The Sin of Waiting (Yitro)

How much of human life is lost in waiting. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The nation of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, after their mind-boggling Exodus from Egypt, after their miraculous crossing of the Sea, after their successful defeat of the Amalekite attack, finally enter a more tranquil existence at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Jethro, High Priest of the nation of Midyan and the father-in-law of Moses is reunited with Moses during this period of tranquility. The next day, Jethro sees Moses at work. Moses sits from morning until night, singlehandedly judging the entire Jewish population. People are waiting in line the entire day to see Moses, to seek his council, or have him adjudicate their case. Jethro is incensed and reprimands Moses:

“What you’re doing isn’t good. You will wear yourself away as well as this nation that is with you.”

Jethro, perhaps the first management consultant in history, goes on to recommend to Moses how to set up a judicial system. He includes a description of the character of the judges to appoint, the number of judges, and the entire structure of the system, which Moses goes on to implement.

The Bechor Shor on Exodus 18:14 wonders as to why Jethro was so disturbed by Moses’ initial attempt to singlehandedly judge the entire nation himself. He answers that the main problem was that Moses was forcing all the people who were seeking help to wait. He mentions that some people would end up waiting in line the entire day and were still not be able to see Moses. There were probably uncounted thousands of man-hours that were lost by hordes of Jews just waiting in line, unable to do anything else at that time, with time and energy completely wasted.

That is what upset Jethro so much: the needless waiting, the wasted time, especially when it was possible to set up a significantly more efficient system whereby every plaintiff could have their case heard rapidly and effectively. This system also freed up Moses from his self-imposed burden, allowing him to do higher-value functions and at the same time empowering an entire community of judges to practice Torah law, leadership, and justice.

May we respect other people’s time, and they ours.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

On the marriage of our son Elchanan to Zavi Lava. Mazal Tov!