Moses then recounted to his father-in-law everything that יהוה had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and how יהוה had delivered them.
ויספר משה לחתנו AND MOSES RELATED TO HIS FATHER-IN-LAW [ALL THAT THE LORD HAD DONE] — in order to allure his heart that he might attach him to the Torah (Mekhilta).
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מכל האלהים [GREATER] THAN ALL THE GODS — This tells us that he had a full knowledge of every idol in the world — that he left no idol unworshipped by him (Mekhilta).
כי בדבר אשר זדו עליהם — Understand this as the Targum does for by that very thing with which the Egyptians thought to judge Israel were they themselves judged — they had thought to destroy them by water and they were themselves destroyed by water (cf. Mekhilta).
אשר זדו means in which they had shown themselves wicked. Our Rabbis, however, explained it in the same sense as the root which we find in (Genesis 25:29) “And Jacob was boiling (ויזד) pottage (נזיד) (lit., something boiled)” — in the pot wherein they had boiled, therein were they themselves boiled (Sotah 11a).
He seized her by her forelock and brought her before Moses. Zimri said to Moses: Son of Amram, is this woman forbidden or permitted? And if you say that she is forbidden, as for the daughter of Yitro to whom you are married, who permitted her to you? The halakha with regard to the proper course of action when encountering a Jewish man engaging in intercourse with a gentile woman eluded Moses. All of the members of the Sanhedrin bawled in their weeping, and that is the meaning of that which is written: “And they are crying at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 25:6). And it is written thereafter: “And Pinehas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw and arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand” (Numbers 25:7).
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ויהי ממחרת AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE MORROW — This was really the day after the Day of Atonement: so have we learnt in Siphré (Mekhilta). Since the Day of Atonement is not mentioned anywhere in this section that deals with the Giving of the Law what is the force of ממחרת? i. e. in relation to what particular day in the history of the Law-giving is the term ממחרת, “on the morrow”, used? It means the morrow after he (Moses) descended from the Mount Sinai, and you must admit that it is impossible to say that this was any other day but the morrow after the Day of Atonement because, before the giving of the Torah, one could not say, (v. 16) “and I do make them know the statutes [of God and His laws]” (which are part of the Torah), and from the day when the Torah was given until the Day of Atonement Moses did not sit down to judge the people, since immediately after the Torah was given he ascended the mountain and descended only on the seventeenth of Tammuz when he broke the tablets in pieces. On the next day he again ascended the mountain early in the morning and stayed there eighty days, descending on the Day of Atonement (cf. Tanchuma כי תשא, Rashi on 33:11, Deuteronomy 9:18 and 10:1). Consequently this section is not written (placed) in its chronological order, for this paragraph commencing with ויהי ממחרת and ending with “Moses let his father-in-law go and he (Jethro) went his way into his own land” was not said before the second year after the Exodus. For even according to the view of one who says that Jethro came to Moses before the giving of the Torah (Avodah Zarah 24a) his dismissal into his own land did not take place until the second year, for it is stated here (v. 27) “Moses let his father-in-law go”, and we find in the account of Israel’s journey through the wilderness beneath their banners (which according to Numbers 10:11 began in the second year) that Moses said to him, (Numbers 10:29, 31) “We are journeying etc…. Forsake us not, I pray thee”. Now if this incident happened before the giving of the Torah (including Jethro’s departure) where do we find it related that he returned after he had let him go and he had taken departure? And if you object that there (in the section in Numbers which Rashi has quoted as evidence that Jethro’s departure took place in the second year) it does not mention Jethro at all but Hobab, and that the latter was not Jethro but the son of Jethro, then I reply that Hobab is identical with Jethro and not his son, because it is written, (Judges 4:11) “of the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses”.
מן הבקר עד הערב FROM MORNING UNTO EVENING — Is it really possible to say so — that Moses sat the whole day long? But the explanation is that any judge who gives a rightful decision as truth demands it, even though he spends but one hour on it, Scripture accounts it to him as though he had occupied himself with the Torah the whole day long, and as though he became co-partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of the Creation of which it is stated, “It was evening and it was morning” (cf. Mekhilta; Shabbat 10a).
“Turn back, my daughters, go, as I am too old to be with a husband. If I were to say: I have hope, even were I to be with a husband tonight, and also were I to bear sons” (Ruth 1:12).
“Turn back, my daughters, go” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yudan bar Rabbi Ḥanina: In three places it is written here: “Turn back” (Ruth 1:8), “Turn back” (Ruth 1:11), “Turn back” (Ruth 1:12), corresponding to the three times that one rejects a convert. If he insists beyond that, one accepts him. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: “A stranger shall not stay the night outside” (Job 31:32). A person shall always reject with the left and accept with the right. “As I am too old to be with a husband […were I to be with a husband tonight]” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Torah teaches you proper conduct, that one engages in marital relations at night and not by day. That is what is written: “In the evening she would come and in the morning she would return” (Esther 2:14), and it is written: “Were I to be with a husband tonight.”
§ The Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to a potential convert who comes to a court in order to convert, at the present time, when the Jews are in exile, the judges of the court say to him: What did you see that motivated you to come to convert? Don’t you know that the Jewish people at the present time are anguished, suppressed, despised, and harassed, and hardships are frequently visited upon them? If he says: I know, and although I am unworthy of joining the Jewish people and sharing in their sorrow, I nevertheless desire to do so, then the court accepts him immediately to begin the conversion process.
