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.

On this week of the celebration of the establishment of our great Republic, the July 4th holiday, I thought it would be appropriate to point out examples of the impact the Torah had on our founding fathers.

Among the early designs for the Great Seal of the United States were some that included Moses and the Israelites. Benjamin Franklin’s proposal is preserved in a note in his own handwriting: ” Moses standing on the Shore, and extending His hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on His Head and a Sword in His Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, to express that He acts by the command of the Deity. Motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”

Thomas Jefferson also suggested allegorical scenes. For the front of the seal: children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.”

When James Madison was composing the Bill of Rights, he kept a copy of the Hebrew Bible at his side as a source of inspiration and guidance.

I pray all of us have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration.

In this week’s Torah portion Pinchas, God tells Moses to divide the land among all the tribes. It is to be divided amongst all the sons in each of the tribes. Five daughters of Zelophahad protest the injustice that their land would be given to strangers because their father had no sons. God advises Moses and says the daughters are correct, it is an injustice.

Moses then makes a rule for the community. Land is to be inherited in this order: sons inherit first, if there are no sons, daughters should inherit the property. If there are no children the property goes to brothers. If there are no brothers, the nearest relative shall inherit. This was quite revolutionary. Even in 2013 daughters in England are protesting the fact that the first born sons, even if he has an older sister, inherit the title and the property of the father. The conflict of equal rights for women, even in western democracies, is still being played out. God made a huge step towards equality for women in Pinchas , the Torah portion this week. We are now thousands of years later and the fight goes on.

This week’s Torah Portion is Chukat. In it God instructs Moses and Aaron in the slaughtering of the red heifer. The ashes of the red heifer are to be mixed with water and used as a purifying agent for anyone in the community who has come in contact with a person who is dead. The law also says that anyone who is ritually clean who comes in contact with the mixture is then considered unclean for the rest of the day. This is a very mysterious portion of the Torah. The Rabbis could not explain how the ashes from the heifer could make the clean unclean and the unclean clean. We must remember Judaism is an ancient religion and we have lost the rationales for many of the passages in the Torah. We just don’t know ultimately what the story of the red heifer means. But God expected the Israelites to follow the laws of the Torah on faith. Faith is a cornerstone of religion. Sometimes we can not use our rational brain, we must tap into our spiritual self to get the most out of leading a religious Jewish life.