Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah begins this week. The Hebrew name of the book is D’varim, which means words. The name “Deuteronomy” comes from the Greek translation of the phrase “mishneh Torah” (Deut. 17:18) meaning a copy of, or the repeated law. Much narrative and legal material which first appears elsewhere in the Torah is repeated here: Deuteronomy is cast as Moses’ farewell address to the Israelites and, in the course of his speeches, Moses reviews both the history of the people and such important segments of law as the Ten Commandments.
It is fitting that the Hebrew for this book is D’varim, as stated before, means words. It contains the words that are most meaningful to the people, the words of Moshe Rabbenu, Moses the great Teacher. Moses presents to the Israelites his take on what transpired. He gives them advice for the future. He tells them how to live as God’s children and how to function as a cohesive society. The last thing he does in this week’s Torah portion is to appoint Joshua as his successor.
D’varim is rich with advice on how to function in today’s world. It is worth a perusal.
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