Va'etchanan
Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11
Moses recounts his plea to enter the Land — 'Let me cross over and see the good land' — and God's firm refusal. He then delivers one of the Torah's most theologically dense passages, warning against idolatry, proclaiming that there is no God but Hashem, and repeating the Ten Commandments. The parasha contains the Shema — the foundational declaration of Jewish faith — and the command to teach God's words diligently to one's children, bind them as a sign, and write them on the doorposts. Moses designates three cities of refuge east of the Jordan.
Key figures
- Moses — Pleads to enter the Land, delivers the Shema and the Ten Commandments
- God — Refuses Moses's plea, reveals Himself as the sole God of heaven and earth
Famous verses
- 6:4 Hear, O Israel: Hashem our God, Hashem is One.
- 6:5 And you shall love Hashem your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
- 4:35 To you it was shown, that you might know that Hashem, He is God; there is none else beside Him.
- 6:7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Haftarah: {'ref': 'Isaiah 40:1-26', 'connection': "The Haftarah of Nachamu — 'Comfort, comfort My people' — is always read on the Shabbat after Tisha B'Av, offering consolation after mourning, just as Va'etchanan follows the rebuke of Devarim."}
Total gematria: 510,532.