Vayishma Yitro 5737

The Alef Kabbala Group (2 February 2010) explored a discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe said on Shabbat Parshat Yitro in 1977, beginning with the first verse of the Parsha concerning Yitro. Why is the account of the Giving of the Torah on Sinai preceded by the chapter about Yitro? The Zohar says that his recognition of G-d was essential to the Giving of the Torah. As a man who had been a Priest of every kind of idolatry who now recognised the One G-d he represented the transformation of the negative into the positive. This theme is then explored in both personal and more global terms.