Yitro

This article is about Judaism's weekly Torah portion on the parashah of Yitro. For other uses, see Jethro.
The Ten Commandments (illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company)

Yitro, Yithro, Yisroi, Yisrau, or Yisro (יִתְרוֹ‎, Hebrew for the name "Jethro," the second word and first distinctive word in the parashah) is the seventeenth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fifth in the Book of Exodus. The parashah tells of Jethro's organizational counsel to Moses and God's revelation of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

The parashah constitutes Exodus 18:1–20:23. The parashah is the shortest of the weekly Torah portions in the Book of Exodus and is also one of the shortest parashot in the Torah. It is made up of 4,022 Hebrew letters, 1,105 Hebrew words, and 75 verses.[1]

Jews read it the seventeenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or February.[2] Jews also read part of the parashah, Exodus 19:1–20:23, as a Torah reading on the first day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments.

  1. ^ "Torah Stats for Shemoth". Akhlah Inc. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  2. ^ "Parashat Yitro". Hebcal. Retrieved January 26, 2015.