When I sat down to read this week’s Torah portion, Yitro, this verse jumped out at me:

וְאַתָּה תֶחֱזֶה מִכּל־הָעָם אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל יִרְאֵי אֱלֹהִים אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת שֹׂנְאֵי בָצַע

Seek out, from among all the people, capable individuals who fear God— trustworthy ones who spurn ill-gotten gain. (Ex. 18:21)

The speaker here is Yitro, father-in-law of Moshe. Moshe has been carrying the burden of all the people and all of their questions and needs. Yitro instructs him that he should appoint honorable, trustworthy people to serve as “chiefs” of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge the people and answer their queries, so Moshe won’t be quite so overloaded.

Rashi (d. 1105) says anshe-hayil (“men of valor” or “of worth”) could mean wealthy people who won’t be swayed toward injustice by the promise of profit. But he immediately balances that by noting Torah’s instruction that these also be anshe emet, “people of truth,” whose word is honorable and respected, who would never engage in unethical business practices.

Ramban (d. 1270) says that an ish hayil means one who is wise, alert, and fair. He goes on to add, “‘people of truth, hating בָצַע’ means those who love the truth and hate oppression. When they see oppression and violence, they cannot tolerate them, their whole desire being only to ‘deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.’” (That’s Jeremiah 21:12.)

We learn a few things here about the kind of society Torah envisions. Power is not concentrated in one leader. Instead it’s broken up, with different people tending to different segments of the community, so that everyone has both recourse and accountability. Meanwhile, Ramban also says here that אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת שֹׂנְאֵי בָצַע are meant to “love truth and hate oppression.”

I don’t think the call to love truth is just for our leaders. I think this can be an instruction for all of us. We’re all called to love truth, to live truth. One way we live this commandment could be through teaching and learning our nation’s complex history, even when it’s a painful one, because only when we face who we’ve been can we grow into who we’re meant to become.

I think loving truth also has to mean recognizing our biases and making sure the stories we share with others are real. In a world of increasing disinformation and misinformation and deepfakes, it’s all too easy to lose sight of what is actually true. As Jews, we are called to be otherwise. Such a world needs us to be anshe emet, people of truth, more than ever.

The mystic known as the Baal Shem Tov (d. 1760) wrote that “anyone who makes a judgment of truth, the real truth, becomes a partner with God in the work of creation.” When we judge the world with truth, when we discern right from wrong and value what is true, we are partnering with the Holy Blessed One in a way that keeps the world turning.

I think Torah’s call to hate oppression likewise isn’t just an instruction for our government, though in my ideal world a government’s purpose is to lift people up, not push them down. But for me the instruction feels kind of detached. How do we live that? The opposite of oppression is liberation, so another way to put this is: seek freedom and human dignity for all.

Tu BiShvat is the first of three full moons in a row that serve as stepping-stones on a spiritual journey. The first one, this one, is when we feel the first stirrings of spiritual spring. Maybe we’ve felt frozen or paralyzed. Now is time for thaw. At Purim, as we read the story of Esther hiding and revealing her Jewishness, we’ll look inside at who we are and what we stand for.

And a month after that is Pesach, festival of freedom. Not just freedom “from” – from oppression, from servitude, from injustice – but also freedom “to.” Freedom to be all that we are. Freedom to speak and think and dream. Freedom to dedicate ourselves to what matters, to build a world of compassion and justice not just for ourselves but for everyone.

This week’s Torah portion also includes the Aseret ha-Dibrot (the 10 commandments.) You know: honor Shabbat, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness. Those are important. But Judaism has always emphasized that our covenant with God is all 613 mitzvot, not just those ten, which is part of why Jews resist calls to post “the big ten” on schoolroom walls.

And honestly, this week, that earlier verse feels at least as important. I keep coming back to the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching that when we uphold truth, we partner with God. And I keep coming back to things I know to be true, like: Vaccines save lives. Gender-affirming care saves lives. Feeding the hungry saves lives. And there is no greater mitzvah than saving a life.

All of us can be be anshe-hayil, people of valor, people whose word is worth something. All of us can be anshe emet, people who stand up for what’s true, people who call things what they are. All of us can live in a way that supports liberation: not just freedom from, from oppression and want and fear, but freedom to. Freedom to speak, to pray, to dream, to be.

Tu BiShvat marks the beginning of spiritual spring. Even though where we live is still covered with snow, the lengthening light is drawing forth the abundance of the harvest to come. Look inside and feel spiritual sap rising. Cultivate the inner rise of good intentions and hopes for better. We can harness the turning season to support our work toward a world redeemed.

Things we can do in the coming week to build toward a better world:

This is the d’varling that Rabbi Rachel offered at Kabbalat Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Israel (cross-posted to Velveteen Rabbi.) Shared with extra gratitude to the Board of Bayit for studying the Baal Shem Tov together this year.