We’re told Yitro heard all God did for Moshe and for His people,

how He took them out from Egypt in a way that was unequaled.

But Chazal and Rashi want to narrow it down,

they look for more specific facts on the ground.

What was it that Yitro heard?

Can it be named in a word?

The rabbis had opinions and from a few,

Rashi, unusually, chooses not one, but two.

He says it was the sea splitting and the attack of Amalek,

which hurt us, but in the end, was their big mistake.

The question is why Rashi cites two reasons, not one;

Is there a sophisticated way that this can be spun?

To explain, Rav Yehuda Addes moves away from here,

and finds another parsha which can make things clear:

There’s a midrashic story that many of us know,

as part of Avraham’s development and flow:

King Nimrod felt threatened, he had a qualm,

he disapproved of the faith of Avraham.

He said to Avraham, “My challenge will require,

that I throw you into a furnace’s fire:

And if, somehow, in the fire you survive,

it will show it was your God who kept you alive.

But if you die, you will have lost our fight,

proving there’s no God, that I was right.”

In the end, Avraham’s truth is confirmed,

as he comes out of the fire unscathed, unburned.

Tradition has it Avraham’s brother, Nachor, was there,

and about Avraham’s God, Nachor did not much care.

Nachor knew he’d be asked which was his team,

What would he say to the Nimrod regime?

He was stuck in this challenging bind,

until a solution, finally, came into his mind.

He said, “ If I see from the flames, Avraham died,

then I will tell Nimrod, ‘I’m on your side.’

But if Avraham comes out of this unscathed,

then I’ll side with the God who came to his aid.”

Avraham gets saved and Nimrod turns to Nachor,

And asks, “Whose team are you on in this war?”

He says, “Avraham,” and gets thrown in the fire,

and he is not saved—because he was a liar,

But why would Nimrod throw Nachor in the furnace,

after God just saved Avraham? This should concern us.

The answer is that people can come on particularly strong,

even, and especially, when we were just proven wrong.

Our ego and our anger can get the better of us,

And then, we throw the winner under the bus.

So, instead of contritely admitting defeat,

Nimrod irrationally continues to compete.

Like Nimrod, Amalek had a cause that had lost,

and yet, they reacted by proceeding to accost.

Yitro heard about Yam Suf and the reaction of Amalek,

and realized he had a choice he had to make:

To admit the truth of Hashem and join his side,

Or risk becoming like Amalek and continuing to deride.

May we be blessed to affirm what’s proven right,

and not to insecurely still oppose and fight.

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann, an ordained rabbi from RIETS, has taught Torah for over 30 years, primarily at The Frisch School, where he coached the award-winning poetry team. As an integral part of the Yeshiva Poetry Society, Fleischmann is a passionate advocate for the arts within the Torah world. He was named New York’s funniest rabbi and has performed stand up comedy, as well as presenting as scholar in residence, across the city and country. His literary work includes the haiku collection, “In The Field,” and he has contributed close to 20 poems to the “Stories of Our Lives” anthologies, parts 1 and 2. Currently, Fleischmann is working on a book of parsha poems that combines meaningful content with whimsical formatting. You can reach him at [email protected].