Parashat: D’varim

Parashat: D’varim
Torah Reading: Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

“These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan.”

— Deuteronomy 1:1

The fifth and final book of the Torah opens with the Israelites assembled on the eastern side of the Jordan river. After forty years of trial and tribulation while wandering in the wilderness, they are on the cusp of entering the land of Israel. Moses knows that he will not be entering into the land of Israel with them. This is his final opportunity to speak to the people, and he takes full advantage. During these final addresses that comprise the vast majority of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses retells and reframes many of their experiences in the wilderness, exhorts them to follow God’s laws, and rebukes them for their past, and likely future, shortcomings.

— Rachel Petroff Kessler