Yitro: Aliyah 1

The first number we see in Yitro is the Number 2: (Shnei)  The context of this number is:
"Yitro, the father-in-law of Moshe, took Zipporah, the wife of Moses, and after her having been sent away." (Next verse) "And her two sons:"
We then are given the number 1 (Achad) twice:  "One was named "Gershon" because he said "I am a stranger in a strange land", and One was named "Eliezer", for "The God of my father came to my aid and he Saved me from the sword of Pharaoh".   (Shemot 18:2-4)

The Number 2 (Shnei) is then repeated again in Shemot 18:6 "I, your father-in-law Yitro, have come to you, with your wife and her two sons with her"

The use of the numbers here, as they are in all places is significant, and tells us to look what is being said outside the context of the content itself.  What is espeically significant here, is that the number are not "necessary" to give over the information.  Shnei is an extra word, it could have just mentioned "her sons", and when giving the names and explaining them, it could have said the "older and younger", or just stated the names without qualifiers.

The number 2 in Jewish tradition is often associated with negative connotations.  So one might think that there is something wrong with Moshe's children. In fact, they do not even continue in their father's leadership role, and nothing is heard about them again after the Torah is concluded.   However, the Torah continues to mention each child with the number 1.  1 is always a good thing, in Jewish tradition it represents Gd and His unity.  And what exactly are "Moshe's Children"?   They are two very central ideas in Judaism and the Torah.

1: Gershom:  We are strangers in a strange land.. this make reference to the Mitzvah which the Gemora states that is mentioned the most number of times in the Chumash (49). To be kind to the stranger/convert. This is certainly one of the central lessons that the Torah tries to teach us.

1:Eliezer:  The Gd of our forefathers will protect us. This idea is repeated shortly, in the first of the 10 commandments.  Gd is the Gd who took us and our forefathers out of Egypt. He is the Gd which shows himself in history and the Jewish people.

What the Torah is telling us here is to pay attention to these dueling concepts in Judaism as represented by Moshe's children.  We have two very central Jewish ideas which seem to be at odds with each-other.  We must be kind to the strangers, and must remember that as Jews we are never stable and always strangers, in a strange land. (Even when we are at home in Israel)  On the other hand, Gd is always there for us, he will always save us. This promise is our stability, and no matter how shaky things get, no matter how strange the world seams, Gd is there and just as he protected us in the past, he will protect us now and in the future.