The name of the Parshah, "Devarim," means "the words" and it is found in Deuteronomy 1:1.
On the first of
Shevat (thirty-seven days before his
passing),
Moses begins his repetition of the
Torah to the assembled
children of Israel, reviewing the events that occurred and the laws that were given in the course of their forty-year journey from Egypt to
Sinai to the
Promised Land,
rebuking the people for their failings and iniquities, and enjoining them to keep the Torah and observe its
commandments in the land that
G‑d is giving them as an
eternal heritage, into which they shall cross after his death.
Moses recalls his
appointment of judges and magistrates to
ease his burden of meting out justice to the people and teaching them the word of G‑d; the journey from Sinai through the great and fearsome desert; the sending of the
spies and the people’s subsequent spurning of the Promised Land, so that G‑d decreed that the entire generation of the
Exodus would die out in the desert. “Also against me,” says Moses, “was G‑d angry for your sake, saying: You, too, shall not go in there.”
Moses also recounts some more recent events: the refusal of the nations of
Moab and Ammon to allow the Israelites to pass through their countries; the
wars against the Emorite kings Sichon and
Og, and the settlement of their lands by t
he tribes of Reuben and Gad and part of the tribe of Manasseh; and Moses’ message to his successor,
Joshua, who will take the people into the Land and lead them in the battles for its conquest: “Fear them not, for the L‑rd your G‑d, He shall fight for you.”
Learn:
Devarim in Depth
Browse:
Devarim Parshah Columnists
Prep:
Devar Torah Q&A for Devarim
Read:
Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play:
Devarim Parshah Quiz
