Rachel Landsberg

Smol Emuni Conference
March 30, 2025

I’ve been given the difficult task of trying to capture in a few words our intentions for this conference, the actual journey we have taken together over the course of the day, and where we are headed next, what our charge is.

As I do, as we do, when faced with a difficult task, I turned to the Torah for guidance. I landed upon Yitro. What can Yitro offer us about why we are here, where we are going next, and what tomorrow can look like? In פרק יח (chapter 18) of sefer Shmot, Yitro sees that Moshe is sitting as a judge from morning until night handing down decision after decision after decision to members of B’nei Yisrael. Yitro sees that this is simply not sustainable; the current system is not workable.

In response, Yitro tells Moshe openly and directly: …לֹא־טוֹב֙ הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתָּ֖ה עֹשֶֽׂה — The thing you are doing is not good (Exodus 18:17). Moshe heeds Yitro’s advice and implements a radically new judicial system.

I want to note a few essential aspects of this narrative that may be instructive for us.

Firstly, Yitro is an “outsider.” Sometimes change is spurred by someone who is a bit removed, who has a different perspective, who can see the situation from another vantage point.

Secondly, Yitro is not one of the Israelites, but, nonetheless he is family. The text initially introduces Yitro as כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה. His status of priest of Midyan comes first and his status as father-in-law of Moshe comes second. But the text never mentions that Yitro is a priest again throughout the rest of the chapter, whereas the word חֹתֵן is repeated 13 times, emphasizing their bond as father-in-law and son-in-law. Their relationship is central and underlies the narrative, making it possible for Moshe to accept Yitro’s advice.

Finally, the text uses many verbs that further characterize Yitro and the active and engaged way he works to build relationships.

וישמע - Yitro hears all that has happened to B’nei Yisrael.

וַיִּקַּח - Yitro takes Moshe’s wife and sons

וַיָּבֹא - Yitro comes to Moshe and reunites with him / he doesn’t stay separate - וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ וַיִּשַּׁק־לוֹ וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ־לְרֵעֵהוּ לְשָׁלוֹם - they bow towards each other, they kiss, they ask about each other - all expressions of the love and commitment in their relationship

וַיִּחַדְּ - Yitro rejoices

We get a fuller picture of the quality of their relationship and what they have built with each other.

The next morning, the text tells us, וַיַּרְא - Yitro sees. Yitro sees everything that Moshe is doing for the nation, sitting all day and judging. At this point, Yitro is in a good position to bring new light to bear on the situation. Yitro brings his outsider perspective as well as his love for and deep connection to Moshe to bring a different viewpoint to the situation. He has listened, he has seen that there is something that is not workable, and then he chooses to speak up.

Yitro challenging what he sees and offering an alternate path forward is not foreign to our tradition. To the contrary. We have 70 faces of Torah. We are taught to turn our Torah over and over again in search of new interpretations. We have centuries of internal debate with each other under our belt. Our rabbis of antiquity in their wisdom preserved the minority opinion in our oral tradition.

We rely on critique and challenge and re-assessment and open conversation. We always have. At this juncture, all the more so, we need new minds, new perspectives, new paths forward, new Torah. Making space for differences of opinion is crucial.

Yitro’s Torah is a Torah of centering relationships, of empathy and of connection. It is a Torah of deciding to truly look and see the “other” and then make needed changes. Yitro’s Torah is also one of speaking up and out, of disagreeing, of offering course-corrections, of interrupting mistakes.

How do we build the courage we need to say what is in our hearts, to ask the hard questions, to delve into the Torah yet again and draw out the messages and the learnings and the values that are needed in this moment?

Firstly, we have to dare to really look and listen and learn and understand what the reality is on the ground. This will mean being uncomfortable and horrified and heartbroken. And that will help propel us forward in search of new pathways.

Secondly, we do it together. We build courage alongside each other. We create community. I invite you to look around the room and see the faces here now, and to picture the others who are on livestream, and to know that others aren’t here yet but our task is to go find them and invite them in to join us.

We hope this conference can serve as a model for how to engage in hard conversations while simultaneously building community. Although this conference was geared towards the observant American Jewish community, we decided to bring together Jewish Israeli voices, Palestinian voices, and American Jewish voices. This was by design. All of these voices have a place in the conversation and each will be necessary in order to move forward.

As American Jews, we have a perspective from some distance, an outsider’s view, that is necessary. We need the dynamic of Israel and Diaspora in partnership. This is a partnership that has existed since the beginning of the exile. And it is needed now. We also have influence in decisions being made here in the U.S. in relation to Israel and we need to use that influence.

As observant, religious Jews, it is incumbent upon us to be in conversation with Palestinians. We can and should choose to listen and see and then seek joint action to stop the war and dismantle structures of oppression. As we do that, we reclaim Judaism, we lift up our Jewish values, we restore our dignity and our human-ness.

I want to close by stating what I hope is the obvious, the real urgency of the moment. Right now. We can’t afford to wait. What is our call to action? I ask that we use this conference to help us find the courage and the resolve, individually and collectively, to speak our minds, to find paths that increase justice and equity, and to continue to work to build a world that mirrors back that Divine spark we each carry within us. We invite you to strategize with us about our next steps and to join us in the work.