did not belong to the Jewish nation. From this one can gather how
great would have been their reward if they had been Israelites.
[173]

THE TIME IS AT HAND

Moses sent his father-in-law Jethro back to his home, shortly
before the revelation on Mount Sinai. He thought: "When God
gave us a single commandment of the Torah in Egypt, the
Passover, He said, 'There shall no stranger eat thereof.' Surely
Jethro may not look on when God bestows on us the whole Torah."
Moses was right: God did not want Jethro to be present at the
revelation. He said: "Israel was in Egypt, bound to work with clay
and bricks, at the same time as Jethro was sitting at home in peace
and quiet. He who suffers with the community shall share their
future joys, but he who does not share the sufferings of the
community shall not take part in their rejoicing." [174]

God had not only good cause to delay the giving of the Torah until
after the departure of Jethro, but the time He chose to bestowing it
was also chosen for a good reason. Just as a female proselyte, or a
woman freed from captivity, or an emancipated slave, may not
enter wedlock before she has for three months lived as a free
Jewess, so God also waited three months after the deliverance of
Israel from the bondage and the slavery of Egypt, before His union
with Israel on Mount Sinai. [175] God furthermore treated His
bride as did that king who went to the marriage ceremony only
after he had overwhelmed his chosen bride with many gifts. So did
Israel first receive manna, the well, and the quails, and not till then
was the Torah granted them. Moses, who had received this