Moshe told Yitro, his father-in-law, about both the oppression of the Egyptians, but also the liberation at the hand of God. A stirring tale of victory...or is it?

This was referenced by Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, a professor at Yeshiva University, during his 2020 talk on racism from a halachic perspective, trying to understand the anti-racism protests that had been underway much of the year. He saw this as evidence that speaking ill of non-Jews in the presence of a convert was an affront - often to Jews of Color, who are disproportionately converts.

Interestingly, this holds true for speaking ill of various groups. There is no way of knowing whether homophobic or classist comments will strike home to someone else in the room - someone perceived as straight, or at the same socioeconomic level.

Just before learning of Yitro's visceral response to the horrors visited on the Egyptians by the God of his son-in-law, we learned that Moshe named his own firstborn a way that recognizes how he knew what it was like to be a Ger - a 'stranger' or a 'convert.' In The Social Justice Torah Commentary, Rabbi Rachel Greengrass sees Yitro in the light of bias and injustice in the judicial system - and this line as part of that narrative. She points to other passages and commentary by Ibn Ezra.

They had no power - Ibn Ezra recognized the uniquely vulnerable position that marginalized groups have in society. One law - for rich, for poor, for citizens and for non-citizens: a roadmap for how Moshe could create a just and compassionate society. And intersectional theory has shown that marginalization crosses boundaries, between racism, misogyny, classism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and more.

As Rabbi Greengrass says in her essay, Yitro knew that justice cannot be achieved by one person. Systems of justice are the work of an entire society.

How ironic that we as Jews have found safety and shelter in a place where people must protest - even riot - for months and years to see any progress in ending racism. It is the day before Martin Luther King Day - a day to remember a leader in fighting racism, and the day before Tu B'Shevat - a holiday to recognize environmentalism and the vastly disproportionate effects that climate change and pollution have on the poorest populations - and Parsha Yitro calls for justice.