Why does the Torah describe Yitro’s already-mentioned relationship to Moshe and his position? (18:1)
In the times of Melech Dovid and Melech Shlomo, the Jews did not accept converts because the Jewish people were then at the height of their glory, and it was suspected that the motivation of converts was to seek glory, not necessarily keep the Mitzvot.
If so, why did Melech Shlomo want to marry the daughter of a different king, even though she was a convert? The answer is that she was an exception to the rule. As the daughter of a King, she did not lack glory, and therefore her only interest in converting was her love for Torah and mitzvot (Yevamot 24b, see Tosafot).
When Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim and the Yam Suf split, the entire world witnessed the greatness of the Jewish people. From all over people wanted to convert and become part of the Jewish nation. They were motivated by the glory of the Jewish people rather than keeping all the mitzvot and Torah. However, when Yitro decided to convert to Judaism, he was accepted because he was the High Priest of Midyan, and already had glory. Therefore, he only wanted to convert because of his love of Torah.
Rashi comments saying that Yitro restated his relationship to Moshe because of his pride. He was proud to be connected to such a great leader. Yitro said "I am Moshe's Father in law" to state his connection to such a great leader. Also in the past Moshe had referred to Yitro as "my father in law"
ReplyDeleteOu.org states that Yitro was able to convert because when him and Moshe first met, Moshe knew he was not in it just for the glory. The way Yitro invited him into his home for thanking Moshe for helping his daughters at the well showed he was never interested in the glory, only the Mitzvot and Torah.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rabbi Yehoshua from chabbad.org, Yitro repeated his status as a personal reminder for himself. He was reminding himself of how far he's come in his life from being an idol worshipper to becoming the father Inlaw of an "ish Hashem"
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