What is the procedure when accepting a righteous convert? When one of the gentiles comes to convert, we inspect his background. If an ulterior motive for conversion is not found, we ask him: "Why did you choose to convert? Don't you know that in the present era, the Jews are afflicted, crushed, subjugated, strained, and suffering comes upon them?" If he answers: "I know. Would it be that I be able to be part of them," we accept him immediately.
When a person comes to convert, say to him, "What did you see that motivated you to come to convert? If you know that Israel, in this time, that the Jewish people are oppressed, eroded, (The words are from "Why is your strong one overthrown?" -Jer. 46:15) insane, and suffering. If he says, I know this and I will still become a part of your people, receive him immediately and tell him the principles of the faith, that God is one and idol worship is forbidden, and tell him a lot about this, and teach him a few of the lighter mitzvot and a few of the more stringent mitzvot, and teach him about some of the punishments of the mitzvot, as it says, "Before you came to learn this, if you ate the forbidden fat, you would not be punished with excommunication, you transgressed Shabbat and you were not punished with stoning; but now, if you eat forbidden food, you will be punished with excommunication; and if you transgress Shabbat you will be punished with stoning." Don't say too much about this, and don't get too specific either. And when you teach him about the punishment of the mitzvot, also teach him about the rewards of the mitzvot and teach him that in the doing of certain mitzvot that will merit life in the world to come. There isn't a complete righteous person, rather a master of wisdom, that does the mitzvot and understands them. And say to him: "You should know that the world to come is hidden from the righteous, who are Israel. As for what you see that Israel is in distress in this world, because it is not granted them to receive the abundance of good things in this world like other peoples, lest their hearts should be indulged loftily and they should go astray and squander the reward of the world to come. But God didn't bring to them too much destruction, so that they would not observe. Rather, all of the idolators stand. And you explicate this idea so that he feels the dearness of it. If he receives this, circumcise him immediately and wait until he is fully healed, and afterwards, immerse him without a barrier. (Some say that you cut or shave his hair and you cut his fingernails and his toenails before immersion.) And three learned scholars stand at his back and teach him some of the light mitzvot and some of the more stringent mitzvot a second time, and he stands in the water. And if it is a woman, women sit her in the water up to her neck and the beit din is outside and they teach her some of the easy mitzvot and some of the more stringent mitzvot and she sits in the water and afterwards, she immerses before them and they turn their faces and leave in order that they do not see her when she is getting out of the water, and they bless the immersion after she comes out of the water. And once he has immersed, it is as if he is a Jew, but if he goes astray, he is like an apostate Jew - he is still sanctified, and his marriage is sanctified.
Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these seven mitzvot and is precise in their observance is considered one of 'the pious among the gentiles' and will merit a share in the world to come.
This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the Torah and informed us through Moses, our teacher, that Noah's descendants had been commanded to fulfill them previously.
However, if he fulfills them out of intellectual conviction, he is not a resident alien, nor of 'the pious among the gentiles,' nor of their wise men.
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The Gemara infers from the mishna: Balaam is the one who does not come into the World-to-Come; but other gentiles come into the World-to-Come. Whose opinion is expressed in the mishna?
It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehoshua, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: It is written: “The wicked shall be turned back to the netherworld, all the nations that forget God” (Psalms 9:18). “The wicked shall be turned back to the netherworld”; these are the sinners of the Jewish people, as only the sinners are sentenced to the netherworld. “All the gentiles that forget God”; these are the sinners of the gentiles. From the fact that it is written: “All the gentiles,” it is apparent that none of the gentiles have a share in the World-to-Come. This is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: But is it stated in the verse that the sinners of the Jewish people will be like all of the gentiles? It is stated only: “All the gentiles that forget God.” Rather, the wicked shall be turned back to the netherworld, and who are they? They are all the gentiles that forget God. Gentiles who fear God do have a share in the World-to-Come.
The Gemara continues: And granted as well, they entered the covenant through the sprinkling of blood, as it is written: “And he sent the young men of the children of Israel, and they sacrificed burnt offerings, and they sacrificed peace offerings” (Exodus 24:5). The Gemara asks: But from where do we derive that immersion in a ritual bath was also part of the process of entering the covenant? The Gemara answers: As it is written: “And Moses took half the blood…and sprinkled it on the people” (Exodus 24:6–8), and there is no sprinkling of sacrificial blood without immersion.
Israel entered the covenant [with God] with three acts: circumcision, immersion, and offering a sacrifice.
The baraita continues: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: The offering of a convert is derived from the verse: “As you are, so shall the stranger be” (Numbers 15:15), which means as your ancestors were: Just as your ancestors entered the covenant only through circumcision and immersion in a ritual bath and the sprinkling of blood on the altar, so too they may enter the covenant only through circumcision and immersion and the sprinkling of some blood, which requires at least a bird offering.
It is from the roots of the commandment that God chose Israel to be a holy nation and wanted to give them merit. And therefore He guided them and commanded them about the ways of grace and compassion and warned them to crown themselves with every beautiful and precious trait to find grace in the eyes of all who see them, [such] that they will say, “These are the people of the Lord” (Ezekiel 36:20). And it is so much the way of pleasantnesses and beauty to show kindness and to grant good to one who leaves his people and all the family of the house of his father and mother and comes to take shelter under the wings of a different nation in his love for it, and in his choosing of truth and his hatred for falsehood. And in our meriting these good traits, the goodness of God will rest upon us and cling to us, and nothing will prevent us from it; as the good will extend to the good ones and the opposite to the bad ones.