The Children of Israel are on the cusp of entering the land after a forty-year journey through the wilderness. Moshe’s final message to his people is intended to carry them through the ages, inspiring them to embrace their identity and their mission:

This day (hayom hazeh) the Lord your God charges you to do these statutes and these laws, and you shall keep and do (v’shamarta v’asita) them with all your heart and with all your being. (Deuteronomy 26:16)

The rabbinic sages knew how to draw the maximum meaning from the Torah’s language by asking pointed questions:

What is the meaning of “this day”? Had the Holy One, blessed be He, not commanded Israel until now? And was this not already the fortieth year [since they had left Egypt], as it says: “And it came to pass in the fortieth year…” (Deuteronomy 1:3)? What, then, is the meaning of the words “this day”? Rather, thus said Moshe to Israel: “On each and every day, let the Torah be........

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