From Idol Worship to Mount Sinai: How Yitro Proved the Power of Teshuvah

Why did Yitro merit that a parashah in the Torah would be called by his name, and specifically the one that contains the Giving of the Torah, the very heart of Judaism? After all, Yitro was a Midianite priest who had served every form of idolatry in the world.

Our Sages explain that this parashah is named for Yitro, to teach us that even a person who has sunk to the “forty-nine gates of impurity,” if he accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah and mitzvot, can rise and reach the highest spiritual level, that the portion describing the Giving of the Torah is associated with his name. The power of teshuvah can create a total inner reversal, opening a brand-new chapter in a person’s life.

Yitro was a complete non-Jew, who “did not leave any idolatry in the world that he did not serve” (as Rashi notes later on verse 11). And if once he converted sincerely and entered the embrace of Judaism, we do not look at his past, then certainly a Jew from birth, who returns in teshuvah from his sins, is not defined by his past.

What Inspired Yitro to Do Teshuvah?

From whom did Yitro learn that teshuvah is possible? He learned it from the Jewish people.

Israel themselves had been involved in idolatry, yet when they returned to Hashem, Hashem saved them. This is a powerful insight taught by the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Levi in his work Torat Moshe on the Torah (manuscript). With this, he explained the statement of Chazal: “What news did he hear that made him come? The splitting of the Sea and the war with Amalek.”

These events strengthened Yitro’s heart to return to Hashem. Yitro witnessed something astonishing. Even though the Jewish people before the splitting of the Sea were truly idol worshippers (as the Midrash describes the “guardian angel of Egypt” prosecuting them: “These [Egyptians] are idol worshippers — and these [Israelites] are idol worshippers…”), nevertheless, when they returned to Hashem and prayed and cried out to Him, they were answered.

Similarly, in Refidim: they had “weakened their hands from Torah,” and therefore Amalek came upon them. But the moment they did teshuvah and “subjugated their hearts” to Hashem, they were victorious.

From all this, Yitro learned: If they could return, then I can too.

A Classic Example of Teshuvah’s Transforming Power

To understand the depth of the revolution teshuvah can create, we can bring the famous story in Bava Metzia (34a) about the life-changing encounter between Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish.

Reish Lakish became the leader of bandits, robbing travelers on the roads. One day, Rabbi Yochanan was bathing in the Jordan River. Reish Lakish saw him and thought he was a woman, because Rabbi Yochanan was exceptionally handsome and did not have a beard. He jumped into the river after him. When he reached him, he discovered it was a man.

Rabbi Yochanan, impressed by Reish Lakish’s extraordinary physical power by jumping and leaping across the Jordan, understood that such strength hinted at hidden inner forces driving it. He tried to redirect that bold power into the spiritual world of Torah learning, and said to him with admiration: “Your strength belongs to Torah!”

Reish Lakish shot back: “Your beauty belongs to women!”

Rabbi Yochanan replied: “I have a sister who is even more beautiful than I am. If you return in teshuvah and devote yourself to Torah, I will give her to you as a wife” — with the intention that even if the beginning is not purely for Heaven’s sake, it can lead a person to true sincerity.

Rabbi Yochanan’s words pierced Reish Lakish’s heart, and he accepted upon himself on the spot, to do teshuvah.

Then, when Reish Lakish tried to jump back to the other side of the Jordan in order to retrieve the clothes he had left there, he could not. The Gemara explains: the moment he accepted the yoke of Torah and mitzvot upon himself, his “old strength” was weakened, and his identity had already shifted.

From that day on, Reish Lakish abandoned the life of robbery and gave himself over completely to Torah study, laboring day and night. He learned in chavruta with Rabbi Yochanan who became his brother-in-law, and he would review his learning forty times. Step by step he rose, until he became a giant of Torah.