At the start of Parashat Yitro, Yitro sees Moshe sitting and judging the people “from morning until evening.” He bluntly tells him, “The thing you are doing is not good… you will surely wear yourself out, you and this people that is with you, for the matter is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.” Moshe listens, takes the advice, and immediately sets up a system of judges. What’s strange is what is missing: Moshe does not ask God first. He simply does it.
This teaches a powerful lesson about what it means to serve God as a mature Jew. Up until now, we often see Moshe as the perfect “messenger”: God speaks, and Moshe obeys. Here, the Torah shows us a different perspective. Moshe has deeply embraced Hashem’s values—justice, compassion, human dignity—so when he hears an idea that clearly aligns with those values, he doesn’t need a new prophecy to confirm it’s right. He recognizes that it aligns with the spirit of the Torah and acts accordingly.
Even more remarkable: the suggestion comes from Yitro, a Midianite priest, an outsider. The Torah could have taught us this lesson through Aharon or the elders, but instead, it chooses a non-Jew. That means holy wisdom isn’t limited to “our side.” When someone from any background offers an insight that genuinely promotes justice, kindness, and sustainability, our job is to listen humbly and see how it can be integrated into serving God.
Is this the only time Moshe acts on his own? We know it isn’t. When he breaks the tablets after the golden calf, the Rabbis say that God later approves: “Well done for breaking them.” (Shabbat 87a) When he hits the rock instead of speaking to it, he is punished. Sometimes initiative is praised; sometimes it is rejected. What makes the difference? Not whether Moshe asked first, but whether the act truly reflects God’s will or is driven by anger and frustration.
So what does this mean for us? Most of the time, we don’t receive direct instructions from Heaven. Instead, we rely on Torah, halacha, and the values they teach. Like Moshe in our parashah, we must listen carefully—to our teachers, wise people around us, sometimes even to “Yitro,” and voices outside our usual circle—and then ask: Does this idea truly reflect the values of Torah? Does it promote justice, reduce suffering, prevent burnout, and bring more reverence for God into the world?
If the answer is yes, then acting is not a sign of lack of confidence in God; it is an expression of trust in God. Moshe in Yitro teaches us that the goal is not to be endlessly passive, waiting for a divine voice, but to become partners with Hashem—people who understand His values well enough to recognize and act on a good idea when we see it. May we be privileged to listen like Yitro, to act like Moshe, and to build communities whose structures reflect the will of God.
