This week’s Torah portion covers Exodus 18:1–20:23. As you have already noticed by now, each of the 54 weekly Torah readings get their own title. The titles usually derive from the first meaningful word or words in the text. Mostly, the titles translate to unrevealing phrases like “And he called,” “Elevate!” or “Send for yourself.” Only five of the Torah portions are named for people. In the fifth reading of Exodus, that rare privilege goes to Jethro: Moses’s father-in-law and the priest of Midian.
Jethro the Midianite Priest
The Jethro Torah portion (Yitro in Hebrew) begins where Pharaoh ends. The Israelites are encamped opposite Mount Sinai, gathering their daily portions of manna and quail. As they enter their seventh week of freedom, God is about to call them into covenant as a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” God’s people—his “treasured possession”—are primed and ready to receive their foundational laws. But before the earth-shaking events of Sinai, Exodus pauses to expose a hiccup in Moses’ leadership style and to detail the recipe for its correction.
Jethro is first introduced in the Bible when Moses escapes Egypt and flees to Midian—somewhere in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The justice-driven prophet Moses instinctively defends Jethro’s daughters from rowdy shepherds, even though he is on the run from Egyptian law. Grateful, Jethro opens his home to Moses despite his refugee status and gives him his daughter, Zipporah, in marriage. Moses lived in Midian and worked as a shepherd for 40 years. When Moses hears from God through the burning bush, he first consults Jethro. Jethro understands and supports Moses’ return to Egypt, despite his leaving behind Zipporah and his children.
When Pharaoh and the mighty Egyptian army are humiliated by a group of monotheistic slaves, news quickly spreads throughout the land of the accompanying plagues and miracles. Jethro hears the rumors and sends Moses a message that he is coming to their wilderness encampment. He brought with him Zipporah and Moses’ two sons.
The Bible says nothing about Moses’ reunion with his wife or sons. However, Moses kneels before his revered father-in-law. He escorts him into his tent and relays all the details of the Israelites’ safe passage out of Egypt. Jethro listens and proclaims, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them” (18:11). In the Jewish tradition, this verse is seen as the ultimate acknowledgment by a righteous outsider. Jethro doesn’t just recognize God’s existence; he recognizes God’s justice. He sees that God measures out consequences to those who treat others with cruelty and pride. Jethro was so moved that he offered a sacrifice to God. Aaron and the 70 elders of Israel shared a meal with Jethro; the Bible notes that the presence of God was there in the tent.
The next day, Jethro observes Moses in his daily role of judge over all the Israelites. Moses hears the disputes between the people from morning to evening. Jethro, a seasoned leader of his own tribe, perceives that Moses is leading without delegating. He is destined to wear himself out. Jethro acts as an executive consultant. He advises Moses to appoint a hierarchy of wise elders to hear minor disputes. The major issues are reserved for Moses. Moses chooses capable men from all Israel and makes them officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
The Origin Story
In the first chapter of Deuteronomy, the Torah repeats the origin story of the Israelite judicial system again, with the same organizational details. In Deuteronomy, however, the idea comes directly from God after Moses complains about his workload (Deut. 1:9-18). No mention is made of Jethro. So why would the Exodus account give credit to Jethro and the Deuteronomy account never mention Jethro?
The author’s omission in Deuteronomy may stem from the fact that the Israelites’ relationship with the Midianites grew complicated. Tziporah and Jethro recognized the God of the Israelites as the one true God. But the Midianites that Israel continued to encounter over the years did not have the same impact. Intermarriage with Midianites brought idolatry into the Israelite camp (Num. 25:1-6). In Moses’s last battle, he severely punished the Midianites for their corruptive influence (Num. 31:1-12). In the time of the Judges, Gideon and his undersized army put an end to the Midianite attacks (Judges 7). Attributing the invention of Israel’s judicial system to the leader of an enemy people was an unsettling detail by the time Deuteronomy was written.
Descendants of Jethro
Today, in Israel, there is a non-Jewish minority group, the Druze, who identify as descendants of Jethro. Jethro is not only regarded as their ancestor but also their chief prophet and spiritual founder. The Druze people in Israel number around 140,000; they mostly live in hillside villages in northern Israel. The larger Druze community spans the borders into Syria and Lebanon and numbers over one million. Ethnically, they are Arab. Strict monotheists, the Druze religion is secretive and difficult to label. Druze men are easily recognizable by their mustaches, puffy pants, and white turbans. Famous for their hospitality, Druze do not proselytize, and their texts are secretive, so questions about the religion often go unanswered to outsiders.
The traditional tomb of Jethro, in Tiberias overlooking the Sea of Galilee, is the holiest site for Druze. Every year, on April 25, Druze assemble in the courtyard at the tomb of their chief prophet to arrange their community affairs. The Druze religion opposes pilgrimages, but the April festivities have a certain pilgrimage-like quality. The Druze community officially broke with Arab nationalism when Sunni Muslims tried to seize the venerated tomb. From then on, the majority of Israeli Druze have fiercely attached their future to the democratic Jewish state. Israel, in turn, recognizes the Druze as a protected religious community.
