In this week’s parsha, Parshat Yitro, in פרק י”ח, פסוק ז׳ it says:
וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה לִקְרַאת חֹתְנוֹ, וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ וַיִּשַּׁק-לוֹ, וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ-לְרֵעֵהוּ, לְשָׁלוֹם; וַיָּבֹאוּ, הָאֹהֱלָה
We see that Moshe Rabbeinu goes out to meet his father-in-law, Yitro, and he bows before him and kisses him. He surely does this as an act of respect for the father of his beloved wife, Tzipporah. Then, the text merely states that the man inquired of the welfare of the other before going into the tent:
וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ-לְרֵעֵהוּ, לְשָׁלוֹם.
Rav Shlomo Kluger, who was also known as the Maggid of Brody and was a leading Halachic authority and prolific author in the 19th century, found it interesting that both Moshe and Yitro could be called איש, “man,” and the seeming problem of who asked whom of the other’s welfare. After all, איש (man) could refer to Moshe and it could also be referring to Yitro. Was Yitro asking Moshe? Was Moshe asking Yitro? Or, perhaps, they each asked the other?
He answers this question by indicating that clearly it was Moshe who inquired about Yitro’s welfare. How do we know this? Because, as he says, it is the way of the world that all famous people are known to the rest of the world and there is no need to ask about their welfare.
With regard to famous people, indeed in our day we would call them “celebrities,” and no one needs to ask what has been going on with them. No one needs to ask: What is new with them? What have they been wearing? With whom were they seen? Everybody knows this readily available information.
Moshe is perhaps THE “celebrity of all celebrities.” If today we all know that Beyonce just broke the record for all-time Grammy Awards and we all know the current condition (we hope!) of Jalen Hurts’ right shoulder, surely in those days everybody knew what was going on with the ultimate prophet and seer “נביא ומביט,” and there was certainly no need for Yitro to ask Moshe how HE was doing.
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