Yitro, Antisemitism, and Us

Why is the parashah of Matan Torah named after Yitro — a convert, a former priest of idolatry, a man who crossed a desert because he heard something? In this class, we explore what Yitro truly heard: not only the miracle of Keri‘at Yam Suf, but also the chilling appearance of Amalek immediately afterward. We confront a sharp question from the Gemara — that converts are not accepted when the Jewish people are “on top” — and discover that Yitro’s geirut was forged not in triumph alone, but in the willingness to join a people who are loved by HaShem and hated by Amalek at the same time. From Pharaoh’s palace to the Black Sea in 1942, this shiur traces the unbroken line of antisemitism through history — from Amalek in the desert to the tragedy of the Struma — and asks what it means to hear HaShem’s message in a world of both miracles and massacres. Yitro teaches us that faith is not built by wonders alone, but by choosing to listen, to move, and to live among people who refuse to be cooled by hatred. The question this class leaves us with is deeply personal: in the face of history’s cold splash, are we Amalek-Jews or Yitro-Jews?