Why is this week’s reading called Yitro (Jethro)? Since God gave the tablets containing the Ten Utterances to Moses, wouldn’t it have made more sense for the name of this week’s portion to be Moshe (Moses)? Who was this guy Yitro anyway, that his portion should contain such massive Light as the Ten Utterances?
Well, for starters, Yitro was a magician of the negative side. He was a master of all forms of spirituality that existed at the time. He could manipulate energy and he understood how to use the forces of the universe.
Initially, Yitro didn’t use his power for good. It was only when he saw the spiritual victories granted to the Israelites under the leadership of Moses that he became completely certain of the power of the Light of Creator. And since he was familiar with the laws of the universe, he knew that in order to bring himself close to this Power, he had to transform himself to be “like” that Power.
It is said that when person who has spent his life dedicated to negativity turns around and says, “This is not my way anymore; I will not be a participant in this life; I will devote my life to understanding the ways of the Creator and I will change my ways to be more like Him,” a tremendous amount of Divine Energy is granted to him. That is why Yitro, the highest elevation of negative spiritual energy that existed at that time, merited having the Ten Utterances in his portion. He changed from being entirely negative to having a complete desire to cleave to the Light of the Creator.
