In this Shabbat’s weekly Torah portion Eikev  Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25, In the Parshah of Eikev (“Because”), Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, promising them that if they will fulfill the commandments (mitzvot) of the Torah, they will prosper in the Land they are about to conquer and settle in keeping with God’s promise to their forefathers.

Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korach, the sin of the spies, their angering of God at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (“The Graves of Lust”). “You have been rebellious against God,” he says to them, “since the day I knew you.” But he also speaks of God’s forgiveness of their sins, and the Second Tablets which God inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.