"Well now, I’ve always said that a house is not a home without a guest, and a country is not a country without a constitution—though, between you and me, I’d have preferred if the Ten Commandments were written on something a bit lighter than stone. My back aches just thinking about the shipping costs!
But let us turn our spectacles toward this fellow Jethro, or 'Yitro' as the scholars say."
On the Utility of Newcomers
"You see, Moses was out there in the desert trying to run the whole show himself. The man was working from sunrise to sunset, and I’ll tell you, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but a ton of delegation is worth a whole lot more!
Moses welcomed Yitro—an outsider, a Midianite—with open arms. Now, some folks think a stranger is just a drain on the larder, but I’ve always found that hospitality, like virtue, is its own reward. Yitro didn't just come for the manna; he brought a blueprint for the first judicial branch! It just goes to show: if you shut the door on the stranger, you might be locking out the only person in the room with a lick of sense. In this new land of ours, we need every brain we can get, regardless of which side of the pond it started on."
On the Lightning and the Unity
"Then we have the scene at Sinai. The thunder rolled, the lightning flashed—a phenomenon I know a thing or two about, though I wouldn't recommend flying a kite in a desert sandstorm. The text says the people stood as 'one man.'
Now, we must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately. The Israelites understood that. They didn't argue over who got the best view of the mountain or who was going to pay for the incense. They stood in silence and unity. It’s a rare thing, silence. Usually, you get three people in a room and you get four different opinions on how to fry an egg. But for one moment, they were a 'Single Body Politic.' If we could bottle that spirit and sell it in Philadelphia, we’d be a wealthy nation indeed."
On the Matter of Tziporah
"And I must mention Moses' wife, Tziporah. Now, I’ve lived a long time, and I’ve seen that a man’s choice of a wife is the best mirror of his soul. Tziporah was a Cushite—a woman of dark skin and bold spirit from the lands of Africa.
My own dear Deborah might not have been a Midianite, but she certainly had the fire! She’d tell you that Moses was a smart man for marrying into a different line. It’s like grafting a fruit tree; the hybrid is often the heartiest. Tziporah saved Moses' life when he was dallying on the way back to Egypt. It reminds us that a man may be the head of the house, but the woman is the neck that turns the head. Moses didn't care about the color of her skin or the accent of her tongue; he cared that she could handle a flint knife and a crisis. And frankly, any man who can handle a whole nation of grumbling people deserves a wife who can handle him."
"So, let us be like Moses: take the advice of your father-in-law, keep your lightning rods grounded, and remember that a Republic—like a marriage—requires a great deal of patience and a very large tent.
Your humble servant,
B. Franklin"
