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Did Jethro convert? And, was it before or after the Torah was given? I heard a few things this past shabbat, but I would like to see if we can compile all of the midrashic and aggadic opinions.

msh210
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Adam Mosheh
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  • Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/13979 – msh210 Feb 12 '12 at 18:10
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    This question would be improved if you would add to it whatever you know about the topic, on which you're basing your question. (For example, any reasons you have for thinking he converted (and when) or didn't.) – msh210 Feb 12 '12 at 18:22

1 Answers1

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Per Rashi he converted.

According to the Even Ezra he converted after Matan Torah. The Ramban and Abarbanel say prior to Matan Torah. The Ramban says that he returned home afterwards to convert his family.

Gershon Gold
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  • Can you please provide on which Pasuk? – Hacham Gabriel Feb 12 '12 at 19:56
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    I don't see any of these meforshim saying whether or not Yisro converted at all. They are merely discussing when Yisro came to visit Moshe. – jake Feb 13 '12 at 00:46
  • True that Rashi (quoting Sifri) believes Yisro converted. But can you please point to where Ibn Ezra, Ramban and Abarbanel say that he did? – jake Feb 13 '12 at 20:51
  • If you look a few pages further http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=9596&st=&pgnum=263 the Ramban says that he went back home to convert his family also. I think that the Mefarshim all agree that Yisro converted and you would have to show me that Yisro did not convert in order to prove so. – Gershon Gold Feb 13 '12 at 20:58
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    Thank you for that Ramban. It does very much imply that Yisro converted, although he doesn't seem to specify that it was prior to Matan Torah as you claim. Ibn Ezra, though, I cannot find where he says anything on the subject. Re Abarbanel: I found his explicit statement that Yisro converted in Parshas B'haalos'cha here, although he seems to imply that it was after Matan Torah. – jake Feb 13 '12 at 21:36
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    Also, I disagree that the burden of proof is necessarily on the position that Yisro did not convert. If anything, the opposite is true, for he left the Jews in the desert to return to his own homeland instead of joining them into E"Y, which seems like a preposterous act if he was indeed Jewish. – jake Feb 13 '12 at 21:36
  • @jake: is it that straightforward that this is what he did, though? It does mention in Ex. 18:27 that Yisro left, but in Num. 10:29ff it just ends with Moshe's plea to him to stay, perhaps indicating that he indeed did so. Which would mean that these two accounts are describing two different visits, which I believe some mefarshim say explicitly (will have to look for sources). – Alex Feb 13 '12 at 22:23
  • @Alex, True. Some (like the Ramban linked above) say like you suggest. Others (like Abarbanel that I linked to) say that it was one long visit after which he left even though Moshe pleaded with him not to. (Then the "Moshe sent him back home" from Parshas Yisro would be referring to what happened a couple of years later.) Personally, I would put the burden of proof on both sides of this argument (whether Yisro converted). – jake Feb 13 '12 at 22:29