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The Torah never mentions our rights. It talks about our obligations to God and society. When we concentrate on our obligations, we can be happy with little. But when we concentrate on our entitlements we will never be satisfied.

We are told that we will receive blessings and curses depending on our behavior. The Torah is pointing out that God will treat us as adults. It admonishes us to treat others as adults.

We are asked if God is on our side. The important question, to paraphrase President Lincoln, are we on God’s side.

The reason that we are reminded that we made mistakes in the wilderness is that the Torah wants us to improve and be better people.

We know that society has obligations to us but we frequently forget that we have obligations to society. We can’t just do whatever we feel like. We have to fit into societal norms.

The Torah has commandments of our actions between man and God as well as between man and man. Both are important since one without the other will lead to both being forgotten.

We are taught that we are in a partnership with God. We follow His way and He will make sure that our work is not in vain. If we don’t then we will lose everything.

In this week’s Torah reading we see that God is making a deal with the Jews. If you want a good and successful life, then you have to follow the commandments. If you want to be a normal people you will get what a normal people get.

The 9th of Av is the anniversary of the worst disasters of Jewish history. The 15th of Av is the Jewish answer to our enemies. It is a day that we encourage young people to meet, marry and begin to build a family. It is saying, you did not defeat us. We will continue as Jews.

The Shma is the central statement of the Jews. We recite twice daily. It is to remind us that our mission is to be a holy nation through our actions, whether with God or our fellow man.