This week's Torah reading relates how Yitro came to meet Moshe in the desert. He blessed G-d in a way nobody had done before, and our sages take that a something very special: why? Based on Likutei Sichot, vol. 11, p. 74
Why Yitro’s “Blessed Be G-d” Changed Everything
This week’s Torah reading is Yitro, named after Moshe Rabbeinu’s father-in-law. When Yitro came to meet Moshe and the Children of Israel in the wilderness, he declared:
“Blessed be G-d, who saved you from Egypt and from the Egyptians…”
Our sages make a striking observation. Moshe Rabbeinu and the entire Jewish people — including many great tzaddikim, righteous individuals — did not say “Blessed be G-d” in this way. Yet when Yitro arrived, he did.
At first glance, this is puzzling. Is it true that they did not bless G-d? After all, the Jewish people sang the magnificent Shirat HaYam, the Song at the Sea, after crossing the Red Sea. They expressed profound praise and gratitude. So what is the significance of Yitro’s declaration? Why is it so important that Yitro said “Blessed be G-d,” while Moshe did not express it in that exact way?
To understand this, we must explore another teaching of our sages.
The Torah Was Not Given Until Yitro Recognized G-d
There is a debate among our sages regarding when Yitro arrived — whether it was before or after the giving of the Torah. According to the opinion we are following here, Yitro came before Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Our sages teach that the Torah was not given until Yitro recognized G-d’s greatness.
This raises a fundamental question: Why was Yitro’s recognition so essential? The Jewish people already had Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon, and many great righteous individuals. They had witnessed miracles. They had experienced divine revelation. Why did Yitro’s acknowledgment make such a difference?
The answer lies in understanding who Yitro truly was.
Who Was Yitro?
The Torah describes Yitro in two ways. One description presents him as an important and noble figure in Midian — a leader. The word kohen can mean priest, but it can also mean a distinguished or high-ranking person.
Another description portrays him as a pagan priest — someone who had served every form of idolatry in the world.
Our sages explain that Yitro had explored and understood every known idolatrous system. He was not a simple idol worshipper who blindly served the sun and the moon. He was deeply knowledgeable. He investigated every belief system and spiritual framework of his time.
The Rambam (Maimonides) explains how idolatry originally developed. People reasoned that since G-d created powerful forces — the sun, the moon, the stars — He must want humanity to honor them. They began to treat these forces as intermediaries, offering them praise and prayer. Over time, this evolved into full-fledged idolatry.
Yitro understood all of this. He understood the structure of creation — every level through which divine energy flows from G-d into the world. He was familiar with every spiritual “channel,” every perceived intermediary. In that sense, he grasped the entire mystical system of existence.
And after knowing all of that, he rejected it.
He left behind every form of idolatry and declared: “Blessed be G-d.”
Why His Recognition Was So Powerful
It was not a novelty that Moshe recognized G-d. Moshe spoke to G-d face to face. It was not surprising that the righteous among Israel believed. They had witnessed the splitting of the sea. They experienced prophecy and revelation.
But Yitro was different.
Yitro represented the outside world — the world of philosophy, mysticism, idolatry, and spiritual searching. He had examined every alternative. He understood every system. And after all that exploration, he concluded that only G-d is true.
When someone so distant — someone who had immersed himself in every possible spiritual alternative — arrives at that recognition, it signals something profound. It shows that divine truth has descended so deeply into the world that even someone from the furthest spiritual distance can perceive it.
That is why the Torah highlights Yitro’s words.
The giving of the Torah was not merely about righteous individuals deepening their connection to G-d. Its purpose was to bring divine presence into the material world — so thoroughly that the physical world itself could recognize G-dliness.
When Yitro said, “Blessed be G-d,” it demonstrated that this objective had been achieved. Divine awareness had reached even the most unlikely place.
Only then was the world ready for the Torah.
The Broader Message
The giving of the Torah was about permeating the entire world with G-d’s presence. Not just the spiritually elevated. Not just prophets. Not just the Jewish people at Sinai.
Every human being.
Yitro’s journey teaches that even someone with vast philosophical knowledge, even someone who has explored countless belief systems, can arrive at the recognition of one true G-d. And even someone without deep intellectual understanding can connect to G-dliness when divine truth reaches them.
The ultimate goal is that every corner of the world — every individual — will recognize and feel G-d’s presence.
In that sense, the moment of Yitro’s declaration was a preview of the future redemption: a world in which divine truth is clear to all humanity.
May we merit to see that revelation fully realized, speedily and in our days, in peace.