2022/5782

In the midst of miracles, Yitro reveals a secret to being able to lead. Yitro advises Moshe should take “Anshei Chayil Yir’ei Elokim Anshei Emet Son‘ei Betza” (Shemot 18:21) and Moshe takes only what the Pesukim call “Anshei Chayil”. It is strange, but it is simple: as Ramban explains, “Anshei Chayil” includes all the other terms within it. In short, this term means people who are fit to lead large groups. But the most unusual term comes at the end of the Pasuk: “Son‘ei Betza,” which literally translates to “money haters”. It might be simple to say this means they hate bribes, but the Pesukim do not indicate that. In fact, the Torah warns against taking bribes because it can blind anyone, so would Moshe Rabbeinu not know that he should not take people who do not accept bribes? Perhaps, as Yitro might have not understood what Moshe knew at that point in time, but perhaps there is another way to look at it. In short, Ramban posits that this means that the people who judge can detach themselves from the money at stake. Some people will judge a case and realize the magnitude of what is at stake, and this will somehow factor into their judgment. But that is not the case for what Yitro is trying to say. It is important that they do not even care how much money is on the table because they just do not like money.

In fact, it is a question whether a court case with less than a Prutah (the Halachic threshold for what is considered money in Torah) at stake is really considered a court case in Judaism (Bava Metzia 55a). Rabbeinu Asher holds that it is not considered money, but Rambam does, because for Rambam there are principles at stake. The people who judge, the people who lead, are meant to be people who care about everything, large and small, all the same. And this is because they have to detach themselves from the value. Judges can not say that twenty dollars is practically nothing in the grand scheme of things. Judges, and by extension leaders, have to care about everything, no matter how big or how small it is, to the same extent.