Feb. 6, 2026 – Yitro

A Family of Foreigners:
Reunion on the Eve of Evelation

Before we get to the dramatic revelation of the Ten Commandments, before we get a comprehensive restructuring of a judicial system, the first thing we get in this week’s Torah portion is a family reunification story. When a tired, thirsty, hungry, stateless and homeless person winds up at his door, Jethro, a priest of Midian and a prosperous shepherd, does not ask for documentation. He never asks Moses what he did in Egypt, why he left or what his plans are. The only thing on Jethro’s mind is how he can thank the stranger, an Egyptian, he is told, who saved his daughters from being bullied and his livestock from dehydration.

You might think that a bath and a good meal would be sufficient thanks, but no. Jethro doesn’t just invite Moses into his home, he welcomes Moses into the family when he marries Jethro’s daughter Zipporah. Moses names their first son Gershom, meaning “I was a stranger in a foreign land.” The name honors his father-in-law, who has treated him like family even though his legal status is that of a foreigner.

All that was four Torah portions ago. Now, after Jethro has taken care of Moses’ wife and children during the plagues upon Egypt, the early days of the journey and the parting of the sea, the family is reunited. “Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed low and kissed him; each asked about the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent.” You will notice that no one on guard duty asks Jethro about documentation, his line of work in Midian, why he left there or what his plans are. He treated Moses like family, welcomed Moses into his family, and now, the vagabond Jethro took a risk on, the leader of this people on the move, invites his father-in-law, the foreigner in this part of the story, into his abode. The tables have turned but the values have not. What matters about someone is the “content of their character” not their nationality, nature of former employment or name of the deity they worship. We treat each other like family because we are family.

We will never know what would have happened to Moses without the kindness of Jethro. What we do know is that the relationship between the two men transcends nation and religion, caste and class, rigid hierarchy and personal history. Not only do they play essential roles in saving a people, they work together to found a family, a family that stands the test of prolonged absences, cultural differences and all the other highs and lows families go through.

May this multicultural, multinational and multitalented family remind us to treat the foreign born as we would have our family treated, and may we treat our family in such a way that no one feels like a foreigner.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter