“You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these
people who are with you, for the matter is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.
Now listen to me. I will advise you and the L-rd will be with you.” (Shemot/Exodus
18:18-19)
Yitro (Jethro), Moshe’s (Moses’) father-in-law, observes
that Moshe alone serves as judge and advisor of the Jewish nation. He
recognizes that if Moshe continues doing this important and time-consuming job
on his own, he will very soon exhaust himself and render himself ineffective as
a leader. Yitro thus advises Moshe to delegate his authority, to appoint others
to share his heavy burden.
Rabbi Aryeh Leib Lopiansky in Shabbos Delights notes that
Talmud (Sanhedrin 17a) states that if a prophet is overworked he will
lose his ability to receive prophecy. He writes: “Yitro was warning him [Moshe]
that he must reduce his workload or else Hashem [G-d] will not be with him,
since Hashem will not communicate with anyone who is not in the proper frame of
mind.”
As parents, our important work never ends and is always a
tremendous burden. We must be aware of our limitations. If we overextend or
over schedule ourselves, we may experience burnout and will not be able to
parent effectively. We should therefore
try to find reliable people with whom we can share some of our
responsibilities. (Rabbi Zelig Pliskin in Growth Through Torah)
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