All or most of the first part of Parshat Yitro is out of place (not in chronological order).
Certainly, for those who accept the opinion that one of the things that Yitro heard was Matan Torah – Revelation at Sinai, the whole Yitro portion is out of sequence. And even if you accept that Yitro heard about the Exodus and about the battle against Amalek, and he could have come to Moshe with Tzipora and her two sons before the events at Sinai, then the episode of his observing his son-in-law in action, suggesting a system of judges, and G-d’s “agreement” with Yitro and instructions to Moshe about a graded system of courts, was definitely after Matan Torah (Rashi, for example, says it was after Yom Kippur), and therefore it is still out of sequence.
So why does the Torah tell us about Yitro at this point? Interrupting, as it is, the sequence of great events, filled with wonders and miracles – the plagues of Egypt, the Exodus, the crossing of the sea, the manna, the battle against Amalek… and then, the arrival at Sinai and the receiving of the Torah.
The first part of Parshat Yitro is so out of place – not just in the timeline, but in the tone and mood of the descriptions. Sublime, sublime…with the mundane sandwiched between.
We can see two different reasons for the “Yitro intro” to Matan Torah. And not only does the episode of Yitro come at this dramatic point in the Torah, the sedra in which we find the account of Maamad Har Sinai and Matan Torah is called YITRO. This fact certainly highlights the question of what we must learn from the Yitro factor.
The two different reasons just mentioned are really two features of Yitro – his non-Jewish background and his being an individual, not part of a group.
Among the brachot we have for different experiences, is a bracha that is said when one sees a multitude of Jews. Multitude is defined as at least 600,000 Jews (in Eretz Yisrael). That number is obviously not random – it is the number we associate with Bnei Yisrael. The bracha, after the usual first six words, Baruch ata… is CHACHAM HARAZIM, which means (He) who knows all secrets. At first glance, that’s a strange wording for the bracha. Not one we would have guessed. Blessed are You, HaShem… who knows all secrets… of each and every person.
For all finite humans, a mass of more than a half million people is just a blurry jumble of people. It is so many, that our brains cannot get away from the large numbers. We see people, but we can’t focus on individuals. It’s just too overwhelming. And we acknowledge this by declaring that G-d and only G-d is the One who can focus on each individual in a group of so many.
From enslavement in Egypt to the events that preceded the Exodus, from then to the sea and across the sea, through the first part of our travels in the Midbar, to Har Sinai… we are such an overwhelming multitude that each individual is swallowed up in the sheer numbers.
But Yitro was one man. And he came to the Jewish people by choice. He experimented with many beliefs and he chose Judaism. We need to relate to that when we examine our own acceptance of the Torah and make our own commitment to G-d.
Interestingly, we read of Yitro together with Matan Torah and we read Megilat Ruth on Shavuot morning, for partially the same goal: She was an individual. She came to Judaism by choice. She made a commitment that we can and should relate to.
It is hard to imagine having Har Sinai lifted above the heads of all of Bnei Yisrael; it is easier to see a Yitro and a Ruth make their commitments.
Our goal? To be totally committed to G-d, His Torah, His Land, His People… on a personal, individual level.
