R. Pappis made a statement about Yithro's blessing that was, in his reading, deeply unflattering to Israel. When Yithro arrived at the Israelite camp and heard what God had done, he declared (Exodus 18:10): "Blessed is the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh."
Think about what this means, R. Pappis argued. Six hundred thousand Israelite men had witnessed the ten plagues. They had walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. They had seen Pharaoh's army swallowed by the waters. They had eaten manna from heaven and drunk from a miraculous well. And not one of them — not a single person among six hundred thousand — had stood up to formally bless and thank God for these miracles.
It took Yithro, a recent arrival, a former priest of Midian who had spent his life worshipping idols, to say the words that needed saying. "Blessed is the Lord." The Israelites had experienced the miracles firsthand, yet they had failed to articulate the gratitude that the occasion demanded. The outsider had to teach the insiders how to praise their own God.
Scripture speaks to the discredit of Israel here, R. Pappis concluded. The people who had been saved were so caught up in their salvation that they forgot the most basic response: to open their mouths and bless the One who saved them.