Moses is leaving the Jewish people. Joshua is appointed his successor. Moses wants to remind the Jews that they were freed from Egypt for the purpose of creating a moral and just society in the image of God.

We learn that the Jewish people suffered because of the assassination of Jewish governor of Judah after the destruction of the Temple. The assassination led to tremendous suffering of the Jews. Murder is murder. It never ends the way the murderer wants.

This evening is the "Jewish" New Year. In reality it is the anniversary of the creation of man. We have to remember that the reason for the creation was for man to improve the world through his actions, both spiritually and physically.

True humility is not being totally passive and accepting of whatever comes. True humility is standing up for what is right but realizing that you are part of something larger. That was why Moses was the humblest of men even though he led the people for 40 years.

Unlike idolators we are not fated to remain as we are. God has given us the power to improve our status in life, both spiritually and otherwise. It is all in our hands.

With the High Holidays approaching, we have to take into consideration that we will be asking God for forgiveness. But before we can ask God for forgiveness, we have to make it right with our neighbor.

The Torah commands us to choose life over death. We are not a death cult like our enemies. They have famously stated that the difference between us & them is that we choose life and they choose death.

As we get ready to enter the Land of Israel, the Torah gives us blessings and curses. It is stressing that we are to behave in our society as adults. And adults are responsible for their words & actions.

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we are taking stock of our actions over the past year and how we can improve ourselves.

When a person commits a crime, he believes that it is acceptable to society. While we should punish the criminal, we should also work to make a better society by making ourselves better people.