What was it about Yisro?
Was he especially
Wise or clever?
What gets a man immortalized
In history forever?
To be in the Holy Torah
Written by G-d Himself
Eclipses any kind of fame,
Heritage, or wealth.
Egypt had gods wall to wall;
As high priest,
Yisro served them all.
A man of prestige and import,
A respected advisor
In Pharaoh’s court.
A fateful meeting
Changed all that,
In which Pharaoh
And his top ministers sat.
Pharaoh had murder
On his mind,
Though his nation’s greatness
Came about
Through the Hebrews he maligned;
It was Joseph who had brought
Egypt supremacy.
Could he drown Joseph’s people
Without culpability?
Genocide seemed workable,
They were now
Just lowly slaves,
It had been more than
Two hundred years,
No one was coming to their aid.
Yisro spoke up,
It wouldn’t fly,
He gave level-headed reasons why:
Though their G-d may seem
To be absent now,
Things are still different
With the Hebrews somehow;
All those up till now
Who’ve attempted their fall
Found themselves
Behind the eight ball.
Yisro seeing Pharaoh’s face
Recalled a proverb learned in youth:
Have one foot in the stirrup
When you’re telling the truth.
He lit out for Midian,
At least he had tried,
Went from high priest
To lowly shepherd,
A great empire left behind.
Bil’am being quite the persuader
Got Pharaoh behind him,
Extermination of Hebrews
The new agenda in Mitzrayim.
Yisro sifted through the evidence
Between the chaff and pure;
He saw mind sets that would pass
And those that would endure.
Saw Hashem’s perfect justice
For him, that turned the tide,
After living all the lies,
He had found the other side.
It is every man’s wish
To leave a legacy,
To forever be a part
Of history.
Yisro accomplished that
In a way not many could,
For he discerned and extolled
HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s
Great good,
The truth that had made Yisro run
From fame and glory
Brought him true greatness
As a part of the real story.
By Sharon Marcus