Yisro's Goosebumps
Yisro's Goosebumps
וַיִּ֣חַדְּ יִתְר֔וֹ עַ֚ל כׇּל־הַטּוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִצִּיל֖וֹ מִיַּ֥ד מִצְרָֽיִם׃
And Jethro rejoiced over all the kindness that Hashem had shown Israel when delivering them from the Egyptians.
Rashi:
ויחד יתרו AND JETHRO REJOICED — This is its literal meaning. A Midrashic comment is: his flesh became full of prickles (חדודין — his flesh crept with horror) — he felt grieved at the destruction of Egypt. That is what people say (what the common proverb says): A proselyte even though his heathen descent dates from as far back as the tenth generation, do not speak slightingly of an Aramean (any non-Jew) in his presence (Sanhedrin 94a).
Ibn Ezra:
AND JETHRO REJOICED. Va-yichad (rejoiced) comes from the same root as the word chedvah (rejoicing).
Tur HaAruch:
ויחד יתרו, "Yitro rejoiced;" Our sages explain the word as describing that when hearing all that Moses told him, Yitro's flesh broke out in goose pimples, [from the word חד, sharp, prickly, Ed.] It refers to a popular proverb according to which a proselyte, even a tenth-generation proselyte, still experiences some kind of pain when hearing about tragedies that befall his former people. Some commentators reject this, saying that not only are we daily witnesses to proselytes and their offspring who are pious Jews in every respect, but Yitro was a first generation proselyte, so where is the comparison to that proverb? The sages who made that comment did not mean to refer to generations, literally, but merely to past associations, the impossibility of ridding oneself completely of one's past, so much so that one no longer feels a shred of sympathy for what has befallen the friends of one's youth.
Or Hachaim:
Why did the Torah have to use an aramaic word in this instance instead of using a Hebrew word familiar to all of us?
Goosebumps, goosebumps, or goose pimples are bumps on a person's skin at the base of body hairs that may involuntarily develop when a person is tickled, cold, or experiencing strong emotions such as fear or euphoria. The reflex of producing goose bumps is known as piloerection, the pilomotor reflex, or, more traditionally, horripilation. It occurs in many mammals; a prominent example is porcupines, which raise their quills when threatened, or sea otters when they encounter sharks or other predators. Goose bumps are created when tiny muscles at the base of each hair, known as arrector pili muscles, contract and pull the hair straight up. The sympathetic nervous system starts the reflex, which is responsible for many fight-or-flight responses.
