Among Tunisian Jews there is a beautiful custom: the Séoudat Yitro, a festive meal held on the Thursday before Shabbat Parashat Yitro.

Its origin: an epidemic once struck Tunisia and was killing children. It ceased right before Shabbat Parashat Yitro. Since then the community marks the event with a special meal.

This idea of placing children at the center brings us to two children we rarely hear about: Gershom and Eliezer, the sons of Moshe Rabbeinu.

We hear of them here, when Yitro arrives with Tzipporah and the two boys to join Moshe in the desert. But afterward? Nothing more in the Torah.

We know Aharon's children well — Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, Itamar — but of Gershom and Eliezer the silence is almost total.

Yet there is a later mention, in the Book of Judges (chapter 18): the tribe of Dan seeks to expand its territory.

On the way they pass a man named Mikha who kept a private temple of idolatry with an ephod, teraphim, a carved image and a molten image. The Danites seize the objects and also take the priest who served there.

How could the greatest prophet of Israel produce a grandson who serves idolatry? There are several explanations.

There is even a Midrash that Yitro struck a deal with Moshe: 'You have two sons — one you raise as you wish, the other I raise as I wish.' And so it came to pass.

But there is a far deeper answer. When did Yitro come? The sages debate: before or after the Giving of the Torah.

By the textual order, Yitro came before Matan Torah, then departed. In Bamidbar, Moshe says to him: 'Come with us,' and Yitro replies: 'No, I'm going home.'

What was so special about Ma'amad Har Sinai? An experience that engaged all the senses.

Sight: 'And all the people saw the voices' — they literally saw the Divine words. Hearing: 'And God spoke' — they heard the voice directly. Smell: the Midrash says Sinai became like Gan Eden, a fragrance of Paradise. Taste: 'sweeter than honey' — the Torah has a delicious taste. Touch: 'the mountain burned with fire' — they felt the heat and the trembling.

Gershom and Eliezer experienced none of this. Without that sensory imprint, their drift toward idolatry becomes easier to understand.

What is the message for us? Each day, by living the Torah, we relive a miniature of Ma'amad Har Sinai.

Sight: to see the other, his face, to identify with him, to perceive his need — that is 'seeing the voices.' Hearing: to truly listen, to pay attention — that is 'God spoke.' Touch: to lay Tefillin, to do the Mitzvot with our hands.

Smell: the scent of Shabbat in the home. When you walk in, it is not the smell of an ordinary day, but a fragrance of holiness. Taste: the blessing 'Boré Miné Besamim,' the flavors of Shabbat.

This is precisely the secret of educating children: we must let them experience the Mitzva with all their senses.

Now we understand why the Séoudat Yitro is so profound. It is no accident that the epidemic ceased just before Parashat Yitro.

The children seated at that special table, who taste, smell and see the joy, may not remember Yitro. But they will know that Shabbat is bound up with Ma'amad Har Sinai.