The Israelites were freed from Egypt and miraculously crossed the Red Sea. They spent seven weeks journeying and preparing for the moment of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. But just before the Ten Commandments are given, the Torah pauses to tell us about a visitor: Jethro the Midianite priest.
Jethro is a pagan, an outsider, someone with no connection to the covenant God made with Abraham. He was not enslaved in Egypt. He didn’t witness the plagues. He didn’t cross the Red Sea. He’s also Moses’ father-in-law, coming to reunite Moses with his wife Tzipporah and their two sons, whom Moses had sent back to Midian for safety. It’s a family reunion – but the Torah treats it as something much more significant.
When Jethro hears what God has done for Israel, he packs up the entire family and travels to meet them in the wilderness. The Torah places Jethro’s arrival just before the most important moment in Jewish history – the revelation at Sinai. And the Torah doesn’t just mention him in passing. A whole chapter is dedicated to him, and the entire Torah portion containing the Ten Commandments is named after him.
Why does the Torah place a Midianite priest’s story right here, at this crucial moment? And why is his presence in the narrative so essential that his name is stamped on the portion containing the giving of the Law itself?
The answer reveals something we sometimes forget about Israel’s purpose in the world.
The Torah goes out of its way to emphasize Jethro’s foreignness. The text could simply call him “Moses’ father-in-law,” but instead labels him a Midianite priest. This man came from the outside. And yet, Jethro “heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, God’s people, how the Lord had brought Israel out from Egypt” (18:1).
He heard – and he came.
The ancient rabbis debate whether or not Jethro converted to Judaism. Some authorities point to evidence that he converted – he brought offerings to God (18:12), and his descendants later lived among the Israelites. But other commentators read the story differently.
Jethro came. He celebrated with Israel. He blessed God: “Blessed be the Lord who delivered you… Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods” (18:10-11). He offered crucial advice about establishing a judicial system, which Moses immediately implemented with God’s approval. And then?
He went home. Back to Midian. Back to his own people.
If Jethro had converted and joined the Jewish nation, why would he leave? Why not continue with them to the Promised Land? Some suggest that he went back to convert the rest of his family. Others say that he was too old to make the desert journey to the land of Israel. But the most straightforward reading is that Jethro remained a Midianite. He recognized Israel’s God, he blessed the Jewish people, he contributed his wisdom to building their nation – and he did all of this as a gentile.
This is what makes Jethro’s story so powerful. He models the gentile who partners with Israel in fulfilling God’s plan for the world.
But there’s something even more significant in how the Torah structures this narrative. Rabbi Menachem Leibtag points out that the Torah has deliberately “enveloped” Israel’s encampment at Mount Sinai with two stories about Jethro. The first encounter happens just before Sinai. The second – when Moses begs Jethro (also called Hobab) to stay with them as they prepare to leave Sinai – happens just after (Numbers 10:29-32).
Think about what this means. The giving of the Torah – the most particularistic moment in Jewish history, when God establishes His unique covenant with Israel – is literally surrounded by stories of partnership with a gentile. Before Sinai, Jethro arrives and contributes wisdom. After Sinai, Moses pleads with him to continue guiding them through the wilderness.
As Rabbi Leibtag explains: “On the one hand, the giving of the Torah was a singular event, intended only for the people of Israel – to enter a special covenant – and receive God’s special laws that will make them His nation. However, the deeper purpose of that covenant (and those laws) was for Israel to become God’s ‘model nation’ that would help bring the Name of God to all mankind.”
Yes, the covenant is particular to Israel. Yes, we have unique obligations and laws. But that particularity exists for a universal purpose. And that purpose is realized in partnership with non-Jews, just as Jethro provided wisdom (Jethro before Sinai) and guidance (Moses inviting Jethro to join after Sinai).
An entire portion of the Torah is named after a man who, according to the simple reading of the text, never became Jewish. The portion containing the foundation of Jewish law and identity is named after a Midianite. His presence before and after Sinai is deliberate. As Rabbi Leibtag wrote, Israel’s covenant is framed by gentile partnership.
This partnership in fulfilling God’s plan is the vision that Rabbi Tuly Weisz articulates in his book Universal Zionism. Universal Zionism is Israel fulfilling its mandate to be “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 49:6), partnering with righteous gentiles who, like Jethro, recognize what God is doing with Israel and choose to stand with them.
Jethro didn’t need to become Jewish to bless Israel’s God, to contribute to building the nation, or to have his name stamped on the most important moment in Jewish history. He did all of this as a Midianite.
The Torah portion is named Jethro because his story is foundational. He was there at the beginning – and at the end – modeling a relationship between Israel and the nations that would define our ultimate purpose. The giving of the Torah was framed by his presence. And that’s exactly the point.
