This week’s Torah portion, Va’eschanan, can be dubbed “Judaism 101,” for in it Moshe outlines the basic tenets of our faith.

This week’s parsha states:

·    G-d loves the Jewish People. Moshe tells the Jews that they weren’t selected by G-d to become His nation because they were the most populous or winners of a popularity contest – to the contrary, the Jews are the smallest nation. Rather, G-d chose us because He loves us and promised our forefathers that their children would form the Jewish Nation.

·    G-d gave us the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The people who were assembled before Moshe were also at Mt. Sinai, so they heard the word of G-d themselves. They beheld the awesome sight of the giving of the Torah with their own eyes. Moshe commands them to remember what they had seen and to teach it to their children. Thus, our belief in G-d and the divine origin of the Torah to this day is based not merely upon faith, but upon eyewitness knowledge of this event, as a fact, that has been transmitted from generation to generation.

·   A repetition of the Ten Commandments. The commandments include obligations to recognize that G-d is our Ruler, not to serve other deities, to observe the Shabbat, to honor one’s parents, and to observe basic morality (no adultery, murder, jealousy, or bearing false witness).

·   Why we adhere to the Torah. A child asks: Why do we keep the Torah? We answer that we were slaves in Egypt and G-d took us out with miracles. He gave us the Torah at Mt. Sinai. He commanded us to keep the mitzvos, commandments, and rewards us when we live accordingly.

·   Don’t forget about G-d when things go well. Moshe warned the Jews about a potential pitfall of a good life. People tend to give credit to themselves for their good fortune, believing that their business smarts brought about their success. They fail to realize that it is G-d who gives them opportunities to get ahead. If people forget about G-d, then G-d will send them “reminders,” hard times, to bring them back into the fold. On a national level, G-d exiles the Jews from the land of Israel and disperses them among the nations when they neglect His commandments.

·   The Jews are the “Light unto the Nations.” By adhering to the Torah and its teachings the Jews will gain the respect of all the Gentile nations. The nations will exclaim: “The Jews are such a smart nation! They have a G-d who is close to them unlike all other nations. They have a Torah that teaches them righteous laws.”

·   The Shema. This verse states that G-d is our Ruler and that He is the Supreme Being who controls everything in the world. This is a Jew’s fundamental declaration of belief in G-d. The verses following the Shema discuss one’s obligation to love G-d, to learn the Torah and to teach it to one’s children, the obligation to wear tefillin (phylacteries) and to place a mezuzah on the doorpost.