He'd come to stay with Moses for over a year! But here's a little wrinkle in the story: for the first few months, Jethro didn't really see Moses in action as a judge. Why? Because, according to tradition, Moses was pretty much hanging out in heaven from the revelation at Mount Sinai until the tenth of Tishri (a month in the Hebrew calendar, usually falling in September or October). Talk about being out of office!
So, it wasn't until the eleventh of Tishri – the day after Moses got back from his celestial sojourn – that Jethro finally witnessed Moses holding court. And what he saw, well, it didn't sit too well with him.
Imagine the scene: Moses, sitting like a king on his throne, while the people – all the folks with their disputes and legal questions – stood around him from morning till night. Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews vividly paints this picture. Jethro was troubled.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked Moses. "Why do you sit there all alone, with all these people standing around you from morning until evening?"
Moses, of course, had his reasons. "Because the people come to me to inquire of God," he explained. "It's not about honoring me, it's about honoring God, whose judgment they seek. When they're unsure about what's tahor (clean) or tamei (unclean), or when there's a disagreement they want settled according to the Law – or even through a fair compromise – they come to me."
He continued, "And when they leave, they leave as friends, not enemies. I also explain God's words and decisions to them." It sounds exhausting, doesn't it? And, you know, maybe Moses was a little too involved.
What do you think? Was Moses' system effective, or was Jethro right to be concerned? It's a question that gets to the heart of leadership, delegation, and how we balance our responsibilities. And it reminds us that even the greatest leaders, like Moses, can benefit from a little outside perspective.