua says: Scripture speaks of the goodness of the manna. He said, "This manna the Omnipresent gave us, we taste in it the taste of bread, the taste of meat, the taste of fish, the taste of locusts, the taste of every delicacy in the world," for it says, "good, the good, all the good, over all the good." Rabbi Elazar of Modi'in says: Scripture speaks of the goodness of the well. He said, "This well the Omnipresent gave us, we taste in it the taste of new wine, the taste of aged wine, the taste of milk, the taste of honey, the taste of every sweetness in the world." Rabbi Eliezer says: Scripture speaks of the goodness of the Land of Israel. He said, "The Omnipresent is destined to give us six good measures: the Land of Israel, the world to come, the new world, the kingdom of the house of David, priesthood, and Levitehood," therefore it says, "good, the good, all the good, over all the good." At once he opened and said, "Blessed is the LORD." "And Jethro rejoiced": that he proclaimed the oneness of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He; another interpretation: that he became a Jew.