Moshe pleads with God to enter the Holy Land, but is turned down. (Remember, God always answers your prayers -- sometimes with a "yes," sometimes with a "no" and sometimes with a "not yet".) Moshe commands the Children of Israel not to add or subtract from the words of the Torah and to keep all of the Commandments. He then reminds them that God has no shape or form and that we should not make or worship idols of any kind.

The cities of Bezer, Ramot and Golan are designated as Cities of Refuge east of the Jordan river. Accidental murderers can escape there to avoid revengeful relatives.

The Ten Commandments are repeated to the whole Jewish people. Moshe then expounds the Shema, affirming the unity of God, Whom all should love and transmit His commandments to the next generation. A man should wear Tefillin upon the arm and head. All Jews should put a Mezuzah upon each doorpost of their home (except the bathroom).

Moshe then relays the Almighty's command not to intermarry "for they will lead your children away from Me." (Deut. 7:3-4)

In this week's Torah portion is part of the Shema prayer, "And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). How does one actually love God?

The Talmud (Yoma 86a) states in reference to this verse that we must behave in a manner that will cause the Name of Heaven to be beloved. One should study Torah (God's instructions for living) and serve Torah scholars (serving Torah scholars is perhaps a strange idea in this generation. I had as "Quote of the Week" recently, "Values are caught, not taught." By being in proximity to people who are wise and lead exemplary lives, one can learn much on how to lead his own life.), be honest in business dealings and speak pleasantly to others. Then people will say, "Fortunate is his father who taught him Torah. Fortunate is his teacher who taught him Torah.... See how pleasant are the ways and how proper are the actions of this person who has learned Torah."

If, however, someone studies Torah and serves Torah scholars, but is not honest in business dealings and does not speak pleasantly to others, what do people say about him? "Woe to that person who learned Torah. Woe to his father who taught him Torah. Woe to his teacher who taught him Torah. See how corrupt are the actions and how ugly are the ways of this person who learned Torah."

The goal of learning Torah is to perfect ourselves and to perfect the world. The world knows that God gave the Torah to the Jews on Mt. Sinai and in the Sinai desert. That is why they are constantly looking at how we behave. They expect more of us. It is interesting that some Jews have this same attitude towards Orthodox Jews, but exclude themselves from those same expectations of honesty and pleasantness. We are all in the same boat. We must all live our lives in a manner that causes respect for the Torah and for God and causes God to be beloved.