A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parshah, Parshas Yisro. The main theme of Parshas Yisro is מתן תורה, where Hashem gave us the Torah. The name of the sedrah is Yisro. The question is, why would the name be Yisro if the main theme of the parshah is מתן תורה? Even though we know peshitus that the name of a parshah, name of a sedrah is because of one of the first words that the sedrah starts with, but the Rebbe always explains that that's the superficial reason, but the truth is that a name of something has to describe what the thing is. So for sure, every name of every sedrah, since it's a name על פי תורה, describes and has to do with what the sedrah is about. So Yisro, must be that the name Yisro has to do with the tochen of the sedrah, which is מתן תורה. The question is, what is how does Yisro represent the tochen of Parshas Yisro, which is מתן תורה?

So the Rebbe explains it says in Zohar that only after Yisro came, and he said גדול השם מכל אלהים, השם is greater than all gods, which means he believed in Hashem and denied all other gods, only after he came and said it, that's when it was possible to give the Torah. Hashem was only able to give the Torah after this happened with Yisro. And the Zohar says why, 'cause Yisro is called sitra achra, he was the סיטרא דשמאלא, סיטרא אחרא means it represents קליפות, Yisro before he is megayer, he was עובד עבודה זרה, he worshipped עבודה זרה, he worshipped all the עבודה זרהs in the world, so he really represents kelipah, which is the opposite of the צד הקדושה, the side hakdushah, that's called the סיטרא אחרא. And therefore, only when the סיטרא אחרא also recognized the greatness of Hashem, that's when Hashem gave the Torah. And that's what it says in Zohar, that's why only after Yitro came, the Eibershter was able to give the Torah, after the סיטרא אחרא also was modeh that Hashem is the only God.

And the Rebbe says this is the reason why the parshah of מתן תורה is called Yitro, because the way for a Yid to receive the Torah is like Yitro, which means like this: Just like by מתן תורה, the only way that the Torah was able to be given, the Yidden were able to receive the Torah, only after Yitro also was modeh in Hashem, so too every Yid, we know that Yitro will represent, in every Yid, יתרו before he was megayer represents the kelipah. Every Yid has in himself, besides the holy neshamah, also has the gashmiyus of it, the chumriyus, the grobkeit, the materialistic part of him. So what it says shows us here is that just like by מתן תורה, the only way the Torah could be given is if the סיטרא אחרא agreed, so too by every Yid, it's not enough that his neshamah wants to receive the Torah, but in order to really receive the Torah, which means absorb the Torah and understand Torah and get really what the Torah is, even your gashmi, the Yitro that's within every single person, also has to admit to Hashem. And that's the reason why parashah of מתן תורה is called Yitro, to tell you that Yitro, that if you become like Yitro, that the kelipah that you have turns into kedushah, and you work on yourself, then you are a kli to receive the Torah, to absorb the Torah the way it really is supposed to do.