“וירא חתן משה את כל אשר הוא עשה לעם ויאמר מה הדבר הזה אשר אתה עשה לעם מדוע אתה יושב לבדך וכל העם נצב עליך מן בקר עד ערב.”
רש”י: מן הבקר עד הערב – אפשר לומר כן, אלא כל דיין שדן דין אמת לאמיתו אפילו שעה אחת, מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו עוסק בתורה כל היום, וכאלו נעשה שותף להקב”ה במעשה בראשית, שנאמר בו ‘ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד.’
Rashi: From the morning through the evening- Is it possible to say that (he judged them the entire time)? Rather, every judge who issues a truthful judgement, even for a single hour, the Torah considers it as if he was involved in Torah study for the entire day, and as if he became a partner with Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the Creation, of which it is said, ‘And it was evening and morning – the first day.’
According to Rashi, Klal Yisroel had not been standing and waiting upon Moshe while he sat for hours and hours. Rather, the words “from the morning through the evening” refer to the quality of Moshe’s judging, that it was equivalent to studying Torah for an entire day, and paramount to a partnership in Creation. The obvious question is, then, why did Yisro mention it here in his criticism of Moshe Rabbeinu? If in truth, Klal Yisroel was standing there only for a short time, only that Moshe Rabbeinu was involved with something, that due to its lofty nature, was as important or impressive as an entire day, how was that a problem? Why was the truthfulness of Moshe’s judging a part of Yisro’s critique?
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Rashi writes that a dayan who issues a truthful judgement is considered to have learned Torah for an entire day. The maaleh of learning Torah for an entire day is not just a matter of many hours spent learning. To fill an entire day completely with Torah study is to infuse my metzius – reality – with Torah. And that is precisely what a dayan does by judging truthfully: he is infusing reality with Torah. A business deal “gone bad”, a loan, or even a simple everyday purchase, all become filled with Torah by virtue of the din emes.
For reality to be full of Torah is in fact the intention and goal of the entire universe; its tachlis. Without an inner quality of Torah, the world has not yet achieved its intended state. As such, the dayan, in infusing reality with Torah, is completing the act of Creation. Hence, he becomes a partner with Hakadosh Baruch Hu in Maaseh Bereishis.
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It was not only the litigants whom Yisro saw standing in front of Moshe Rabbeinu in judgment, but rather all Klal Yisroel. (Taz) They stood to learn Torah from their teacher Moshe, just as they had at Matan Torah. Yisro asked Moshe “מדוע אתה יושב לבדך” – why do you sit alone. There was a separation, a distinction between Moshe Rabbeinu and the nation. Such a distinction – that of a rebbi and talmid – is appropriate and necessary in limmud hatorah. Yisro’s critique was that here Moshe was not only teaching Torah; he was judging, and in doing so, instilling the Torah into reality. Here Moshe Rabbeinu was dealing with the tachlis. Yisro was telling Moshe that at the point of the tachlis, where the world sits in its intended state, there are no distinctions between people; everything is one—whether it is a powerful engine or a tiny screw. When dealing with the tachlis, where there are no distinctions, you cannot sit separately from the nation. The rebbi sits above the nation, the dayan does not.
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Aside from simply learning Torah, we have a second task, which is in fact the tachlis of the entire Creation: למלא המציאות בתורה – To fill reality with Torah. We accomplish this through all-inclusive limmud hatorah – עוסק בתורה כל היום – and through applying the Torah to reality – דן דין אמת לאמיתו אפילו לשעה אחת. It is well known that Reb Zundel of Salant learned everything according to reality, whether it was Gemora, Chumash, Mishnayos, or even Zohar. He would always picture a din torah, and how the case would take place in front of his eyes. Reb Zundel was not only learning – he was filling reality with Torah.