This week's Torah portion, Devarim, the first parsha in the book of Deuteronomy, contains Moshe’s last will and testament to the Jewish People. As Moshe is to die in five weeks’ time, he reviews the lessons derived from incidents that occurred in the desert, such as the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai and other, less glorious times when G-d got angry at the Jews for their shortcomings. He highlights many laws concerning how the Jews should establish themselves in the Land of Israel, such as setting up courts to administer justice and instructions for proper dealings with one’s fellow man in business and social settings.

The Torah portion opens with Moshe gently chastising the Jews for the many sins they committed during the forty years in the desert. He alludes to their misdeeds by mentioning a number of regions that the Jews traveled through, each one with a name that is linguistically suggestive of a corresponding sin. Moshe spends a good deal of time discussing the sin of the spies whom he sent to scout the land and who came back with a negative report, discouraging the Jews from entering the land. G-d decreed that the Jews would stay in the desert for forty years and that that generation would not enter the Land of Israel. Moshe points out they were punished for not appreciating all the good G-d had done for them and for not trusting that He would help them win in battle.

The portion concludes with Moshe giving encouragement to his trusted disciple and successor, Joshua.