Exodus 18:27

Moses sent his father-in-law off and he (Yisro) went on his way to his land."

RASHI

And he went on his way to his land: Rashi: In order to convert his family.

QUESTIONING RASHI

A Question: Why the need for this comment? Perhaps Yisro went back because he was homesick! Maybe he felt he should return to his family. And what reason is there to think he returned for the purpose of converting them?

Hint: Read the verse in Hebrew.

What's Bothering Rashi?

Your Answer:

WHAT IS BOTHERING RASHI?

An Answer: The Sifsei Chachamim explains that since the first part of the verse says "And Moses sent him off" this is probably related to the latter part of the verse. So why would Moses send him away? If not for some holy task - like converting his family.

I find this answer unconvincing. For two reasons; First, I don't see why Moses sending his father-in-law off, must be for a righteous purpose. It is simple considerateness. Second: Rashi's lead words don't contain the words of the first part of the verse, which indicates that they are not related to the difficulty that Rashi perceived in the verse.

Another Answer: The Hebrew has "Vayelech lo" here translated as "and he went on his way." Literally it means "And he went for himself." The verse should have said simply "vayelech el artzo." And he went to his land."

But the Ramban in Lech Lecha has a different view.

The Ramban's View

In Parashas Lech Lecha, G-d says to Abram "Lech lecha mei'artzecha "go for yourself, from your land." Rashi there says it is for Abram's "pleasure and good."

The Ramban disagrees with Rashi's interpretation there. He says the "lecha" is just a literary style of writing and shouldn't be given any interpretative significance. The Ramban cites several examples of this in the Tanach.

IN RASHI'S DEFENSE

The Ramban may be right, in a sense, that this is a literary style. But when checked out we never find a verb used with "for you" when something unpleasant is discussed. And in Abram's case, since he was asked to leave his homeland and his family, to go to some unknown place, this would cause him sadness. Rashi there was bothered by the fact that there did not seem to be anything pleasant in Abram's leaving his home and family. Why then the use of the word "lecha"? Rashi therefore concluded that the addition of the word "lecha" indicates that, in fact, this is for Abram's good "for his pleasure and his good " in the future.

Now let us once again look at our verse.

A CLOSER LOOK

Since Yisro was so impressed with Moses and the G-d of the Jews and all He had done for them (see verses 9-11) it is indeed strange that he would want to leave this nation. But he did leave. Remember the word "lo" means he went "for his benefit."

What would be the benefit for Yisro to leave Moses an his people, considering his great impression of what the G-d of Israel did for His people?

Answer: Having his loved ones also become part of the great nation, by converting them.

Ergo, Rashi's comment.

Shabbat Shalom
Avigdor Bonchek

"What's Bothering Rashi?" is a production of "The Institute for the Study of Rashi."

The Institute has published a new volume on Megillas Esther. It is titled:
"What's Bothering Rashi - Megillas Esther. It analyzes both Rashi and selected Midrashim on the megillah. Ask for it at your local bookstores or order from Feldheim Publishers on the internet.

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