“You shall also seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these (people) over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.” (Shemos 18:21)

Many years ago, I was working as a shochet in a factory. Because of my inexperience, my ratio of treif to kosher was higher than average. The owner approached me and said that I had to improve my numbers. I responded, “I am working here because a kashrus organization sent me. If you have any complaints, speak to them. I’ll continue doing as I am doing.” Afterward, I went directly to the kashrus organization, and asked, “Why does the owner have a right to speak to me directly? I’m your employee! You pay my salary!” They told me to work around this “quirk” in the system,  and explained how I should interact properly with the owner.

I felt that this was not how a kashrus organization should operate. I brought the matter to my father, my rebbe, and after hearing the whole story, he gave me valuable advice: In life, problems will arise that need to be addressed. People are usually willing to listen to those who offer constructive solutions. However, they have little patience for someone who only complains. At that point, I shared with my father a practical system I had thought of that could prevent such issues in the future.

Complaining requires little intelligence. Thinking of real ways to improve a situation takes much more effort. When people see that you are willing to help them overcome difficulties, they become much more receptive – even to your complaints.

This connects to the section of Parshas Yisro called “Ata techeze” – you should seek these qualities, where Yisro advises Moshe how to run the court system within the Jewish nation. Rabbi Menachem Ziemba (Poland 1883-1943) points out that the name of the parsha could also have been “נָבֹל תִּבֹּל” (you will certainly wear yourself out). He says that it was called “ata techeze” because the Torah highlights Yisro’s positive solution, rather than the problem itself.

Yisro’s hierarchical court system was not such a novel concept. So why was he praised so highly? The answer is that people deeply involved in a system often do not see its problems. It takes an outsider looking in to notice how cumbersome things really are. Yisro was applauded because he saw the problem clearly from the outside.

I remember an elementary school trip to a television broadcasting studio. We saw a man sitting at a huge console, his chair mounted on ball bearings so he could slide three yards back and forth between panels of buttons and controls. He moved effortlessly, operating everything needed to record and produce the show.

I asked our tour guide how anyone could possibly learn to run so much equipment at once. He smiled and said, “I have no idea.” Then he explained that everyone who worked there had started when there was only a single console. As new equipment was added over the years, they learned each piece one at a time. “No one,” he said, “has ever walked in and mastered this entire setup as it exists today.”

From that experience I learned two things: First, people who are immersed in a system usually are able to make things work. Moshe did not see any problem with running the judicial system by himself. Second, outsiders find it extremely difficult to understand how things function on the inside.

The lesson I would like to share is the following: Sometimes you might see someone doing something that seems unnecessarily cumbersome and difficult. You think that there is a better, easier way. But before offering advice, ask yourself: Will this alternative actually work better for the person involved? Perhaps they are better off keeping things as they are. As many commentators note, if Yisro had not given this advice, and Moshe would have continued judging alone, all the Bnei Yisrael would have come to Moshe for every issue. This would have kept them in a closer, more constant connection to Hashem.