Jethro
Exodus 18.1-27
 

Now I imagine few of us
Would care to lead an Exodus.
For who among us really craves
To lead a horde of former slaves
With all their problems, hopes and fears
A-wandering for forty years?
Directing an emerging nation
Is a prophetable occupation,
And he who takes the job will be
Assured a place in history.
He'll have no little claim to fame;
Most everyone will know his name.
Prestige, at first, will seem quite nice;
But then, he’ll have to pay the price.
Moses did not want to grip
The lonely role of leadership,
But God, one brilliant desert dawn,
Commanded him to take it on;
And feeling he could ill afford
To disobey His Living Lord,
He acquiesced to His request
And gave the job his very best.
No enterprise will long survive
Whose leader works from 9 to 5.
So Moses, being in his prime,
Began to work some overtime.
His office soon became the site
Of meetings nearly every night.
And then he’d take a healthy tome
Of paper work to do at home.
It wasn’t long before he’d scoff
At any thought of taking off.

With so much work that must be done
He hadn’t time for play or fun,
Nor could he laugh, relax, or frolic.
Moses was a work-a-holic.
Now men with hefty power drives
Are seldom heroes to their wives.
The man who leads a busy life
Has little time for home or wife.
Spouses do not have a yen
To join in praising famous men.
They give success a cool reception
And Zipporah was no exception.
The placid Moses whom she married,
Was tired, edgy, tense and harried.
And she suspected he was very
Ready for a coronary.
And so, she felt, ’twas time she had

A little chat with Mom and Dad.
She journeyed, where her parents dwelt
And told her folks just how she felt.
“I didn’t want a bed of roses
When I agreed to marry Moses.
I know it takes a lot of gall
To argue with a Holy Call:
But Moses, as you clearly see,
Has time for God, but not for me.
I cry myself to sleep at night.
Tell me, do you think it's right?”
It caused those parents great distress
To see their child’s unhappiness.
And Jethro, dear Zipporah’s dad,
Was more than just a trifle mad.
“The time,” he thought, “is overdue
To teach that boy a thing or two.”
Jethro’s temper rankled raw
As he sought his son-in-law.
But then he saw, to his dismay,
How Moses spent the working day.
People came from far and near
In hopes of catching Moses’ ear.
No problem was too small to mention.
They brought them all to his attention.
The sheer amount of people who
Were waiting for an interview
Caused Jethro to feel rather dizzy.
“My son-in-law is much too busy!
I think I’ll play a bit of cupid.
That boy's not bad. He’s simply stupid.”
And so, I’m happy to relate,
Jethro told it to him straight.
“Whoever said you were commanded
To run this country single-handed?
You know you’re just the protégé
Of God, Who rests the seventh day.
Why you’ve become (That’s very odd.)
More indispensable than God.
This schedule you are keeping will
Put you to bed in Ulcerville,
And that's a price we can’t afford.
So get some help! Thus saith the Lord!”
Under Jethro’s gentle nudges
Moses chose some able judges,
And discovered to his glee
They did the job as well as he.
There’s ample help for any task
Once we have the sense to ask!

Judaica