Druze Soldiers
During the 11th and 12th centuries, Druze communities established themselves in the Upper Galilee and on Mount Carmel. Villages like Peki’in have had a continuous Druze presence for centuries. While many Arab communities fled during the 1948 War of Independence, the Druze leadership in the Galilee made a strategic decision to remain and collaborate with the nascent Jewish state.
The Druze participate heavily in the IDF and the Israeli police, having requested compulsory enlistment as early as 1956. Today, their enlistment rate is often higher than that of the Jewish population, and they are indispensable in intelligence and border security. Since October 7, the community has sacrificed heavily. Heroes like Lieutenant Colonel Salman Habaka, who saved many lives at Kibbutz Be’eri before falling in Gaza, and Lieutenant Colonel Alim Abdallah, who died repelling an infiltration from Lebanon, have become national symbols of bravery.
Covenant of Blood
In July 2024, a Hezbollah-launched rocket struck a local soccer field where children and teenagers were playing. The blast killed twelve children, all between the ages of 10 and 16, and wounded dozens more. Because the Druze town of Majdal Shams is nestled in the foothills of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, the proximity to the Lebanese border meant the siren gave the children almost no time to reach a shelter. The sight of bicycles and soccer balls scattered across a bloodstained field became a searing image of the war.
The grief over those Druze children was felt throughout the entire country. Thousands of Israelis from all backgrounds traveled to the northern mountain villages to pay their respects. Within days, Israel launched a targeted strike in Beirut that eliminated Fuad Shukr, the senior Hezbollah commander held responsible for the strike. This military action was a clear message that the blood of Druze citizens is considered just as sacred as the blood of any other Israeli. The state’s decision to prioritize such a high-stakes retaliation showed that the defense of the Druze is a top national priority.
This commitment to the Druze recently extended even beyond the borders of the State of Israel. When the new Syrian government that emerged after the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024 began engaging in what Druze leaders described as a genocidal campaign, Israel took decisive action. In July 2025, as Syrian government forces and Bedouin militias moved to massacre Druze civilians, the IDF launched a series of powerful airstrikes. These strikes targeted Syrian military convoys, tanks, and even government buildings in Damascus, including the Ministry of Defense and areas near the presidential palace. Beyond the airstrikes, the IDF also ferried humanitarian and medical aid to the besieged Druze villages and evacuated the wounded to Israeli hospitals.
While the international community was surprised by Israel’s willingness to intervene so directly in the internal affairs of a neighbor, the move was seen within Israel as a moral necessity. The Israeli government made it clear that these actions were taken to prevent a slaughter of the “brothers” of Israel’s own Druze citizens. The actions mirror the Jewish nation’s long-standing ethos of protecting Jews wherever they are in danger. This was the first time Israel extended the same umbrella of protection to its non-Jewish citizens. The larger Druze community is an extension of Israel’s own national security.
For those who follow the story of modern-day Israel, it often feels as if new chapters of the Bible are being written right now. It is not difficult to imagine a scribe chronicling how the 21st-century descendants of Jethro now fight as protectors of the same justice system that their great ancestor once helped create. Jethro’s legacy lives on, moving from the desert tents of Midian to the front lines of a modern democratic state.
Jewish and Druze soldiers often describe their bond as a “covenant of blood.” This shared identity is rooted in the belief that Jethro is their progenitor, which links them to the biblical family of Abraham. Midian was one of the six sons Abraham had with his second wife, Keturah (Gen. 25:1-2). This shared ancestry with the Jewish people provides a historical and spiritual foundation for their alliance.
When a Druze officer stands guard over the laws of Israel, he is not just serving a state; he is honoring a judicial tradition his ancestor initiated when he told Moses, “Make it easier for yourself by letting them share the burden with you” (18:22). The Druze have certainly shared the burden.
Join me next week for our next Exodus reading! I hope Bible Fiber can be of use to you if, in 2026, you are committed to going deeper into God’s word and reading with discipline and regularity. If you would like to get the study questions that go with this episode, visit our website and sign up for the newsletter: www.thejerusalemconnection.us
Shabbat Shalom and Am Israel Chai
Study Questions:
The Wisdom of an Outsider (Exodus 18:13–23): In Exodus 18, Jethro observes Moses and identifies a leadership flaw that Moses himself had not noticed. Why do you think God chose an outsider—a Midianite priest—to provide the structural blueprint for Israel’s judicial system? What does this teach us about how God uses people from outside our immediate community to offer wisdom, and how does it challenge the idea that spiritual leaders must have all the answers themselves?
The Omission in Deuteronomy (Exodus 18:24–26 vs. Deuteronomy 1:9–18): The account in Deuteronomy 1 credits God and Moses’s own complaints for the creation of the judicial system, leaving Jethro out entirely. Given the later conflicts between Israel and the Midianites, it seems the author chose to highlight the divine source rather than the Midianite advisor. Can a system be both a human suggestion and a divine appointment at the same time?
The Modern “Covenant of Blood” (Exodus 18:21–22): The Druze people believe themselves to be descendants of Jethro and Abraham. Looking at the sacrifice of Druze soldiers and the massacre at Majdal Shams, how does this modern alliance mirror the biblical relationship between Moses and Jethro? In what ways is the 21st-century Druze community still “sharing the burden” of justice and protection for the land, just as their ancestor encouraged Moses to do in the wilderness?
