The Bible explores the complicated relationships between sons-in-law (or daughters-in-law) and fathers- or mothers-in-law in many instances.
There are the dysfunctional relationships, such as Laban and Joseph, or Saul and David. There are the miraculously harmonious relationships, such as Ruth and Naomi. There are also peculiar relationships, such as Judah and Tamar (who end up producing their own child, who is the ancestor of kings and the Messiah).
And then there is the ideal relationship: that of Moses and Jethro.
In the Jewish tradition, the Torah portion in which the Ten Commandments are given is named for Jethro -- not "Ten Commandments," or "Sinai," or even "Moses," but "Jethro." That is because the narrative begins with Jethro offering advice to Moses about how to delegate responsibility so he does not collapse from the immense workload of leading an entire nation. Moses listens -- but then sees his father off (Exodus 18:27), and they live happily ever after.
So the ideal is: the in-laws offer advice, you listen to it, then they leave.
Or... perhaps not. There is some sense among the Torah commentaries that Jethro eventually comes back, and he and/or his descendants join the people in the Holy Land. Regardless, in some sense he is always with the people -- even if not in person. His suggestion to Moses concerned the organization of the Jewish legal system. And it was that which sustained the Jews for millennia.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
