Cyberdov

Note: After I wrote this on Saturday night but before I posted it (which I customarily do on Fridays), I saw the same Cassuto idea referred to - with much discussion - on the DovBear blog.
Robert Alter (paraphrasing Cassuto, in a footnote to his translation of the Pentateuch) points out the episode of Yitro’s advice to Moshe stands in a neat thematic antithesis to the preceding episode, that of the war with Amalek. This antithesis is underscored through thematic keywords:

1. the Amalek story (Shemot 17:8-16) begins and ends with repetition of war (’vayilahem’, ‘milhama’), while Yitro begins with inquiries of ’shalom’ (18:7) and ends with an objective of shalom (18:23).
2. Moshe has Yehoshua ‘choose’ (17:9) men for war, and ‘chooses’ (18:25) men for justice.
3. Moshe’s hands are ‘heavy’ (17: 12) in the war with Amalek, and Yitro points out that the judicial burden is also ‘heavy’ (18:18).

This points out that there are different ways in which other nations interact with the Jews. Much of our history is one of being attacked by others. But in our own time, we are also treated as an ally by other nations. And in the same way that Yitro offered input, with an idea that improved our own Torah system, so we also have much to learn, as Jews, from outside systems that are influenced by us and also have much to offer.

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