In this week's Parsha we read about Yisro the father-in-law of Moshe Rabbeinu who left his home and came to join the Jewish People in the desert in order to convert and become part of the Jewish People. Why though does the Torah name an entire Parsha after Yisro? Yes, he gave sound advice to Moshe Rabbeinu as to the most efficient way to judge the people and yes, he converted but is that a reason to name a Parsha after him? We know that Jewish Law doesn't actively encourage conversion and the Torah was certainly written for the Jewish People not for non-Jews so why do we need to motivate people to convert (by naming a Parsha after Yisro)?

It may be possible to answer that the lesson we can learn from Yisro is something that applies to all of us. Many times in life when we begin to evaluate our lives and actions we see that many of our actions and ways don't match up with the truths that we know. We experience a cognitive dissonance our actions simply don't follow the truths that we know. When we become aware of this disconnect it makes us very uncomfortable (unless we entirely ignore it). Although it is easy to say "just change your ways" it isn't always so simple. In many cases we are very "deep" in our false ways and can't just break away. This is the lesson that we can all learn from Yisro, he was an important and prestigious priest and leader in his community, but he realized he was living a life of falsehood and had the strength to get up and leave it all to pursue the truth.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath