Bar & Bat Mitzvah · Parent Speech Guide · Exodus

The Parent Speech for Parashat Yitro

If your child is reading Yitro, the speech you give that morning shouldn't be a book report on the portion — it should be about them, with the parsha giving your words weight. Yitro hands a parent three honest ways in: listening to wise advice, standing at the mountain together, sharing the load.

What happens in Parashat Yitro

Moses' father-in-law teaches him to delegate; Israel stands together at Sinai for the Ten Commandments.

1. Listening to wise advice

Moses, the greatest leader, takes counsel from his father-in-law and changes how he works — strength includes listening.

The story to findWhen has your child genuinely taken advice or feedback and gotten better because of it?

2. Standing at the mountain together

All Israel stands at Sinai 'as one person with one heart' — the biggest moments are communal.

The story to findHow does your child show up for their communities — class, team, youth group, this congregation?

3. Sharing the load

Yitro's system of judges teaches that no one should carry everything alone — teamwork is wisdom.

The story to findHow is your child a teammate — sharing work, lifting others, not needing all the credit?

How a real parent speech comes together

The speeches that make a room go quiet aren't essays about the parsha — they're two or three true stories about your kid, with one Torah moment placed where it lands hardest. Pick the single theme above that made you think of a specific dinner-table moment, answer its question honestly, and resist the urge to attach a moral to every story. End with a blessing in your own words — that's the part everyone remembers.

Nachas writes it with you.

A ten-minute interview about your child, and you get a speech plan that pairs their real stories with Yitro — then three complete drafts in different voices, for every speaker in the family.

Start with Yitro — see your speech plan

The interview and speech plan are free. No signup.