This parasha is one of the central ones in the Bible, because it includes the Ten Commandments, which are one of the legal and moral anchors not only of the Jewish people, but of humanity.

Despite that, I will not dwell on them in this dvar torah, but on two other aspects of the parasha. One is on life’s practical level, the other one on a much more spiritual one.

I will start with the practical aspect. The most important thing that this parable teaches us is that no one can do everything alone, and the condition for success is teamwork.

Therefore, Yitro saw how Moses was doing everything alone, both as a spiritual leader, as a political leader, and as a judge, and he told him that this could not continue. Verse 17-18 sum it up. “And Moses’ father-in-law said to him, this thing you are doing is not good, and if you continue, you shall wilt away, because the burden is too heavy for any man, even you, you, you cannot do it alone”.

He suggests that he take people with potential, teach them, and then begin to delegate some of his authority to them, so that he can concentrate only on the big things, without having to go into the details of each and every case.

Moses understands that this is wise advice, and indeed appoints a judiciary, so he himself will only have to deal with judges to judge most cases for him, while he himself will only have to deal with only the most difficult and complex cases

This is true everywhere and at all times, from ancient times to the present day. It is impossible to do it alone. The key to success in life lies in the ability to work in a team. Those who know how to work in a team as a simple employee are more likely to know how to build teams, motivate them positively, and achieve results as a manager.

The ability to work in a team requires a balance of qualities. Knowing how to choose the right people, trusting and respecting, and knowing how to balance between delegating authority while still maintaining an appropriate degree of supervision.

This is the most important and significant lesson of this parsha. None of us, not even our Moses, is superman, and none of us can do everything alone!!!

It is no coincidence that a parsha whose beginning is the insight into the importance of teamwork includes the Ten Commandments, the constitutional and moral core not only of our people, but of every human society that desires life.

True, there is no 11th commandment “You shall not do everything alone,” but we must act in our lives as if there were. No framework, from the family unit to the state, can be healthy and strong without teamwork.

Now to the spiritual issue, which finds its full expression mainly in the second commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me; “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything.” People have always felt the need to believe in something greater than themselves. But until the Ten Commandments, in order to bridge the gap between human understanding and faith, people tended to reduce their gods to their own size. This included creating statues of the gods in human or semi-human form, and projecting a host of human traits onto the gods, including having children. The second commandment is the first time that an attempt is made to bridge the gap between understanding and faith not by lowering God to the level of man, but by raising man’s awareness to the level of God. Think about the implications and consequences of this approach compared to the approach that was very prevalent at the time, which lowered the concept of God to the level of man.

Shabbat Shalom