When most people think of “the Law of Moses,” they don’t get warm fuzzies. But God’s people shouldn’t be most people. According to this week’s Torah portion, God’s people should be the exception to the rule, and should have a connection with the Torah deep within our hearts. Through Moses, God told the Children of Israel that when they took His commandments seriously and lived them out, the nations would recognize this and praise God:
The book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) is often called Mishneh Torah, or the “second law,” due to it’s repetition of many of the things already expressed within the first four books of Torah. However, it does not merely recount the same events and dialogues, but adds detail and clarification to the previous events. When recalling the appointment of judges Moses gives a detail not found previously in the Torah: