Summary of the Parasha

Jethro, priest of Midian and Moses’ father-in-law, hears all that God has done for Israel. He comes to the desert with Tzipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Moses tells him about the Exodus; Jethro rejoices and declares: “Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods”, brings offerings and shares a meal with Aaron and the elders.

The next day, seeing Moses judging the people alone from morning to evening, Jethro advises a system of judges: capable men who fear God, honest, chiefs over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens; only the major cases will come to Moses. Moses follows his advice, and Jethro returns home. That such a central parasha bears the name of a convert who came from afar is a lesson in itself.

On the 1st of Sivan, Israel camps facing Mount Sinai, “as one person with one heart” (Rashi). God offers the covenant: “You shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”, and the people answer: “All that Hashem has spoken, we will do”. Then come three days of preparation, purification and a boundary around the mountain. On the third day: thunder, lightning, a thick cloud and the sound of the shofar; the mountain smokes and trembles.

God pronounces the Ten Commandments: “I am Hashem your God”, no other gods, do not take His name in vain, remember the Shabbat, honor your parents, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet. The frightened people ask Moses to speak to them instead. The parasha ends with the prohibition of gods of silver and gold, the altar of earth and the altar of uncut stones, without steps.

In many Sephardi communities, the congregation stands for the Ten Commandments, read with the “upper” cantillation (ta’am elyon), and on Shavuot the Azharot are read, a poem of the 613 mitzvot by Rabbi Shlomo ibn Gabirol.

Summary of the Haftara

“Bishnat Mot HaMelech Uziyahu” (“In the year King Uzziah died”)
Text in Isaiah 6:1–13 for Sephardim, 6:1–7:6 and 9:5–6 for Ashkenazim

Isaiah sees God seated on a high throne, the hem of His robe filling the Temple. Seraphim with six wings call to one another: “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh is Hashem of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory”. The prophet cries out: “Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips”; a seraph touches his mouth with a burning coal from the altar. God asks: “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah answers: “Here I am, send me”. The Ashkenazi reading ends with the announcement of a child, a future prince of peace on David’s throne.

Parasha-Haftara Connection

Two revelations: one at Sinai, lived by a whole people, and one in the Temple, lived by a prophet. Both mingle smoke, voices and trembling, and transform those who experience them. The seraphim’s words became the Kedushah, which we say standing with feet together, like the angels.